What happened to Carol Edwards? Detectives seek answers 45 years after disappearance
Vanished: What happened to Carol Edwards?
A young woman, a quiet life, and a disappearance that has haunted a family for more than four decades. Now, 45 years later, there's a new push to solve the mystery.
SHORELINE, Wash. - A young woman, a quiet life, and a disappearance that has haunted a family for more than four decades. Now, 45 years later, there's a new push to solve the mystery.
The King County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help to find out what happened to Carol Edwards.
The backstory:
On January 2, 1981, Edwards vanished from her home in Shoreline. Even now, after so much time has passed, detectives believe someone knows what happened to her.
"Something happened to her and we want to know what that was," said King County Major Crimes Sgt. Jim Belford.
Carol Edwards lived a normal life, working at TV Guide in downtown Seattle and living with the boyfriend she'd had since high school. On the night she went missing, she took her usual Metro bus ride home from work, getting on at 6th and Stewart and getting off at 165th and Aurora Avenue North, then walking two blocks to her home on North 157th Street in Shoreline.
Carol Edwards' home in Shoreline
"There is reason to believe that she'd made it home. She did not turn on the lights or so the lights were not turned on, let's put it that way. The mail and her keys were found inside the residence on the counter," Sgt. Belford said.
He says there were no signs of a struggle but her coat was found on the garage floor, and her dog still tied up out back.
"So that is concerning," Sgt. Belford said.
What they're saying:
Sally Head is Carol's older sister. She describes her as creative and quiet.
"I was the last person who talked to her," said Sally Head. "We were best friends."
They'd made plans for Sally to bring her daughter to visit Carol the next day. Then, a call changed everything.
"Her boyfriend called and said that he had got home and she wasn't there," Sally said.
He thought Carol was with her mother, but when she wasn't back the next morning, he called Sally.
"That's when Sally became concerned and that's when they called the police and initiated the missing person," Sgt. Belford said.
According to detectives, Carol's boyfriend is not considered a suspect.
"Has he been pretty cooperative through all these years?" asked FOX 13's David Rose.
"He has. He's submitted a polygraph, DNA swabs," Sgt. Belford said.
Dig deeper:
In 1981, missing persons cases were handled differently. By the time a report was taken, critical hours had passed.
"So we started doing searches all around. We had a lot of people at the house looking for her. But I always had the feeling that I was never going to see her again," said Sally Head.
When Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, started killing women a year later, she wondered if Carol could have been his first victim. She wasn't.
"Gary Ridgway has been contacted and interviewed regarding Carol's disappearance. He is not considered a suspect," Sgt. Belford said.
Gary Ridgway prepares to leave the courtroom where he was sentenced in King County Washington Superior Court December 18, 2003, in Seattle, Wash. Ridgway received 48 life sentences, with out the possibility of parole, for killing 48 women over the pa (Josh Trujillo-Pool/Getty Images)
But was there another serial killer targeting women in that area?
"We have explored persons of interest and work to eliminate or include them as a pool of suspects involved in Carol's disappearance. At this point in time, there is not enough evidence that will allow us to charge anyone with Carol's disappearance," Sgt. Belford said.
They do, however, have some DNA evidence, and the science is advancing rapidly.
"I do believe that if we find her that dominoes will begin to fall and we will be able to identify who's responsible for her disappearance," Sgt. Belford said.
What's next:
For 45 years, holidays have come and gone, birthdays remembered.
"It's been hard just not knowing. And to see my mom, you know, you think of losing a child. That was difficult for her," Sally said.
A family still waiting, a life interrupted, a mystery unsolved.
"We've done searches. We've done digs in areas of interest and have come up with nothing. At this point in time, I believe that someone out there has spoken to someone who has knowledge about this case. And we need that knowledge. We need to push this case forward. We need to find Carol and bring her home," Sgt. Belford said.
If you have any information on what happened to Carol Edwards or who may have been involved, you can call Crime Stoppers anonymously or send an email to Det. Belford at mcutips@kingcounty.gov.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the King County Sheriff's Office and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.