1970 DatePerson(s)Age Country of disappearanceCircumstancesOutcomeTime spent missing or unconfirmed January 18th, 1970Mared Ellen Malarik19United StatesTwo West Virginia University students last seen alive on January 18, 1970 leaving a theatre in Morgantown, West Virginia. Their decapitated bodies were discovered on April 16 and serial killer Gerard John Schaefer was thought to be responsible.The Encyclopedia of Kidnappings p. 105Murdered3 monthsKaren Lynn Ferrell18February 24th, 1970Jacques Vergès44FranceVergès, a French-Vietnamese lawyer, left his wife Djamila Bouhired and cut ties with friends and family. He was last seen on February 24, 1970, until he reappeared in 1978 and refused to explain his disappearance or whereabouts. It appeared in December 2017, in a Barbet Schroeder interview, that he was with extremist Palestinian militant Wadie Haddad in Palestine.Found alive8 years February 27th, 1970Alberto Fuentes Mohr43GuatemalaGuatemalan economist, politician and founding member of the Social Democratic Party who served as Minister of Public Finance in the 1960s. He was briefly kidnapped by a FAR rebel on February 27, 1970, but released without harm shortly after.Found alive1-2 daysMarch 8th, 1970Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb18United KingdomEnglish secretary who vanished after hitchhiking along the M1 motorway on March 8, 1970. Her body was found days later in woodlands, and detectives believe her murder is linked to that of fellow hitch-hiker Barbara Mayo, who was killed under similar circumstances the same year. It is often reported that the murders were linked by DNA in 1990; however, DNA was only extracted in Mayo's case, and not until 1997.Murdered6 daysMarch 31st, 1970Susan Blatchford11United KingdomTwo British children who disappeared from Enfield, North London, on the afternoon of 31 March 1970 while playing. Seventy-eight days later their bodies were found in a copse in Sewardstone, Essex. Erroneously thought for nearly 30 years to have possibly died from exposure, causing the murdered children to be called the "Babes in the Wood" in the press, pedophile Ronald Jebson confessed to their rape and murder from prison in 1998, and was convicted in 2000.Murdered2 months Gary Hanlon12May 29th, 1970Pedro Eugenio Aramburu67ArgentinaArgentine army general who served as acting president from 1955 to 1958, Aramburu was kidnapped and later killed by Montoneros terrorist Mario Firmenich. His body was found a month after his disappearance at an abandoned farmhouse in Timote.Murdered1 monthJune 22nd, 1970Harvey Crewe28New ZealandHarvey and Jeannette Crewe, a New Zealand farming couple, were reported missing from their bloodstained farmhouse at Pukekawa, Lower Waikato on June 22, 1970, where their unharmed 18-month-old daughter was found in her cot. Jeannette Crewe's body was found, wrapped in a duvet and bound with copper wire, in the Waikato River on August 16, 1970, and her husband's body was retrieved upriver on September 16, 1970."Forensic History: Crimes, Frauds, and Scandals" by Professor Elizabeth A Murray Initial indications from the scene pointed to foul play occurring between June 17 and 22, but not until the bodies were recovered was it established that both were shot to death.Murdered3 months Jeannette Crewe30New Zealand2 months September 6th, 1970Donna Lass25United StatesLass, a nurse who worked at Sahara Tahoe Casino, disappeared on September 6, 1970, from Stateline, Nevada. Her disappearance has been associated with the Zodiac Killer case despite the lack of evidence. In December 2023, South Lake Tahoe Police Department announced that human remains found in 1986 near California State Route 20 in Placer County was positively identified as Lass. The department did not reveal a reason of death or an indication of foul play.Died (unknown cause)53 yearsSeptember 25th, 1970Jeffrey Konen18United StatesThe first of twenty-nine known victims of serial killer Dean Corll. Konen was last seen hitchhiking from the University of Texas to his parents' home on the evening of September 25, 1970. His body was buried at High Island Beach. Corll's accomplice, David Owen Brooks, led police to Konen's body on August 10, 1973.Murdered3 yearsOctober 10th, 1970Pierre Laporte49CanadaLaporte, a Canadian politician and deputy premier of Quebec, was kidnapped by members of the terrorist Front de libération du Québec group on October 10, 1970, and held for ransom. A week later, when the government refused the group's demands, they killed him, with Laporte's body found in the trunk of Paul Rose's car.Gendron, Guy. "Révélations sur la mort de Pierre Laporte" . Radio-Canada.ca. Retrieved July 16, 2013.Murdered1 weekOctober 12th, 1970Barbara Mayo24United KingdomMayo was an English schoolteacher who vanished while hitchhiking on the M1 motorway near Catterick, North Yorkshire on October 12, 1970. Days later, her partially clothed body was found in the woods, and was later linked to the murder of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb committed months prior. It is often wrongly reported that the murders were confirmed to be linked by DNA in 1990; DNA was only ever extracted in Mayo's case, and not until 1997.Murdered4 daysNovember 27th, 1970Ronald Hughes35United States of AmericaRonald Hughes was an American attorney who represented Manson family member Leslie Van Houten and disappeared in November 1970 during a camping trip. On March 29, 1971, his body was found by two fishermen in Ventura County wedged between two boulders in a gorge.Died (undetermined cause)5 months December 31st, 1970Linda Childers24United States of AmericaChilders and Carmichael were fugitives from Louisville, Kentucky who were hiding out with fellow criminals Richard DeFreitas and Donald Brant. DeFreitas and Brant decided to murder the two after Childers told DeFreitas' wife that they all might be arrested if found. Childers' and Carmichael's bodies were discovered in 1974, and while Carmichael's body was identified shortly after, Childers' body was identified 49 years later via forensic genealogy in 2024.Murdered53 years Gustavous Lee Carmichael244 years
1971