On March 12, 1974, Donna Manson left her dorm room and was on her way to a jazz concert at the Evergreen State College library. Along the way, she encountered serial killer Ted Bundy. In other abductions of college women, Bundy had a cast on one arm and was carrying books, he would convince the women to help him carry the books to his car, and then render the victim unconscious while they were putting the books into the car by striking them with a tire iron. This is likely what happened to Donna Manson, though there were little clues and no witnesses that came forward after the abduction.

Donna Manson was Ted Bundy’s second murder vicim; his first murder was on February 1, 1974, when he abducted and killed 19-year old University of Washington student Lynda Ann Healy. Because the location of Lynda and Donna’s abductions were in different counties about an hour apart, authorities didn’t link the two until much later.

Prior to his execution in 1989, Ted Bundy confessed to Donna Manson’s murder claiming he decapitated her body after murdering her and dumped her body and head in different locations. It is still unconfirmed exactly where he dumped her body.