The remains of Lou Ellen Burleigh of Walnut Creek, who disappeared in 1977, have been found after multiple search attempts over the years near Lake Berryessa. I-5 Strangler Roger Kibbe, 72, who confessed to Burleigh's murder and was convicted of multiple murder charges in 2009, had told investigators that he had lured Burleigh with the promise of a job as a secretary, telling her his office was "under construction" and they'd have to meet in his van. He'd then tied up Burleigh and driven her from Pleasant Hill to Lake Berryessa, where he raped and murdered her and left her body in a dry riverbed.
Multiple attempts had been made over the years since Kibbe's confession to find Burleigh's remains, but they were unsuccessful. A Napa County sheriff's deputy recently went hunting around the area and found a single bone fragment sticking out of some gravel that has now been positively identified as Burleigh's.
Kibbe is currently serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.
[Chron]