Before his execution in 1989, serial killer Ted Bundy claimed he killed Manson and that her partial remains were found in 1975. However, this claim was never verified.

Years later, in 1978, fishermen found a skull and other bones near Eatonville, Washington. The clothing found, including a multi-colored shirt, was similar to what Manson was wearing when she vanished. Though a King County investigator suggested a link, Pierce County officials didn’t compare Manson’s records to the remains. Worse, X-rays and other evidence mysteriously disappeared from Pierce County. A forensic dentist eliminated other missing persons, leaving Manson as the only possible match—before the remains were destroyed. Other unidentified remains were also lost or thrown away by the sheriff’s office.

The case was briefly reopened in the 1990s when the lost evidence came to light, but nothing new was discovered. Authorities suspect Manson was one of Bundy’s victims, along with many other young women who remain missing.