Bambi Lynn Dick

Bambi Lynn Dick

Homicide

Bambi Lynn Dick
17 YOA
Davenport, IA
Scott County
Disappeared from Davenport, Iowa, Sept. 29, 1983
“Jane Doe” found in Potter County, Texas, Oct. 8, 1983
“Jane Doe” DNA match made to Bambi Dick,
University of North Texas, March 26, 2009

 

Case Summary compiled by Jody Ewing

Bambi Lynn Dick, a 17-year-old Davenport, Iowa, West High School senior, disappeared on September 29, 1983, after attending a Quiet Riot and Axe concert at Davenport’s Col Auditorium.

On March 26, 2009, more than 25 years after she went missing, her remains were identified through a DNA match to a Jane Doe discovered in Amarillo, Texas, on October 8, 1983.

Scott County in Iowa
Scott County in Iowa
 
Davenport in Scott CountyDavenport in Scott County

Dick’s parents, Edward and Evelyn Dick, filed a missing persons report with the Davenport Police Department within two days after their daughter failed to return home from the concert.

The missing person report included certain physical characteristics that would help identify the teen, including a third nipple beneath her right breast and a burn scar on an arm.

The Dicks indicated they’d never had problems with their daughter being a “runaway.”

Bambi Lynn Dick was entered into Iowa’s missing persons database, and on January 4, 1984, would have turned 18 years old. She was removed from the database two days later.

Family members continued to search for Dick over the years, scouring the Internet’s various lists of unidentified persons.

Woman’s Body Found — No ID

On October 8, 1983 — nine days after Dick went missing — a biker traveling along US Highway 287 about 18 miles north of Amarillo, Texas, discovered the body of a partially-clothed female. The woman’s body lay in a culvert but contained no identification.

Texas officials determined the teen had been strangled. She had not been sexually assaulted, and autopsy results showed no signs of drugs or alcohol in her system.

Detectives cataloged the belongings found with the Jane Doe victim:

  • A white bra
  • Pink panties, with red “Thursday” stitching
  • White socks
  • Size 5 Britannia jeans
  • Three rings
Bambi Lynn Dick - sketch of victim

Amarillo, Tex. officials released this sketch of their Jane Doe.

The Potter County (TX) Special Crimes Unit investigated the woman’s case and saved all material they felt might identify her.

Sgt. Modenia Holmes distributed a victim sketch throughout the US in hopes it might lead to a positive identification.

When no one came forward, police moved onward with plans for burial in Amarillo’s Memory Gardens Cemetery.

Maurice Schooler of the Schooler-Gordon Funeral Home provided funeral services at no cost and also donated the plot in which the unknown victim would be buried. Officials videotaped the service and would keep the recording on file for future reference in their unsolved “Jane Doe” case.

Connections Made

Approximately 25 years later, Dick’s brother, Paul Dick, uploaded a photo and description of his sister to the North America Missing Persons Network with hopes of finding a new lead in her unsolved disappearance. It quickly caught the attention of Victorville, Calif. resident Teresa Sprague, who maintained a missing persons website in her state. Sprague contacted Amarillo officials to see if there was a possible match to their 1983 Jane Doe.

Lt. Gary Trupe from the Potter-Randall Special Crimes Unit contacted Dick’s parents in Davenport to request a DNA sample for comparison to their Jane Doe. Those DNA samples were submitted to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, and on March 26, 2009, a mitochondrial match was made to Davenport’s Bambi Lynn Dick.

Courtesy photo Haley Cook, findagrave.com
Bambi Lynn Dick’s family chose to keep her buried in Amarillo to show their appreciation to a community that mourned the long-unnamed victim.

In a highly publicized second memorial service held in Amarillo in September 2009, Dick’s brothers and a nephew dedicated a new gravestone that replaced the previous Jane Doe stone.

In a show of appreciation the Texas community had accorded their loved one, Dick’s family members chose to leave their daughter buried in Amarillo.

Though Bambi Lynn Dick’s body has been positively identified, her killer remains unidentified and her murder unsolved.

Information Needed

If you have any information about the unsolved murder of Bambi Lynn Dick, please contact the Davenport Police Department at 563-326-7979, Lt. Gary Trupe, Coordinator of the Amarillo/Potter/Randall Special Crimes Unit at 806-378-4268, or the Scott County Sheriff’s Office at 563-326-8625.

Sources:
  • “Cold Case File: Bambi Lynn Dick,” KFDA NewsChannel 10, Amarillo, May 18, 2011
  • Find a Grave Memorial
  • “Relatives remember Bambi Dick at service,” Janelle Stecklein, The Amarillo Globe-News, September 9, 2009
  • “Bambi Lynn Dick Memorial Service,” KVII, Amarillo, Texas, September 8, 2009
  • “Bambi Lynn Dick’s family says goodbye,” KFDA NewsChannel 10, Amarillo, September 8, 2009
  • “Family to attend service in Texas for Q-C teen killed in 1983,” The Quad-City Times, September 2, 2009
  • “Jane Doe ID’d as missing Iowa teen,” Janelle Stecklein, The Amarillo Globe-News, March 27, 2009
  • Texas Slaying Victim From 1983 is Iowa Teen, KCRG-TV Channel 9 News, Cedar Rapids, March 26, 2009
  • “Davenport teen, missing 25 years, may be Texas Jane Doe,” Ann McGlynn and Lynda Booker, The Quad-City Times, February 19, 2009

 

Copyright © 2024 Iowa Cold Cases, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

17 Responses to Bambi Lynn Dick

  1. Bronwyn M Townsend says:

    Bambi was my cousin. Aunt Evelyn dies 5 years ago and her father dies two years ago. There HAS to be some way to solve her murder, With advancements in DNA and other Forensic development the answer IS THERE! Reopen the cold case and star again, Her remaining family has a right to know what happened and that she hasn’t been forgotten on a cold storage shelve.

  2. alyssa thiessen says:

    ok so how hard would it be to solve the case bc my dad knew her in high school and i would like to bring her family to peace about what happened to there child

  3. Jeff Frost says:

    To the person that is assuming that she went to the concert alone, she was at the concert with my female cousin. I vaguely recall speaking to both of them while at the concert.

  4. Patrick Kerrigan says:

    Jen, I agree with your comments about a long haul trucker possibly being a suspect. The FBI has has a database of these guys for a number of years. However, it makes. There is no mention of when she died. Also, it appears he may have kept her under her under wraps for at least almost 8 days.

    Also, we don’t know how she got to the concert or was getting home. So. I assume she went there alone, and that no one else she knew went to the concert.

  5. Jen says:

    Given the long distance, a long-haul truck driver could be the culprit. They should look at Clark Perry Baldwin, given the location.

  6. Patrick Kerrigan says:

    In 1976, a Barbara Glueckert (14), of Mount Prospect, Illinois, disappeared after going with a friend and riding with a individual named Thomas Urlacher (24), to a concert. She never returned and they still have not found her remains. Urlacher, had a history of sexually assaulting young women, and he was and still is a person of interest in her disappearance and assumed death.

    However, he was killed by drug dealers in Colorado. So, the circumstances of Bambi, disappearance so fits what happened to Barbara. Barbara told her parents she was going to a party, near by. Her friend told her parents she was going to Barbara place. However, they supposedly got freaked out listening to Mr. Urlacher’s s conversation. Barbara friend ran into a friend and left the concert with him.

    He claimed in a letter that he buried her because she would tell police about him sexually assaulting her. Several investigators with Mount Prospect’s Police Dept., spent all kinds of time and resources looking for her. A lot more then expected for that time frame.

  7. kelly walsh says:

    In 1985 I was 17. I was at a police station in northern California when I saw the police sketch of an unknown Jane doe who was Bambi. It is something I always remembered. I prayed she would be identified. Rest in peace.

  8. Notelling says:

    Why wouldn’t they exhume her to collect actual DNA. It could still be vaginal, without an assault or under her nails, in her mouth, touch DNA on her clothes. Any leads are better then no leads.

    She could have gotten on a tour bus full of roadies willingly and things went bad after the fact. Maybe someones wife found her out and hurt her…. maybe she wasn’t interested in being a groupie. She cpukd have been lied to and told that she was the in the next music video or something and then didn’t play the game.

    Either way once she crossed state lines that is a federal crime. she was a minor, and got homesick. But I feel.strongly that her physical body still holds the answers.

    • Beelzebubba says:

      The band went the opposite direction. From the date that she disappeared to the date that her body was discovered, they played shows in Peoria, Illinois, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Baltimore, and New York City on 8 October. So, obviously, a “bus full of roadies” had nothing to do with it.

  9. Sudie says:

    I feel so bad. I went to school with Bambi and never knew she had disappeared….or maybe my 50 year old brain has just forgotten it. But I do remember Bambi. She was a quiet person, but she always had a smile each day. We weren’t in the same circle of friends, so maybe that is why my memory fails me on the things that happened. To those that stepped up and helped to identify her…thank you. I hope whomever did this to Bambi is one day brought to justice. My thoughts and prayers go out to Bambi’s family. I can’t even begin to imagine … my God bless and comfort you all.

  10. Marj Bensley says:

    I feel awful for the poor parents who went to their graves not knowing either what happened to their children, or who was responsible. No closure. So sad.

  11. Anita Martin says:

    This is so sad…I shutter to think the person or persons that committed murders (Bambi Lynn Dick, Joyce Jefferson, Lee Rotatori, Linda Mayfield) back in the 1980s may have gone on to kill others…

  12. Carolyn Redinbo Robinson this is crazy

  13. Lori says:

    This case is heartbreaking. Bambi was taken so far from her home and left on the side of the road. Both Teresa Sprague and you, Jody, are like guardian angels to those who can no longer speak for themselves and we are all thankful.

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