Julie Ann Hall was 18 when she disappeared after a night out in downtown Madison on Friday, June 16, 1978. She had moved to the city from Fennimore, worked as a library assistant at the State Historical Society, and lived with her brother. She was last seen at the Main King Tap near Capitol Square in the company of an unidentified male friend; an autopsy later showed she had eaten a substantial meal shortly before her death.

Her brother reported her missing, and on Wednesday, June 21 a contractor clearing land off Highway 12 in Waunakee found a shallow grave containing the nude remains of a young woman identified as Julie. Decomposition from exposure complicated the investigation; the coroner estimated she had been dead three to five days. Investigators at first cited blunt force trauma to the head, but later noted only a single mark beneath the jaw, plus bruises and scratches. It could not be determined whether sexual assault occurred.

Detectives interviewed friends and gave polygraphs to several persons of interest, at one point saying they had a very strong suspect, but no arrests were made. In 1984 Henry Lee Lucas confessed and later recanted; investigators found little to link him to the killing. The case remains unsolved and is sometimes associated with other Madison-area murders from that period. If anyone knew Julie, her movements that night, or the person she left the tavern with, please share what you know.