Susan LeMahieu was 24 and living at Allen Hall, a facility for adults with cognitive disabilities, when she was last seen in her room on December 15, 1979. She wasn’t reported missing until four days later; at first police considered that she might have wandered off because she was known to do so.

In April 1980 her nude body was found in a marshy area of the Madison Arboretum. An autopsy showed multiple stab wounds to the chest, and the Dane County Sheriff’s Office opened a major crimes investigation. Her murder was later grouped with several other Madison-area slayings called the Capital City Killings, which involved young women often connected to the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Henry Lee Lucas later confessed to some of the Capital City Killings, including Susan’s, but authorities doubted those confessions. No one has been arrested or convicted in Susan LeMahieu’s murder and the case remains open. If anyone knew Susan, saw her in mid-December 1979, or has information about the Capital City Killings, please come forward.