Karen Jean Lee was 15 when she vanished from Cornelius, Oregon, on May 26, 1977. Brown hair, brown eyes, with distinctive scars on her upper lip and left knee, she had recently moved from Wisconsin and was reported to be struggling to adjust. Karen and a 14-year-old companion, Rodney Grissom, planned to run away and hitchhike to California; Rodney was last seen on May 24, 1977.

Later that year, belongings belonging to both teens were found bundled in a blanket and tied with rope in very bad terrain off a logging road near Soda Fork in eastern Linn County. Items included Karen’s jeans (which appeared cut), pages from her journal, a blouse she had sewn, one shoe still laced, and Rodney’s watch and personal effects. In 1982 loggers recovered more clothing and Rodney’s wallet and identification in the same area.

The placement and condition of the items have led investigators to treat the disappearances as suggesting foul play, and the case remains open with the Hillsboro Police Department. Did anyone in the community know where Karen and Rodney intended to go or who might have driven them that day?