She had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death. Jennifer’s body had been found in the woods, hidden with some brush. 28, 1986 as Pattie was painting the dining room of her Tacoma home to get her mind off the search for her youngest daughter, a Tacoma Police detective came to deliver the crushing news. Jennifer’s not dead,’” Pattie recalled.īut on Aug. “She was very, very sweet, very nice, I said, ‘thank you’, she left, and I said to a friend who was sitting there ‘I’m not sure why she came. Leonard paid a visit to Bastian’s mom, Pattie Bastian, but while Pattie thought it was a considerate gesture, she was adamant that her daughter had not met the same grim fate. Police and volunteers combed the park for weeks searching for Jennifer, but found no sign of her. Jennifer - who had blonde hair and blue eyes like Michella - had been testing out her new Schwinn bike on the afternoon of Aug. Then, just five months later, 13-year-old Jennifer Bastian disappeared during a bike ride through Point Defiance Park. In the weeks that would follow, investigators received numerous tips including one from a man who said he was jogging in nearby Point Defiance Park and had spotted a man who seemed to fit the description of the killer.īut without more to go on, Michella’s killer evaded authorities.

One of Michella’s classmates reported seeing a man in the park looking at the sisters on the day of the murder and was able to provide enough details for a sketch artist to create a rendering. The killing sent a chill through the quiet Tacoma community. It’s terrible,” her mom, Barbara Leonard, told 'Dateline' correspondent Keith Morrison of the moment her life changed forever. “I was in one of the police cars and they told me that they’d found her body and you know when you say found a body, it’s not a person. Her throat had been slashed and she’d been beaten and sexually assaulted. Police found Michella’s body with the help of a search dog near a makeshift fire pit hidden amongst the trees. “I just knew that something had happened.” “And at that moment I knew,” Nicole would later recall to “Dateline: Secrets Uncovered,' airing Wednesdays at 8/7c on Oxygen. They used their “family call”-a loud yelp that echoed throughout the park-but Michella never returned the signal. When they returned, they found Michella’s bike but no sign of their sister. It would be the last time they ever saw their big sister.Īfter she rode off, Angela and Nicole realized they had to go to the bathroom and briefly left the park to find a nearby restroom. Michella offered to ride back home to get the meal, leaving Angela and Nicole behind. The trio arrived at the picturesque park tucked into the trees only to realize that they had forgotten their picnic lunch back at home. Watch Dateline: Secrets Uncovered Peacock and the Oxygen App.

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