SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane, and the Pacific Northwest in general, are famous for creepy tales and supernatural lore. But many residents may not know that serial killer Ted Bundy made a stop in the Lilac City in the early 1970s.
Bundy, who strangled young girls in several states after taking them for a ride in his Volkswagen Bug, was born in Vermont, raised in Brownsport, Washington, went to school in Tacoma and later attended the University of Washington.
According to the Department of Justice’s 1992 Ted Bundy Multiagency Investigate Team Report, there is record of Bundy's one-night stay at the Davenport Hotel on May 17, 1973. There is no additional information about his time at the iconic Spokane landmark.
Directly after Bundy’s stop in Spokane, he headed to Olympia and then Enumclaw in Western Washington, according to the report.
This information can be found on page 19 of the DOJ’s report.
KREM 2 reached out to a Davenport Hotel spokesman who has worked at the Davenport for 17 years. He said he has never heard any stories about Bundy's stay at the hotel.
On Sep. 2, 1974, Bundy drove through Boise, Idaho, while moving from Seattle, Wash. to Salt Lake City, Utah. During that time, he picked up an unknown hitchhiker and killed her, according to page 30 of the DOJ report. He then dumped her body in the Snake River. The victim was never identified and her body was not found.
Reports from Gonzaga University's student newspaper The Gonzaga Bulletin also claim that Bundy stopped by a campus dorm for a party in the 1970s and drove a female student to Pullman. She miraculously survived. KREM 2 has not yet been able to confirm this story.
The report also details some other interesting parts of Bundy’s past, including a lengthy list of occupations. They are: bellboy, busboy, cook’s helper, dishwasher, hotel worker, janitor, law school student, legal messenger, office worker, parking attendant, political campaign worker, psychiatric social worker, salesman, saw mill worker, security guard and yacht club worker.
Bundy confessed to killing 23 women before he was sentenced to death and executed in Jan. 1989 but the true number of his victims remains unknown. This year marks 30 years since Bundy was executed.
Bundy was convicted of killing two coeds on Jan. 15, 1978 at Florida State University in Tallahassee. On the same day, he bludgeoned three other women who miraculously survived his attack. His final death warrant resulted from his killing of a 12-year-old girl who disappeared from school on Feb. 9, 1978. Her remains were discovered in April of the same year.
The Davenport has a history of spooky sights and paranormal activity. In 1889, a young man by the name of Llewellyn Marks “Louis” Davenport arrived in Spokane. He opened a waffle restaurant, which grew into an exclusive eatery and turned into what we know today as The Davenport Hotel.
Davenport was known to habitually wake at 3 a.m. and tour the hotel in his bathrobe and slippers, concerned for his guests' happiness. He lived in Suite 1103 until his death in 1951.
Frequently since then, members of the night shift have reported a ghost-like figure roaming the halls in a bathrobe and slippers.
The hotel has hosted a number of other famous guests, including local celebrity Bing Crosby, Amelia Earhart, actor Samuel L. Jackson, band Fleetwood Mac and Vice President Dick Cheney, to name a few.