Episode 46: SERIAL KILLER: Pamela Maurer - Woodbridge, IL

A teenage girl on a short errand, a body tossed along a suburban road, and a mystery that went unsolved for four decades. How did DNA finally unmask Pamela Maurer’s killer – and are there more victims still waiting to be heard?

Episode Summary

Pamela Maurer, a 16‑year‑old junior at Downers Grove South High School in Woodridge, Illinois, left a friend’s house around 9:30 p.m. on January 12, 1976, to get a soda from McDonald’s. When she didn’t return, her parents notified the police. Road workers found her body the next morning near College Road and Maple Avenue. An autopsy showed she had been sexually assaulted and strangled, and investigators suspected a rubber hose found near her was the ligature.

Investigators preserved DNA evidence but had no leads. In 2001, they created a DNA profile that yielded no match. The case stayed cold until 2019, when DuPage County detectives used genetic genealogy to build a family tree from the crime‑scene DNA. They identified Bruce Lindahl as the killer. He had died in 1981 after severing his femoral artery while stabbing another man, but his exhumed remains matched the preserved evidence. Authorities announced the case was solved in January 2020.

Lindahl has been linked to other disappearances, including Debra Colliander and Deborah McCall, and police suspect he may have assaulted multiple young women. Investigators continue to seek information about Lindahl’s other potential victims. Tips can be reported to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office at 630‑407‑8107.

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