MURDERED: Joyce LePage
In the summer of 1971, 21-year-old Joyce LePage disappears after a skydiving lesson followed by a beer with friends. In the beginning, the only clue is a piece of missing carpet that was cut out from a vacant dorm on the campus of Washington State University where Joyce had been secretly squatting. Her belongings, her car and her body would all be found in different places, and they all point to different suspects.
Joyce LePage
Courtesy: Bruce LePage
Joyce LePage
Courtesy: Bruce LePage
The LePage family
Courtesy: Bruce LePage
Joyce and her brother, Bruce LePage, headed to Washington State University
Courtesy: Bruce LePage
Joyce’s roommate, Bruce Bierbaum
Courtesy: Whitman County Sheriff’s Office
The exterior of Stevens Hall
Courtesy: Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC), Washington State University Libraries
Wawawai Canyon
Courtesy: Sheriff Brett Myers
Where Joyce’s body was recovered in Wawawai Canyon
Courtesy: Whitman County Sheriff’s Office
The carpet from Stevens Hall that Joyce was found wrapped in
Courtesy: Whitman County Sheriff’s Office
A lounge area in Stevens Hall with a piano
Courtesy: Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC), Washington State University Libraries
Timeline:
Joyce writes a letter to her family saying she plans to return home that weekend.
Evening
Joyce, Hal Wood and Patty drive from Pullman to the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport for a skydiving lesson. After the lesson, they stop at a tavern in Moscow.
About 10 p.m.
Hal and Patty drop Joyce off outside her apartment in Pullman. This is the last confirmed sighting of Joyce alive.
8:22 a.m.
A custodian reports a 5-by-5-foot section of green carpet missing from Stevens Hall and police find Joyce’s belongings inside Stevens Hall
Joyce never arrives at her family’s home in Pasco as planned. She misses both the Water Follies and her eye doctor’s appointment.
Joyce’s father, Walter, reports her missing to campus police.
About 1:15 p.m.
Police locate Joyce’s locked 1966 Dodge Coronet parked on Opal Street.
A teenage boy and his mother discover human remains in Wawawai Canyon and deputies recover Joyce’s body wrapped in the missing green carpet from Stevens Hall.
Stevens Hall, Pullman, WA
Where Joyce secretly stayed during summer renovations.
Joyce's Apartment, Pullman, WA
Where Hal and Patty dropped Joyce off around 10 p.m. on July 22, marking the last confirmed sighting of her alive.
Moscow, ID
Where Joyce, Hal, and Patty stopped for beers after skydiving.
Opal St., Pullman, WA
Where police located Joyce’s abandoned Dodge Coronet outside a fraternity house.
Pasco, WA
Where Joyce planned to visit her family for the Water Follies and an eye doctor’s appointment, but never arrived.
Wawawai Canyon, Whitman County, WA
Where Joyce’s remains were discovered on April 16,1972, wrapped in the missing green carpet from Stevens Hall.
Tips:
If you know anything about the murder of Joyce LePage, call the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office at (509) 397-6266.
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Episode Source Material
- Original reporting by Emily Mieure
- Tolley, Fay. “Bundy tie to WSU death unresolved.” Tri-City Herald, 25 Jan. 1989. Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/821669103. Accessed 07 Apr. 2026.
- Harnack, Olivia. “COLD CASE: 50 years later, student’s death remains unsolved.” Whitman County Gazette, 14 Apr. 2022. https://www.wcgazette.com/story/2022/04/14/news/cold-case-50-years-later-students-death-remains-unsolved/37094.html. Accessed 07 Apr. 2026.
- Neptune Society, obituary pages. Accessed June 26, 2026.
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