Remains of Roger Kibbe Victim Identified
on June 29, 2011 in Serial Killers by Brian Combsin 1977, Lou Ellen Burleigh left her home in Walnut Creek, California, to go to a job interview. She never returned.
Her car was found some time later in Pleasant Hill. A bone fragment found earlier this year finally solved the case definitively.
Roger Kibbe, who was in custody for another murder in 2002, confessed to the kidnapping, rape and murder of Lou Ellen. Investigators brought Kibbe to several possible dumping sites, but her body could not be found. Additional searches in 2007 also come up empty.
Napa County sheriff’s depute Michael Bartlett was especially bothered by the cold case. He met with Napa County District Attorney’s investigator Mike Frey, reviewing Frey’s notes and maps.
Using old photographs, he was able to pinpoint the exact place were Lou Ellen had been buried. On March 10, 2011, he was searching an area along a small creek near Lake Berryessa, when something glinting in the water caught his eye.
It was a small piece of bone sticking out of the creek bed.
An anthropologist from California State University confirmed that it was from the pelvic bone of a female. DNA later confirmed it was from Lou Ellen.
No additional remains have been found, and no more searches are planned.
Kibbe was convicted in 2009 of six murders, including Lou Ellen’s. He is serving multiple life sentences without any possibility of parole.
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