She was strangled by her stepfather, Amos Emery Yeigh, on October 17, 1962 and hidden under her bed. He told her mother, who had been out on an errand, that she had gone out on a date, and then disappeared - Ms. Yeigh found her body the next day. He quickly became the prime suspect in the killing, and a manhunt was launched across the western states. He finally surrendered to police on October 22, 1962.