Case 72-0173: Exploration Pt. 1

The Epic Return to Wawawai Canyon

My documentation specialist and I hiked down the canyon. This gully she was in 50 years ago was incredibly steep. The ground was extremely overgrown. Below are the unedited raw photos I took at the bottom. 

Joyce LePage’s remains were not carefully dragged down the incline. Instead, I theorize she was removed from the vehicle, set on the edge, and pushed down. Perhaps the assailant climbed down after to move her remains further. 

However, her forensic reports indicate that her skeletal remains were missing teeth, bones, and more. If pushed down, she may have bounced, and her body could have smashed against the many rocks and trees at the bottom. 

Parts of her remains, after 50 years, could very well be at the bottom; however unlikely it is, there is always a possibility. 

I also speculate that her assailant did not leave the scene of Wawawai Canyon unscathed.

I observed a treacherous landscape that seemed impossible to drag and move a body down without force. Myself, an experienced hiker, even struggled to get to the bottom. Aside from Joyce being a fighter, the landscape at the bottom and around the location where her remains were found is rough. There are lots of thorns, branches, and rocks. If the suspect didn’t have any minor flesh wounds, as I myself received, he definitely would have been covered in burdocks and dirt. 

I can see how her remains may not have been fully recovered. In the spot she was found, the creek most likely flushed away some of her remains as scavengers and decomposition progressed in the sweltering heat in Eastern Washington. 

Six teeth were not recovered from the site. She was missing one of her incisors (her left front tooth). Her missing teeth were primarily in the front of her mouth. She may have smashed into something on her way down, or she could have been beaten. However, the FBI reports that there wasn’t conclusive evidence of skull damage besides her missing teeth and a yellow stain on her skull. 

Her assailant had to have had the physical strength and endurance to do the climb and move her remains. I do not know if he would have had the endurance to go up and down such a steep hill with Joyce’s remains and have the emotional strength to leave her when it was known that he was pursuing her romantically. I do not know any of the suspects. Still, I have read that people called this specific person of interest “overweight” in all the reports and filings. 

This person of interest did pass a polygraph and resided in Moses Lake with his wife of 45 years. Something tells me he wouldn’t have the emotional and mental strength to dispose of Joyce like that. 

However, he was never clear on answers in his interviews. 

Unrelated, but we did learn of a professional writer that was friends with Joyce. Her name was Kirshner? I hope to visit Joyce’s vault, where her cremated remains are in Pasco, sometime soon. 

April 16th is the anniversary of when her remains were found. On April 16th, I will head to the canyon again and leave flowers. 

Meeting Bruce LePage and Touring WSU

Today was a busy day. We finally met Bruce LePage today. 

He was kind and incredibly forthcoming with information. As he showed me around WSU and the canyon, more and more things started making sense. I discovered that Stevens Hall is the oldest building at WSU and the longest-occupied dormitory west of the Mississippi. 

This building was under renovation in the summer of 1971. 

This was during the time Joyce disappeared and was killed. 

We walked around Stevens Halls, and it would have been effortless for her to break in from the basement level. The piano was reported to be in the main entry area of the front of the dorm. She had to have walked about half a mile from the apartment she shared with another individual. 

Meaning the idea that her ex-roommate did it is plausible. 

He would have had to follow her and know when she was there. They were not particularly close, Bruce reports. 

However, after the tour, I left with a deeper understanding of her case, a plethora of B-Roll and interview footage, boxes of Joyce’s old things, and Bruse’s information collection on the case. 

I will observe and read everything in the box later tomorrow. 

Wawawai Photo Gallery