News Scrapbook 1984

El Cajon, CA (San Diego Co.) Dally Californian (D. 100,271)

El Caton, CA (Sen Diego co.) Dally Californian (D. 100,271)

ov 2S 1984

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an disappears in La Mesa

Wonian 's family quietly optimistic By Jo Moreland of The Daily caI1forn111n The home of Anne S_wa~ke was qu1e_t ~his l'f!Orning, the day a fter her family coped with their first Thank giving without her. The22-year-old San Carlos woman disappeared early Tuesday. Her abandoned 1974 Dodge Coll and personal belongings were found about 2:41 am on Jackson Drive near Fletcher Parkway In La Mesa . The car had run out of gas. "We don't know where she could be," Capt. Art Knori of the La Mesa police said thi morning. "With that much time elap ·ed, she could be almost anywhere, given the mobility involved Obviously we don't give up hope Our main concern is to lo<·ate her. Missing people, they show up some times. "The circ-um lances surrounding this case are highly suspect. We are really assuming from what we've seen thai she has been abducted, or kidnapped, or what have you " He said information lips to the department's number at 469-61 11 had dropped off as of mid-morning Peop e may also call Crime Stopper~ at 235-TIPS anonymously. Crim Stopp, rs offers rewards for Information. A reward fund for information lead ng to Swanke's whereabouts is being estabhshed at the LIQ!verslt}'. of San Diego. where she is a seni~r. Donations may be sent to the Anne Swanke Fund, care of the university, San Diego 92110 'W 'r tired but I think we're doing all nght, Anne's mother Kathleen Swanke, said thi morning at the family home on Blue Lake Drive • We had a good Thanksgiving " She and her husband, John, a philosophy pr,,f ~sor at the umvers1ty, are hoping that whoever took Anne or knows about the kidnapping will come forward m some way or I lease her Neither parent feels vindictive 'I've been praying for that person or persons, hoping somehow they'll under.,tand," said Kathleen "I have i;earched my heart, and I don' t have any rage or vengeance in me." · 'Violence begets violence•· John agreed. ''Let's stop it her e." TheJr vvices were soft, qui t echoPS of Thur day s holiday celebration when two tables of family and fnends tried to give thanks in spite of the emptiness of the mi ing loved one The Swankes have six children, mcluding Anne. There's John, 26, Adrienne. 25; Thomas, 23; Hugh, 20, and Julia, 18. 'They're wonderful," said Kathleen "I think their concern is about us. They miss Anne and they feel terrible, but they're still going out, to work, friends ar helping them. I think that's good, healthy." "They probably didn't know how close they are to each other until this happened," said John. They want whoever took Anne to know that she is a gentle, fun-loving person, someone who volunteers to help others, classically elegant, a young woman of great promise as an opera singer as well as a special person individually "Smart as a whip," said Kathleen "That's what we're depending on, that she's using her head." Her father thinks of her as an art collector, someone with the soul of a poet, an honor student - a Patrick Henry High School graduate - with a room full of plaques that include- tributes to her cheerful personality.

r, valuables found abandoned at intersection By Jo Mor of Tho Dally Californian A an Carlo family waited today for police detective Sgt Mike Murphy

'We still want to con ·ider her a a missing person·• He de crlbed the yowig woman as very table Sh is a music major who Is also tudying French at the--Ulliver:stcy of San Die o Her father John Swanke, is a professor h1losophy th re. Anne Swanke sings in opera productions, Murphy said She is to graduate next month. 'She had left her boyfri nd's house and she was en route home, 's id Murphy. " She commented to her boyfriend that she was low on gas. She had run out of gas m the pa t. That s why she had a gas can in the car ·• He said Swanke was conscio f bemg a potential crime victim and arned a na hlight in her purse so she could ch ck under and around her car before getting into it at night. The intersection where the car was found is well-lighted. There's a nearby conve-

nience store and a 24-hour service station just up the street where she bought the gas. "There really wasn·1 anything unusual about the transaction." said station atten- dant Gaile Graham. "I think she was kind of bummed out that she ran out of gas and wasn' t very com- municative. " Swanke didn't show up for work Tuesday night at her job at a Handyman store. The young woman, 5-foot-6 and 125 pounds, with auburn hair and brown eyes, was wearing a white short-sleeved sweater and vest, dark blue polyester pants and brown loafers at the time of her disap- pearance. Anyone with information about her is asked to call La Mesa police at 469-6111 They are working the case in conjwictio with San Diego police, because Swanke lived in the 8700 block of Blue Lake Drive in the San Diego ,uburb of San Carlos.

word of their missing daughter after he th appc r d Tue day und r myst riou cir- cum tanc nnc Swanke's car ran out of gas just before 1 45 a.m at Jackson Dnv and Fl tch r Parkway m La Mesa The 22-ycar- old woman bought a dollar's worth of gas at a n arby service . tat1on and apparently return d to her 1974 Dodg Colt A p.itroilmg La M police officer who thou ht meone had car trouble found the Colt till at the mtc ct1on at 2 41 a m but . w nk wa on H r key , flashlight and th Coit's ga cap were on the car's trunk . An empty gas can wa 111 the r ar of th car Swanke' · purs containing her wallet and money wer on the car's front at The driver's door wa • Th of any struggle " said

Anne Swanke

is ing woman's body found

~-s By Ric ard T. Ruane 1arr Writer

ing. attracted the attention of La Mesa police about 2:30 a.m. He said patrol officers noted the woman's purse on the front seat of her 1974 Dodge Colt. The left door was partially open, an empty gas can was found nearby and the keys to the car and a flashhght were found on the car trunk. There was no sign of a struggle. Police said that after the car ran out of gas the young woman had walked several blocks to a gas station and bad returned to her vehicle. A witness told La Mesa police of seeing Swanke carrying the gas can toward her car about 1:45 a.m. Ano her police official said Swanke apparently was abducted by one or more persons and forced into a vehicle. The FBI had joined the search for her but no leads had been developed. The body was discovered by James McNeely of Spring Valley while biking in the area. McNeely sajd he first "saw something See BODY on Page B-9

The body of a 22-year-old San Carlos woman, missing since early Tu day, was found yesterday morning on a hillside in a remote area of Sprmg Valley The body of Anne Catherine Swanke, an honor stud nt at the University of S.m Diego, was found by a hiker. Th Sheriff's Depart- ment reported the body had a neck wound but declined to relate any further details pe ding an autopsy. as clothed. Coroner David Stark said 1dentif1cat10n of the victim was made through her clothing and Jewelry and her physical descripho . A La Mesa police official said the young woman was last seen at 1:45 a.m. carrymg a gas can toward her car parked near Jackson and Parkway drives, here he had run out of gas. The police official aid the car, with its emergency lights blink- Investigators said the body

Anne Catherine Swanke

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Son Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Son Diego Union (Ci r. D 217,324) (Cir. S. 339,7881

Son Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454)

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/,FBI joins p9lice in search for missing honor student By Joe Hughes { '7 border," _said Bud_Covert, assistant ter d~ppeared she had attende_d a reward fund for information leading Tribune Staff Writer /} · FBI special agent m charge. sorority meetmg, and later VISlted to her return. The FBI has joined (he search for Swanke disappeared early Tues- her boyfriend, a student at San Diego . She is 5-foot-6, 125 pounds, with red Anne Catherine Swanke, the 22-year- day after her 1974 Dodge Colt appar- State University. She left his home at hair, blue eyes and freckles. She was old Universi~ of San Diego honor ently ran out of gas near Jackson and 12:30 a.m. last seen wearing a white sweater student who sappeared Tuesday. Parkway drives in La Mesa. She La Mesa Police found her car with with blue designs and a matching The FBI has begun helping La walked to a service station two the emergency lights blinking, her vest, black pants and brown loafers. Mesa Police, though "there are no blocks away to buy a can of gas, and purse in the car, the left side door / indications at this time of any feder- was last seen about 2 a.m. as she open, and an empty gas can lying in al violJtions: whether she was taken carried it back to her car. the street. The keys to her car were acr~ state lines or an international The abandoned vehicle was found on the trunk along with a flashlight. ./~ · by police an hour later. There was no Swanke, majoring in music and evidence of a struggle. French at USO, lives with her par-

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unusual'' about 7 a.m. "but it didn't register at the time." He said he hikes in the area often and felt somc- thmg was amiss and later discovered the slain girl's body while scanning the hillside with binoculars. The body was found three-quarters of a mile east of the east end of Ele- vator Road. McNeely said sheriff's officer asked him not to reveal additional details, but described the scene as "terribly unpleasant" Discovery of the body battered the hopes of the victim's parents and family. Mi Swanke was a daughter of Kathleen and John Swanke, the latter a USD philosophy professor, and the sister ofJiilia, 18, Adrienne, 25, John, 26, Hugh, 20, and Thom. 24. John Swanke the younger said that "the family will arrange the release of a statement ometime in the fu- ture," and until then any correspond- ence should be directed to the La M police. Earlier, the family had attempted to observe Thanksgiving in a tradi- llonal manner, despite an empty chair at the table. "Everything is as usual," said her father on Thanksgiving evening, "ex- cept in the back of our minds is the heaviness of Anne." Anne Swanke had dreamed of a ca- reer as a professional opera singer, and I arned to play piano to accom- pany herself. LJSted in the 1983 Who's Who in American Universities, she wa a honor student averaging 3.7, tops in her sorority. She worked part-timP at a Handy- man store to pay for her car and also earn d add1t10nal money as a Mary Kay beauty consultant. Earli r in the week, at USO, where Anne Swanke, was to have graduated in June, a fund was started m her name to be used in giving rewards for concrete information in the case. Spok woman Sara Finn reported more than $3,000 in donations, includ- ing $1,000 from the University Con- tributions can be addressed to the Anne Swanke Fund, University of n Diego, San Diego 92110.

"Nothing has panned out," La Mesa Police Capt. Art Knori said of the investigation yesterday. People with information on Swanke's disappearance have been asked to call La Mesa Police at 469- Her father, a USD professor of phi- los?phy, said on the night his daugh- 6111.

ents, John and Kathleen Swanke, in

San Carlos.

Swanke was within five weeks of graduating from USO, where she was a member of Zeta Tau sorority and was active in theater groups. She starred recently in the Verdi opera

"An Elixir of Love."

The university has established a

' LOI Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Co.) Tlm81 (San Diego Ed.)

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StudentB~~to DeathFrom StabWounds, CoronerSays t i) . Unlve 1 ty~ n _·ego honors killed or when her body was her cai:, appar~ntly ran out of gas at There will be 8 Rosary for stud nt nne athenne Swanke dumped on a wind -swept hill near Jackson and Parkway drives. Swanke at 7 pm •ruesday at Our bled to death after she was stabbed Spring Valley. ' La Mesa police discovered her Lady of Grae~ Cath II Ch h and cut nwnerous limes about the The_woman's fully dothed body car about 2,30 a.m. Tuesday. The 2766 NavaJO Road, t cCllJ():,C A nec,k, the Sa~ D!ego County coro- was discovered by a hiker Satur- vehicle's emergency hghll! were funeral MjS$ will be held at the ner • office said Sunday. day. Maugher _s~id the coroner's blinking and Swanke's purse was samec'.htirch at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Deputy Coroner Everett Maugh. office was awaiting test results to on the front seat. A witness later In beu of flowers the family has er said tesl.B were still being per- determine if the victim had been t.old police that Swanke was carry- req~sled that conu-ibutions t.o the formed to determine exacUy when sexually assaulted. mg a gas can and walking toward Anne Swanke MlllllC Scholarship Swanke, 22, died and what type of Swanke, who was five weeks her car at 1,45 a.m. F'und at USO. weapon was uaed by her attacker short of graduation with maJOrs m - or attackers. French and music, had been miss -

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mg since Tuesday. She was returning to her par- ents' home in San Carlos after visiting her boyfriend, a student at San Diego State Uruversity, when

Maugher would only say that the young woman's neck "was slashed by another per&em" and would not speculate as to when Swanke was

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