Skeleton Not That Of Bundy Victim

TACOMA - A skeleton found 20 years ago in the foothills of Mount Rainier is not that of Donna Gail Manson, one of serial killer Ted Bundy's victims, the missing student's parents say.

A key piece of evidence was a multicolored shirt found with the remains in 1978. But it was not the same one 19-year-old Manson was last seen wearing when she vanished March 12, 1974, Pierce County Detective Sgt. Bob Hoffman said yesterday.

The girl's parents, Marie and Lyle Manson of Auburn, were shown a photograph of the shirt and said their daughter did not own it, Hoffman said.

Manson was last seen headed for a jazz concert on the Evergreen State University campus in Olympia.

Within 10 days, the Thurston County Sheriff's Department was investigating her as a missing person.

On Aug. 29, 1978, two fishermen came upon a human skull while walking in the foothills of Mount Rainier, southwest of Eatonville. Searchers combed the area and found more human bones, hair and clothing - including a multicolored striped shirt.

Forensics specialists said the body probably belonged to a female, between 15 and 20 years old, about 5 feet 7. She had shoulder-length brown hair, and had suffered a nonfatal blow to the head.

Bundy was executed in Florida nine years ago for killing a 12-year-old schoolgirl. Before his death, he the former law-school student confessed to killing Manson, making her one of 28 known Bundy victims from Washington, Utah, Colorado and Florida.