Police reopen case of pregnant woman missing for 47 years

By Pat Reavy

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    MURRAY, Utah (KTNV) — Murray police have reopened the case of a pregnant woman who went missing 47 years ago after telling her husband she was going on a road trip.

Linda Hanoian Peterson, 29, was last seen on Sept. 16, 1978. She told her husband she was going to Kentucky with two of her girlfriends. But by Sept. 30, 1978, Peterson’s husband reported her as missing. She remains listed today as a missing person.

Over the years, and as DNA technology has advanced, Murray police have reviewed the case and reassigned it to different detectives to work on. Detectives Kaylene Gruendell and Abraham Gutierrez have been actively working the case for the past month, and already have had success in locating two of Peterson’s natural siblings.

“This is a huge thing for this case. And the reason is any unidentified body that we have had between 1978 and now, we’ve never been able to test to find out if it is our missing person’s case,” Gruendell said.

But now, with two birth siblings identified, Gruendell said DNA samples have been collected and profiles are being created to be entered into national databases in hopes of generating a “hit.” One of the biggest obstacles over the years in the case is that police do not have a DNA sample from Peterson. And because she was adopted at birth in Glendale, California, it took police in Utah decades to successfully petition for a nonredacted adoption record.

Police would like to know if something bad happened to Peterson or if she simply “packed up and left” to start a new life, and whether she is still alive or has since died. A Deseret News article from 1985 quotes Sgt. Dee Rowland as saying Peterson was “undoubtedly the victim of a homicide.”

“Another reason it’s so important to reach out … (and) why we’re looking at this case is it’s 47 years later: So, we are running out of time to find anyone who knew her that we could possibly interview,” Gruendell said.

Peterson was working as a nurse at the University of Utah Hospital in 1978 and was five months pregnant. On Sept. 16, 1978, she went to her husband’s work near 700 East and 2100 South. According to police reports, she told him she was going back to Kentucky with two friends to visit. One of those friends she was allegedly driving with was named either Susan or Suzanne, Gutierrez said.

However, Peterson only lived in Kentucky for four months. And after she disappeared, investigators learned through interviews that “there was no reason for her to go to Kentucky,” Gutierrez said.

“We have not been able to identify who she went with, who the friends were that she went with, and we have not been able to (find) enough evidence to corroborate that she actually left to Kentucky,” he said.

Furthermore, there have been no additional reports of missing people or a missing car. Gruendell added that there is no evidence showing Peterson ever left Utah.

Now, as detectives wait for DNA tests to be completed, they are hoping to speak with anyone who may have known Peterson and has any information at all, no matter how small, to help police “connect the dots.” Peterson’s husband has since died, and police say the couple was living in a rental property in 1978, so they can’t trace who might have been a neighbor back then.

Anyone with information about Peterson is asked to contact detective Gruendell at 801-264-2673 or kgruendell@murray.utah.gov.

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