Linda was last seen with her husband, David A. Hamilton, and their two young children inside their house on Route 164 in Beaver Township, Ohio on September 20, 1977. A photograph of David is posted below this case summary. That morning David was found dead in his home; he had been shot three times with a .38 caliber gun. Linda was missing and so was the couple's vehicle. The children were unharmed; they had slept through their father's murder. In the yard of the house was a bicycle that had been stolen from a neighbor several doors down the street.

The Hamilton's car was later found parked at the entrance of a closed strip mine off State Route 7, near the truck stop where Linda worked. A man's boot prints and a woman's bare footprints lead away from the driver's side. Sometimes the woman's prints indicated she was walking and sometimes the prints were dragging, as if she was being pulled along. There was no sign of her, or anyone else, at the scene.

Authorities initially suspected Linda had murdered her husband, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. The warrant remained active for several years following her disappearance, but investigators eventually concluded that some other person or persons had murdered David and Linda had been abducted by the killer(s).

Edward Surratt is considered the prime suspect in Linda's disappearance and David's murder. A photograph of him is posted below this case summary. He is currently serving multiple life sentences in a Florida prison and is suspected of at least 18 murders, including the disappearance of Ranee Gregor and the murder of her boyfriend. In 2007, Surratt admitted to killing the Hamiltons and two other couples. He stated Linda's body was "unrecoverable." In exchange for his statements he asked to be transferred to a prison in South Carolina. Authorities stated Surratt's admissions were vague and they would like more detailed confessions from him. He has not been charged in connection with David's homicide or Linda's disappearance.

Foul play is suspected in Linda's disappearance, which remains unsolved.

Left: Edward Surratt, circa 2007;
Right: David Hamilton, circa 1977