Nancy Perry Baird

Baird, circa 1975; Ted Bundy in the 1980s

  • Missing Since 07/04/1975
  • Missing From East Layton, Utah
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 01/14/1952 (72)
  • Age 23 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'2 - 5'3, 90 - 100 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A light blue pinstriped smock with an embroidered Fina Station logo, a blue halter top, blue shorts and a small gold pinky ring with a ruby in the center and two smaller rubies on each side.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde/red hair, hazel eyes. Baird may use the last name Perry. She has small scars on the inside of each wrist. Her blood type is O-positive.

Details of Disappearance

Baird was last seen at the Fina gas station in the 200 block of south Highway 89 in East Layton, Utah on July 4, 1975. She was employed there as a service station attendant. A police officer on patrol saw her working alone there, and at 5:30 p.m., less than fifteen minutes later, she was discovered missing.

There was no evidence of robbery and no indications of a struggle, but about $10 worth of gasoline from the station's pumps had not been paid for. Baird's car was found locked and parked in the station lot where she'd left it, her car keys were left behind, and her purse was inside the station, containing her medication and $167 from a recently cashed check.

At the time of her disappearance, Baird lived near the gas station, her four-year-old son lived with relatives, and her ex-husband lived in Wyoming. It's considered unlikely that she would have left of her own free will. Just before her disappearance, witnesses saw a truck at the station; it was never identified and it's unclear whether it had anything to do with her case. Investigators questioned Baird's her ex-husband and two male friends in her case. All of them had been out of state at the time she disappeared and passed polygraph examinations, so they were cleared of suspicion.

Authorities believe Baird was a victim of the serial killer Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy, who was executed in Florida in 1989. A photo of Bundy is posted with this case summary. He was convicted of several murders and is suspected in scores more, including in the disappearances of Ann Marie Burr, Lynette Culver, Julie Cunningham, Susan Curtis, Georgeann Hawkins, Nancy Wilcox, Vicki Hollar, Rita Jolly, Donna Manson, Denise Oliverson and many other girls and young women. The women continue to be listed as missing persons. Their remains have never been recovered.

It should be noted, however, that Bundy never confessed to Baird's murder; in fact, he specifically denied it prior to his execution. Also, in several ways her abduction doesn't fit the profile of his other crimes. Bundy never drove a truck, and Baird was the only possible victim of his that was abducted from a gas station. Baird's case remains open and unsolved.

Updated 5 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 4, 2021; details of disappearance updated.