Oliverson had an argument with her husband on the afternoon of Sunday, April 6, 1975. She left their Grand Junction, Colorado home to go on a bike ride to her parents' home and cool down. Her bicycle was a yellow ten-speed model. Oliverson never arrived at her parents' residence. The next day, searchers found her bicycle and sandals under a viaduct near a railroad bridge close to the Colorado River on U.S. Route 50, along the route she would have probably taken.

The serial killer Ted Bundy confessed to Oliverson's murder shortly before his 1989 execution. He stated he abducted her, killed her in his car near the Utah state line, and dumped her body in the Colorado River. A photo of Bundy is posted below this case summary. He made his claims to Robert D. Keppel, Ph.D., one of the investigators of unsolved crimes believed to be connected to Bundy. Oliverson was never located, but she is believed to be another victim of Bundy, along with Nancy Baird, Ann Marie Burr, Lynette Culver, Julie Cunningham, Susan Curtis, Georgeann Hawkins, Vicki Hollar, Rita Jolly, Debra Kent, Donna Manson, Nancy Wilcox and other young women. The women continue to be listed as missing persons. Their remains have never been recovered.

Above: Bundy, circa 1980s