The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Detective's Division re-processed the location of a crime scene relating to the 1973 murder of Susan Wickersham in an attempt to find any evidence that may aid in solving the decades-old unsolved crime.
On Tuesday, September 12, detectives including two members of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Squad assisted an FBI crime scene processing team from Portland. 15 volunteers from the sheriff’s office search and rescue unit participated in the search near Knott and Scalehouse Roads, said Sgt. Kevin Dizney.
Wickersham, a 17-year-old Bend resident, went missing in 1973 and in 1976 most of her remains were found near a truck weigh station on Highway 97 near Deschutes River Woods.
Susan Wickersham
In September of 2004, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office announced the formation of a "Cold Case Squad" designed to tackle unsolved murders that remain on the books after years, if not decades. As members of the squad, retired law enforcement volunteers comply with all applicable sheriff’s office policies and procedures as well as Oregon and Federal laws, and are closely supervised by detective sergeants and investigative captains.