Pauline Dudley left her parents home on Lakeshore Dr. in Oakville around 10 p.m. to hitchhike her way back to the apartment she shared with her boyfriend in Milton. Her decomposed body was found by a farmer in his Oakville field August 28, 1973.

Seventeen-year-old Pauline Dudley had settled down in a Milton apartment with her boyfriend after they had spent some time travelling. She was looking forward to finding a job and had recently filled out applications for secretarial work in the area.

She spent some time with friends on Monday, August 10, 1973, before she was dropped off at her parents home on Lakeshore Drive, in the Bronte area of Oakville. Her mother saw her off around 10 p.m. that evening as Pauline planned to hitchhike home to Milton, but her boyfriend said she never arrived. He reported her missing the next day.

A farmer found her fully-clothed body in his Oakville wheat field at Lower Base Line and Hwy #25 on August 28, 1983. Her killer had partially concealed her body under hay and her wallet was found lying close by.

Her body was too decomposed to established cause of death or whether she had been sexually assaulted, although it was reported that she suffered a hairline fracture to her jaw. Police collected DNA evidence from the scene.

• Her killer was probably a stranger that picked her up while she was hitchhiking
• Robbery was not a motive as her wallet was found at the scene
• Her boyfriend has been totally cleared as a suspect in the case
• DNA evidence was recovered from the scene although it is not known if it is too degraded to test

SUPECTS

Larry Talbot (pseudonym)

In his book, “A Viable Suspect:The Story of Multiple Murders and How a Police Force’s Reach Proved Too Short for Canada’s Most Notorious Cold Case”, retired OPP officer Barry Ruhl believes a serial killer he calls Larry Talbot could be responsible for the death of Pauline Ivy Dudely, as well as many other girls and women in southwestern Ontario.

At the time of Pauline’s murder, Ruhl was the prime suspect in the case.

In 1971, Talbot broke into Ruhl’s Sauble Beach cottage and attacked his fiancée. Luckily, Ruhl interrupted the assault and arrested Talbot at the scene.

A traveling salesman, Talbot frequented the highways of southwestern Ontario and a “rape kit” was found in his car, but he died before he was thoroughly investigated for any unsolved murders, including:

• Lynne Harper, 12, from Vanastra. Her 1959 murder saw Steven Truscott wrongly convicted.
• Lynda White, 19, went missing from London in 1968. Her remains were found in Norfolk County in 1973.
• Jacqueline English, 15, went missing from London in 1969. Her body was found near Tilsonburg.
• Christine Prince, from Toronto, was killed in 1982. Her body was found floating in Toronto’s Rouge River.
• Delia Adriano, 25, from Oakville, was killed in 1982. Her body was found in rural Oakville west of  Campbellville.
• Leah Sousa, 13, from Cumberland Beach, was killed in 1992. Her body was found in her back yard.
• Valerie Stevens, 19, from Toronto, murdered in 1992. Her body was found in Burford.
• Cindy Hallaway, 17, last seen in Midland, was murdered in 1992. Her body was found near Phelpston.