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Linda Jozovich, a resident of Santa Clara, had stepped out of her workplace to eat her lunch in her car when it was the last time that she was seen. On November 7, 1979, Linda Jozovich disappeared from the parking lot of Mervyn's Department Store.
Her remains were discovered by a hiker at the Lexington Reservoir in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, in 1995 and again in 2004, which confirmed her death. However, her killer, Terry Childs, confessed in October 2007, when he was serving time for the murder of Lois Sigala.
The first episode of Bodies in the Wilderness showcases the missing and murder case of Linda Jozovich, as the synopsis reads,
"When 19-year-old Linda Jozovich vanishes from work one night in 1979, it just doesn't make sense to her Santa Cruz community; years later, the murder of another local teen, Lois Sigala, sends investigators a step closer to solving Linda's case."
The episode aired on February 8, 2024, at 9 p.m. EST on Investigation Discovery.
What happened to Linda Jozovich? Details explored
Linda Ann Jozovich was born on July 6, 1960, to parents Suzanne “Sue” Rankin Jozovich and Donald Joseph “Don Beach” Jozovich in Cupertino, Santa Clara County, California, United States. She was the middle child in a family with five daughters.
Jozavick studied at De Anza College in Cupertino and was active in sports as a 19-year-old. In her time off, she worked as a sales clerk at Mervyn's Department Store in Santa Clara. On what seemed to be a regular day at work on November 7, 1979, Linda disappeared from the parking lot of the department store.
Per The Cinemaholic, Linda Jozovich had left work to eat lunch in her car in the parking lot. However, that was the last time her colleagues saw her at work. As she failed to return to work, her co-workers called her parents to inform them of her prolonged absence. However, she was filed as a missing person only 72 hours later, as she was an adult at the time she disappeared.
Linda Jozovich was nowhere to be found for the next 28 years until her killer came forth with his confession. In the years between, Linda's lower jawbone and several ribs were discovered at the Lexington Reservoir in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, in 1995, according to the Nevada Appeal. Her skull and upper jaw were recovered from the same area in 2004.
Who killed Linda Jozovich?
Terry Childs, the American serial killer apprehended on August 22, 1985, for the murder of 17-year-old Lois 'Jeanine' Sigala, confessed to eleven murders he had committed since 1979. He confessed to the murder of 19-year-old Linda Ann Jozovich on October 12, 2007, leading to a break into the years-long missing person case.
Terry Childs confessed to taking Linda's life by beating her up, strangling her, and stabbing her to death. According to the Nevada Appeal, he had left his home in a fit of rage. As he encountered Jozovich in the parking lot of her workplace, he pushed her into the car and drove off to the Lexington Reservoir.
Childs then pulled out Linda and violently beat her. He then strangled her to death with his belt and then repeatedly stabbed her till she was dead. He left her in the spot only to come back and drive her body to move it to a new location. Jozovich's car was found near a medical center in San Jose, California.
Terry Childs is presently serving five life imprisonment terms at the Salinas Valley State Prison, Soledad, California.
