The third-party reporting system was less of a bust than Gilmour thought. Because of it, troopers had a report. That report led to further investigation. They were getting somewhere. The third-party report was taking them there. Just not as far as they’d like.
Walter J. Gilmour
“The victim was a dancer at an unnamed Anchorage nightclub, who had met her assailant at the club one evening and given him her phone number. The man called her on the 28th of September and made a date, telling her to meet him at the Fork & Spoon restaurant. When she arrived for her rendezvous, he pulled a gun and forced her into his car — but not before the woman had memorized the license number, make and model of the car.
’70s Anchorage, 4th Avenue Anchorage, where the club scene was centered (photo credit Stephen Cysewski)
“The assailant drove the dancer north of Anchorage to a state park in Chugiak, where he raped her, performed cunnilingus on her and forced her to perform fellatio on him. He was, she reported, demanding as he expressed his commands, telling her, ‘If you don’t do as you’re told, I’ll kill you.’
Ptarmigan Valley Trail, Chugiak, Alaska
“He added that he worked on the pipeline, and that he and a friend who also worked the pipeline were raping women in the Anchorage area. Then he played what he saw as his high card. ‘Besides, I know you won’t be a good witness against me. You’re a nude dancer and prostitute.’
“Despite the tenousness of the lead, Investigator Sam Barnard followed up and checked the car’s license number with the Division of Motor Vehicles. His routine investigation revealed that the license had been issued to Robert C. Hansen. Barnard went to the listed address and observed a 1974 Volvo station wagon that perfectly matched the vehicle identified by the anonymous dancer. Knowing this much, Barnard then procured an unmarked photograph of Hansen and gave it to the victim through Sheryl Messer.”
1974 Volvo station wagon
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