The Arrest of Robert C. Hansen: Finding Sherry Morrow

By January 1984, Sgt. Glenn Flothe had helped steer the “Butcher, Baker” case from initial suspicion to Hansen’s arrest, confession and, ultimately, to victim recovery at gravesites scattered across the Alaska landscape. Flothe’s life — and this case — had been a whirlwind of non-stop motion. It was time, he decided, to memorialize everything — every finding, every piece of evidence, every interview, every record — that led police and prosecutors to that final disposition. In this first entry from that document, we track the discovery of Sherry Morrow’s body at a remote site on the Knik River. Finding Sherry Morrow proved decisive: it kicked off a series of events that did not stop until Robert Hansen was put away for the rest of his natural life.


9-12-82 Hunters find female clothed body in shallow grave in Knik River sandbar, killed with a .223 caliber slug. Spent .223 caliber shell casing found in grave with victim. Victim’s face wrapped with elastic ace bandage. Area accessible by motor vehicle, airplane, river boat. Sergeant Haugsven assigned case and initiates A.S.T. involvement in A.P.D.’s reported missing dancer cases. Murder weapon believed to be a Mini-14, AR-15, M-16, .223 caliber rifle.
9-27-82 Sergeant Haugsven through dental records identifies victim as that of SHERRY MORROW a waitress-dancer from the Wild Cherry. Reported missing 11-17-81.
Source: Sequence of Events Leading to Arrest of Robert C. Hansen, 1/31/84, Sgt. Glenn Flothe (“Ruff Copy”)


Sherry Morrow

“Not until September 27th was the woman identified. She was twenty-four-year-old Sherry Morrow. In a gruesome twist, she was also known as Sherry Graves. She danced under the name of Georgia at the Wild Cherry Bar in downtown Anchorage and had vanished in November of 1981, leaving all her worldly belongings behind. Publicly, troopers and Anchorage Police said they doubted that Morrow’s murder was related to the disappearance of at least three other dancers from Anchorage since 1980.”
Excerpt From: Walter Gilmour & Leland E. Hale. “Butcher, Baker.”


Purchase Butcher, Baker

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