This week’s Flashback Friday case is Elizabeth Lande, who’s been missing from Philadelphia since December 12, 1971. Her boyfriend, Bobby Nauss, was convicted of her murder in 1977. This MWAB case is a bit unusual because Nauss admitted from the outset that Elizabeth was dead. However, he claimed her death was a suicide (by hanging) and he only disposed of her body.
Although it’s worth noting that Elizabeth had psychiatric problems, doctors who testified at the trial don’t believe she was suicidal, and when your girlfriend hangs herself a normal person’s reaction would not be “gotta go dump her in the Pine Barrens.”
The Charley Project Blog 
A bit about Lizze; from my two part post “The Warlocks; The Castle, and the missing and murdered women of Delaware County”
…“The Castle became a semi free zone, where rival bike gangs put aside their differences to indulge in drugs and the young women there. No one seemed to care what happened to the 15 to 21 year old women days, weeks, even months later. When reported missing, authorities initially discounted them as wild teen runaways, known drug users, or worse.”…
…“When several young women who also hung out at the “Castle” with them began disappearing in the early to mid-1970s, the Warlocks would be forever linked in local memory to the “missing girls” of Delaware County.
One of the women associated with the Warlocks was 21-year-old Elizabeth Ann Lande. Called “Lizzie” by family and friends the Philadelphia Community College student was at home in the Overbrook Park neighborhood of Philadelphia during the evening hours of December 12, 1971. She got a call from Robert Nauss, who she was dating at the time. He asked her to spend the weekend with him.
Several of Lizzie’s girlfriends were at her home that night and urged her not to go, but she said she would. At about 1:50 a.m. a neighbor saw Lizzie leave her home and get into a gold Oldsmobile Toronado. Elizabeth Lande has not been seen or heard from since.
Another was Beth Smith Dusenberg, 19, a stenographer, who made good grades in high school. She was last seen on the night of January 13, 1974 when she left her home in Drexel Hill after someone honked a car horn outside. She would remain a missing person for seven years“
…”Mary Ann Lees, 15, and Layne Dorothy Spicer, 16, were best friends and next door neighbors.”…
“…Denise Marie Seaman, 17, was last seen alive by her boyfriend standing outside the MacDade Mall on May 10, 1975.”…
“…At 20, Debra Jean Delozier of Collingdale was a few years older then the others. She was last seen alive on August 16, 1975.”…
”…“Contemporary news reports stated that before Denise and Debra’s bodies were recovered their disappearance was already linked to that of Elizabeth Lande. By then Lizzie had been missing for almost four years.”…
If interested, a link to the full post
If anyone ever finds her in the Pine Barrens it will be through random chance.
I’m interested in the fact that the guy escaped prison in 1983 and wasn’t found until 1990. I always find it really interesting when someone is successfully able to live under an alias for a prolonged period of time. There are several MPs (not fugitives though) who I suspect have gone that route.
One of my good friends, who is a bit older than I, went to high school with Liz and mentions that she was always a “wild child”. Another of their group wrote an interesting article on Liz, without mentioning her name(I figured out who it was) and I will link if it I can re-find it.
I think I know too
http://www.afterfiftyliving.com/socialcenter/tag_sharedstories/A_Virtual_Class_Reunion/#.UtrxfldjNOA.facebook- Liz is mentioned half way down as being “killed by a motorcycle gang”
Wow Amy, thanks for that link. It tells me a bit more about Liz but what I really found interesting was the authors stroll down memory lane. I also graduated from high school in ‘67, although NMHS’s class was only one fifth the size of Overbrook High. What I found fascinating is that she recalls many of the same things I did, memories I have used on occasion in telling about historic cases.
Again if interested a link to Castaic Jane Doe.. Found on 9/7/69 in Castaic, California.
My post is titled; “Death Of A Dream”
BTW Starr Dawn Lara, who posted a comment on this link is the owner of “Vintage Starr” a online vintage clothing store and the little sister of Jamie Grisim, who vanished on December 7, 1971 while walking home from high school in Vancouver, Washington.
I can think of several reasons you dispose of someone’s remains. But because they had committed suicide ISN’T ONE! HOW RIDICULOUS! He just made himself look MORE guilty! And since he is said to have disposed of her in the “Pine Barrens”. He could have easily come up with something better. After all, They still haven’t found her!