The Kidnapping of Lynn Ruth Connes, May 1976
Lynn Connes, 20, was from North Carolina. She left her mother and younger brother, Lee, to move to California, where she could foster her artistry. According to Lee, he always looked up to his older sister, who he described as loving, passionate, and naturally talented.
At the time of her disappearance she lived in an apartment at 2817 Regent St in Berkeley, Alameda County, CA and worked part-time as a telephone solicitor in Marin County.
Lynn had recently advertised for employment as a photographer's model in the newspaper The Berkeley Barb, and a man who identified himself as "Jeff" called her, answering her ad. They agreed to meet at the Bateau Ivre Restaurant at 2629 Telegraph Ave, four blocks from Lynn's home.
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| Photo from NamUs. |
On Thursday, May 20, 1976, Lynn was last seen at her residence, which she then left to meet with "Jeff." This is considered the last definitive sighting of Lynn.
An unidentified waitress at the Bateau Ivre Restaurant told investigators that a woman matching Lynn's description came to the restaurant at 10:15am on the day of her disappearance. Although the restaurant was closed, the waitress let her sit at a table to wait for someone. No one, including the waitress, saw the woman leave the restaurant. For an unknown reason, this sighting is considered unconfirmed.
Law enforcement found Lynn's locked bicycle on the corner outside the eatery. She has never been seen or heard from again, and "Jeff" has never been identified.
Lynn was a white female with green eyes and blonde hair. At the time of her disappearance she was 20 years old, 5'4, and 110 lbs. She has a scar on her lower lip, as well as freckles. When she was last seen she was wearing a black top, tan scarf, black bell-bottom pants, and a silver ring with an etched pattern. At the time of her disappearance, her hair was shoulder-length and worn parted in the center. She was born on June 21, 1955; if alive today she would be 70 years old.
Lynn's dental x-rays and DNA are available for comparison. She has 21 rule-outs on NamUs, including one Jane Doe that has since been identified as Karen Heverly. Her NamUs case, #MP594, was created and last updated on December 12, 2008 and June 10, 2024, respectively.
Foul play is suspected in her case, and she is classified as Endangered Missing on Doe Network and Charley Project.
Anyone with information concerning Lynn's disappearance is urged contact the Berkeley Police Department at (510) 981-5900 or police@cityofberkeley.info. The agency case number is 27536-76. Any little piece of information counts.
Furthermore,
according to the CA DOJ's missing persons database, "If you think you
know the whereabouts of any person, BEFORE TAKING ANY ACTION, please
contact the law enforcement agency listed in the record, or the
California Department of Justice at 1-800-222-FIND (24 hour nationwide
toll-free Hotline) or (916) 210-3119, or email us [CA DOJ] at
missing.persons@doj.ca.gov." According to the same site, individuals
seeking to contact CA DOJ regarding a missing person can use the email
form here.
The Naso Connection
In Aug. 2025, Vanity Fair published a two-part series on serial killer Joseph Naso, aka the Alphabet or Double Initial Killer, who has been convicted of six murders. Reportedly a fellow inmate, Bill Noguera, was able to get confessions out of Naso, including a written letter.
In his supposed confession letter Naso claimed that in the late 1960s or early 70s, a young woman from Berkeley with brown hair, about 5'4, 120 lbs, rode her bike to meet up with him so he could take nude photos of her. According to Naso, the young woman chained her bike up outside a building before he took her to his residence, where he took topless photos of her. He then reportedly strangled her to death before placing her body in a trash bag and depositing it in the San Francisco Bay from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
While Naso claimed to not know or remember the young woman's name, the Berkeley Police Department reportedly believes that the confession is true, and that the young woman is Lynn Connes. The FBI is now investigating Lynn's case. Naso refuses to cooperate with investigators.
There have been many other news articles about these new developments since then, as well as a documentary that came out in Sept. 2025 that also goes quite in-depth into Lynn's case and the Naso theory. It should be noted that Naso's Wikipedia page incorrectly lists Lynn — as well as two other young women featured on this blog, Rebecca Dunn and Charlotte Cook — as confirmed victims of his, when in fact they are actually suspected, and the investigations into each case are still ongoing.
The VF article and accompanying documentary state that Lynn had specifically placed her ad in the Berkeley Barb, a magazine/tabloid that devoted a fair amount of its pages to classified ads offering and soliciting sexual services. A specific ad is shown in the documentary at time stamp 03:50, however it's unclear if this is actually Lynn's, or instead a stock photo/recreation/similar one.
The Berkeley Barb is available for free on JSTOR, linked below. I went through the editions for the month leading up to Lynn's disappearance, but couldn't find any ads matching the one shown in the documentary. There were a couple for a woman named Lynn (on the off-chance she used her real name or provided a name at all). I did find out that the restaurant where Lynn was last seen was located caddy corner to a building (2628 Telegraph Ave) that housed two establishments that regularly took out large ads in the Barb, California Girls Studio and Golden Gypsy Massage Parlor.
Sources
International Missing Persons wiki
Death Row Confidential: Secrets of a Serial Killer documentary
Oakland Tribune 5/25/76, 6/2/76, 5/7/77, 5/8/77, 1/1/78 pt.s 1 & 2
Berkeley Gazette 5/5/77 pt.s 1 & 2
List of general CA cases, ZK Ciphers forum
Note: While this write-up was originally published on August 6, 2025, I regularly revisit cases, fix any typos or formatting errors, check for updates, hyperlink new posts, ensure that I have exhausted all sources, etc., and then make note of when I last did so, no matter how minor. When edits are extensive, I re-post the write-up entirely. This post was last updated on December 7, 2025.
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