TACOMA, Wash. — This week’s Cold Case Project focuses on a decades-old mystery from Tacoma — the disappearance and eventual identification of William “Bill” Church Jr., a young man who went missing in 1977 and was later determined to be the victim of a homicide.
The disappearance and discovery
William “Bill” Church Jr. was just 20 years old when he disappeared in 1977. For years, his fate remained unknown. In 1978, mushroom pickers made a grim discovery.
“He disappeared in 1977, but the first remains weren’t found until 1978,” Pierce County Deputy Carly Cappetto said.
A decade later, more remains were located.
“It wasn’t until 10 years later, in 1988, when more of those remains were found, and it sat for a very long time before the investigation really started to pick up any speed to identify him,” Cappetto said.
For years, those remains remained unidentified, and the case sat among many others on cold-case shelves.
A breakthrough in 2024: genetic genealogy
The turning point came in 2024, when investigators turned to forensic genetic genealogy to finally put a name to the remains.
“The turning point for us in turning this into a homicide case, a cold case, was in 2024,” Cappetto said. “His remains were sent off for genealogy testing, and that’s when he was identified as William Church Jr.”
Cappetto explained that this was made possible by advances in DNA technology and the work of a specialized company:
“This was particularly a company called Othram, and they were able to extract the DNA from the old forensic evidence and use forensic-grade genome sequencing to develop a genealogical profile,” she said. “And that method of science was able to solve this case. Otherwise, those remains would have remained unidentified.”
With the identification came a devastating conclusion: Bill Church was a victim of homicide, shot to death, according to the King County Medical Examiner.
Challenges of investigating a 1970s cold case
Investigating a case that dates back to the 1970s presents enormous challenges. Records were sparse, fragmented, and often stored in ways that make modern follow-up extremely difficult.
“Back in 1977, it did not help that there was nothing really filed virtually,” Cappetto said. “So, most everything sat in paper file cabinets. Many of the new detectives that took on the case had very little in the file to go off of. The technology was not good, and the way that they stored records, there weren’t a lot of rules and regulations on records storage.”
Even basic details are limited. Investigators know Bill’s age at the time he disappeared, and that he was engaged.
“We know that he was 20 years old when he disappeared, and we also know that he had a fiancée, but we only have her first name, which is Mary,” Cappetto said.
The search for Mary and a possible child
One of the most critical missing pieces in this case is Mary, Bill’s fiancée, believed to be the last person to see him alive.
In December 2024, Pierce County released a bulletin with an age-progressed drawing of Bill in hopes of jogging someone’s memory.
“We put out a bulletin in December of 2024 with a drawing of what William would look like, or Bill, he went by Bill, and specifically, we were reaching out for his fiancée, Mary, with only the first name,” Cappetto said. “That’s all we knew.
“But we were really hoping by showing that picture of him, it would spark on social media and locate this Mary,” she continued. “Because we have not been able to locate her, our case has remained cold. We also do believe that maybe he had a young child, so maybe there is a child that is still living that has information about their father.”
Complicating things further is Bill’s own family background.
“The challenging part about it is William was adopted by his own family, so there’s not a lot of history there as well,” Cappetto said. “So it’s unknown what became of his own child, if there was still a living child out there.”
For investigators, finding Mary and any possible descendant of Bill is key to moving the case forward.
Still no suspect
The big issue — 49 years later — is that there is still no suspect, no leads, no witnesses, and no clues about who killed Bill Church Jr.
Investigators know Church Jr. had been shot, but the who and why remain a mystery to this day.
A call to the public
With nearly five decades gone by, memories may be faded, and many who once knew Bill may have moved away or passed on. But the hope is that someone, somewhere, still remembers something important.
“We hope that if anyone knew that there was a Mary who potentially had a fiancé who had died at a young age, any sort of interviews we could ask to locate this Mary would be wonderful,” Cappetto said.
Listeners and readers are urged to think back to the mid-1970s in Tacoma or the surrounding areas. Did you know a young man named Bill or William Church? Did you know a woman named Mary whose fiancé died young, or a family where the father disappeared under mysterious circumstances?
The public is encouraged to come forward with any recollections, even if they seem small.
Investigators want to hear from anyone with information and encourage them to call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
Nearly 50 years later, investigators believe someone out there holds the missing piece. A call with even a small detail could help solve this homicide and bring long-awaited closure to those who knew him and his family.
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