Key facts
- Name: Lynne Kathryn Schulze
- Born: February 9, 1953, Simsbury, Connecticut
- Age at disappearance: 18
- Last seen: December 10, 1971, ~2:15 p.m.
- Location: Court Street, Middlebury, Vermont, across from a health food store
- Height / build: 5’3″, ~125 lbs, light brown hair, blue eyes
- Status: Still missing — treated as a potential homicide; listed as a missing person with the Middlebury Police Department and Vermont State Police
- Investigating agency: Middlebury Police Department (802) 388-3191; Vermont State Police unsolved cases
The afternoon she never came back
Finals week at Middlebury College. It was Friday, December 10, 1971, and 18-year-old freshman Lynne Schulze had a literature final at 1:00 p.m. She was walking to the exam with a friend when she stopped, turned around, and said she’d forgotten her favorite pencil back in her dorm room in Battell Hall. She never showed up for the exam.
That alone would be strange enough. But there are two other sightings from that day, and they make the case.
Around 12:30 p.m., Lynne was seen at All Good Things, a health food store on Court Street, buying and eating prunes. The store was owned and operated by a 28-year-old Vermont newcomer named Robert Durst. He would later become one of America’s most notorious alleged killers — convicted of murdering Susan Berman in California, a suspect in the 1982 disappearance of his wife Kathleen in New York, dead in January 2022. None of that was known in Middlebury in 1971.
Then, at approximately 2:15 p.m., Lynne was seen standing across the street from Durst’s store. It was the last time anyone ever saw her.
Back at her dorm room, everything was in place: her college ID, her driver’s license, $7 in cash, a $25 check from her father. Her bank account held $185 she never touched. She is thought to have had about $30 in cash on her — and nothing else. Fifty-four years later, that $185 account and the untouched ID remain one of the starkest facts in the file.
Who Lynne was
Lynne Kathryn Schulze was born February 9, 1953, the second of five children of Otto and Virginia Schulze. Otto was a physicist and company executive; Virginia was a teacher. The family moved around — Wilton, Connecticut; Pennsylvania; Germany — before settling in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1967.
At Simsbury High School, Lynne was a member of the field hockey team and a 1970 National Merit Scholar. She loved the outdoors — skiing, bike rides — and reading and writing, and she worked part time as a waitress. She graduated in the spring of 1971 and went to Middlebury that fall, a selective liberal arts college in the hills of Vermont.
College was harder than high school, but not dangerously so. She telephoned and wrote her parents often. She surprised the family with a visit home over Thanksgiving 1971, then went back to campus. Nothing in her letters suggested she was about to disappear. She had registered for spring classes.
The investigation
The college didn’t tell her parents for five days. Middlebury notified the Schulzes on Wednesday, December 15, after Lynne failed to show up for another exam on Tuesday the 14th. A missing-person report was filed, but the case was never widely advertised. The first newspaper circulation — an article in the Burlington Free Press — came in January 1972.
For four decades the file sat more or less still. Then came The Jinx, the 2015 HBO documentary about Robert Durst, and with it a new public fixation on All Good Things. In March 2015, the Middlebury police addressed the case publicly for the first time in decades. They said they had been looking into a possible connection between Durst and Lynne’s disappearance since a tip arrived in 2012 — and that the case was now being treated as a criminal investigation, not a missing-person case. Chief Tom Hanley put it plainly: “We saw things that needed follow-up. An adult disappeared and (after all these years) we can assume wrongdoing. It is a potential homicide.”
Durst was never charged in connection with Lynne’s disappearance, and police were careful to call the link to his store “potentially important but not definitive.” He died in 2022.
On December 10, 2025 — the 54th anniversary — the Vermont State Police posted publicly about the case: “extensive investigation has pointed towards there being foul play in her disappearance, although no sign of her have been found and she remains listed as a missing person.”
Theories: what might have happened
The police’s own position is the strongest signal here: after half a century of work, they believe foul play is likely, even though no one has been charged.
Foul play connected to the Durst store. The circumstantial case is real: Lynne was seen at All Good Things at 12:30, then across the street from it at 2:15 — the last confirmed sighting. Police spent years following a 2012 tip about Durst. Supports it: the 2015 reclassification as a criminal investigation and the 2025 VSP statement pointing toward foul play. Undercuts it: no conclusive evidence has ever linked Durst to Lynne, and he was never charged in her case. The presumption of innocence holds; a deceased man cannot defend himself, and the file remains officially unsolved.
Voluntary disappearance — “dropping out of society.” It was rumored in the fall of 1971 that Lynne had talked about starting over somewhere new. Undercuts it: she registered for spring classes, her family says she was in good spirits, and she left her ID, her driver’s license, and almost all of her money behind. People who start new lives generally take their ID and their $185.
Stranger abduction on Route 7. Early reports said she may have been seen hitchhiking south on Route 7. Undercuts it: the sightings were never confirmed, and later investigators found no solid evidence behind the hitchhiking story.
Have information?
Contact the Middlebury Police Department: (802) 388-3191, or the Vermont State Police unsolved cases unit. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- February 9, 1953 — Lynne Kathryn Schulze is born to Otto and Virginia Schulze.
- 1967 — The family settles in Simsbury, Connecticut.
- Spring 1971 — Graduates from Simsbury High School (National Merit Scholar); matriculates at Middlebury College that fall.
- November 1971 — Surprise visit home for Thanksgiving; registered for spring classes.
- December 10, 1971, ~12:30 p.m. — Seen buying prunes at All Good Things, a health food store on Court Street owned by Robert Durst.
- December 10, 1971, shortly before 1:00 p.m. — Walking to a final with a friend, turns back to her dorm to get a favorite pencil; never shows for the exam.
- December 10, 1971, ~2:15 p.m. — Seen standing across the street from Durst’s store; last confirmed sighting.
- December 15, 1971 — Middlebury College notifies her parents; missing-person report filed.
- January 1972 — First public circulation of the case, in the Burlington Free Press.
- 2012 — Middlebury police receive a tip about a possible Durst connection and begin looking into it.
- March 2015 — Police publicly address the Durst link after HBO’s The Jinx; case reclassified as a criminal investigation (“a potential homicide”).
- December 10, 2025 — Vermont State Police, 54th anniversary post: “extensive investigation has pointed towards there being foul play… she remains listed as a missing person.”
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Lynne Schulze still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Lynne Schulze has been missing for nearly 55 years. She remains listed as a missing person, though Vermont police treat the case as a potential homicide. Her NCMEC poster is still active.
What was Lynne Schulze’s connection to Robert Durst?
On the day she disappeared, Lynne visited All Good Things, a health food store in Middlebury owned and operated by Robert Durst. She was last seen standing across the street from the store. In 2015, Middlebury police said they had been looking into a possible connection since a 2012 tip. Durst was never charged in connection with her case, and police called the link “potentially important but not definitive.” He died in January 2022.
When was Lynne Schulze last seen?
At approximately 2:15 p.m. on December 10, 1971, standing across the street from a health food store on Court Street in Middlebury, Vermont. She had been walking to a literature final earlier and turned back to her dorm to retrieve a favorite pencil.
Was Lynne Schulze hitchhiking?
Unconfirmed early reports said she may have been seen hitchhiking south on Route 7. The sightings were never confirmed, and later investigators found no solid evidence behind them.
How old would Lynne Schulze be today?
She was born February 9, 1953 — she turned 73 in February 2026. Her NCMEC poster shows her photo age-progressed to 68.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Anyone with information should contact the Middlebury Police Department at (802) 388-3191 or the Vermont State Police.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Vermont State Police unsolved cases page, “Lynne Schulze” (photo circulated by VSP; contact details retrieved Oct 2026); VSP 54th-anniversary Facebook post (Dec 10, 2025); Middlebury Police Department.
- News: NBC News, “Robert Durst Case: Missing Student Lynne Schulze Shopped at His Business: Cops” (Mar 24, 2015); Hartford Courant, “Simsbury Mystery Tied To Robert Durst In Vermont” (Mar 29, 2015); Burlington Free Press police update video (2015); Vermont Public / AP (2015).
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Lynne Schulze” (retrieved Oct 2026); NCMEC poster NCMC/1246492; NamUs case page (via VSP).
- Media: HBO, The Jinx (Feb 2015).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.
Note (October 2026): Sources disagree on small details of the final day — some say Lynne turned back for a favorite pen, others a pencil; the VSP says she was walking with friends, Wikipedia with a friend. The narrative follows the most-cited accounts (pencil; a friend) and does not pin details where sources diverge.