Missing
Belinda Kay VanLith
Belinda, approximately 1974
Date and time person was reported missing : 06/15/1974
Missing location (approx) :
Wright County, Minnesota
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 05/20/1957 (64)
Age at the time of disappearance: 17 years old
Height / Weight : 5'5, 110 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Belinda was last seen at Little Eagle Lake in Wright County, Minnesota at 8:00 p.m. on June 15, 1974. She was house-sitting for a neighbor for the weekend, and planned to attend her sister's graduation party. Belinda's family called the house several times that day, but the lines were always down. The following day, they reported her missing.
Timothy Joseph Crosby is a suspect in Belinda's disappearance and in the murder of another woman, who disappeared in 1994 and was found strangled some months later.
Crosby, who was Belinda's Age at the time of disappearance: and had started attacking girls and young women by the early 1970s, lived alone in a cabin just 100 yards from the house Belinda was staying in when she disappeared. The day before she went missing, Belinda came to his home looking for his sister, but he told her she wasn't at home.
Late in 1974, Crosby was arrested for the kidnapping and rape of an eighteen-year-old woman. He has been arrested other times for Gender : ual offenses since then and is currently civilly committed as a "violent Gender : ual recidivist." He has not been charged in Belinda's disappearance, however.
Belinda is described as a popular, ordinary teenAge at the time of disappearance: r who enjoyed gardening. Investigators don't believe she ran away. Foul play is suspected in her case.
Other information and links : ncy
Wright County Sheriff's Office
763-682-7879
763-682-7637
September 2021 updates and sources
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
The Delano Herald Journal
The Doe Network
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
KSTP
Minnesota Court of Appeals
Belinda VanLith's Niece's Twitter Account
7 October 12, 2004. October 20, 2019; middle name added.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
