Lee & Grissom: Facts

Karen Jean Lee was 15 years old, a recent arrival from the Midwest to Cornelius or Hillsboro, OR (records differ) with her family. She is listed as 5’7”, 128 pounds, with dark hair and brown eyes. She was last seen on the morning of May 26th, 1977 and is believed to have runaway to California with her friend, Rodney Grissom, who had left 2 days prior.

Rodney L. Grissom is 14, from Cornelius, or Hillsboro, OR. His height is listed at between 5’2” and 5’4”, 100-110 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. His middle name is recorded as both “Lee”, “Lynn” or “Linn” in police and NCMEC documentation. Shortly before his disappearance, he had runaway to Bend, OR. He was located in Bend by his mother, Marjorie (Grissom) Burt, and she was also a Bend resident at the time. He was last seen on May 24th, 1977 in Albany, OR, about 15 miles west of Lebanon, OR. Rodney L. Grissom was not officially reported missing until February 27th, 2012. He may have been reported as a runaway to the Washington County Sheriff in 1977.

The last known contact with the pair occurred on May 26th, 1977 at 3:18pm, when Karen placed a call from a pay phone in Lebanon, OR to a relative (or friend) in Wisconsin. The call concluded with “our ride is here, I have to go”.

On November 7th, 1977, at approximately 1:45pm, a logger found Lee’s clothing and items off Soda Fork Rd, Forest Service Road 2041. No remains were located by either the logger or a subsequent search by the Sheriff’s office. That search was cut short by logging operations in the area. Clothing and items recovered are listed as: Levis denim jeans, that appear to have been cut; a single shoe, a leather moccasin type, a sweater, blanket, socks, miscellaneous clothing to include a blouse sewn for a school project, a journal and other documents.

On November 8th, 1982 a logger found Grissom’s clothing and items, also along Soda Fork Rd. No remains were found in this case, but the clothing and items were positively identified as Rodney Grissom’s by his mother, Marjorie (Grissom) Burt. The clothing and items recovered are listed as: Blue jacket with a screw driver in the pocket, and remnants of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes; Levis denim jeans with a wallet containing ID for Rodney Grissom, a house key on a fouled anchor key fob, cash and coins, and a wrist watch stopped on “27th” at “4:50”, unknown due to dial type if this is am or pm. It is by 1982 that the disappearance of Rodney and Karen is being treated as a homicide by LCSO.

In 2012, as part of the investigation into John Ackroyd, the Linn County Sheriff again searched both locations along Soda Fork Rd, but no additional items or remains were located.