Crime Immemorial

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Lewiston-Clarkston Lewis–Clark Valley region, where northern Idaho meets southeastern Washington along the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, was shaken by a string of disappearances and killings that investigators have long suspected are connected. The cases remain unsolved, but over the decades police have periodically signaled they believe a single offender may be responsible for multiple victims.

The earliest disappearance commonly linked to the cluster is twelve-year-old Christina Lee White, last seen in Asotin, Washington, on April 28th, 1979, the day of the Asotin County Fair Parade. Accounts have differed over the years about exactly where and when she was last observed, but she never returned home and has not been found.

In later investigative reporting, police statements have indicated that Christina’s case became a cornerstone for the theory of a serial offender operating in and around the valley, with investigators tracking suspicious encounters reported along nearby routes that day.

Twenty-two-year-old Kristin Noel David, a University of Idaho senior, was last seen on June 26th, 1981 while bicycling south from Moscow, Idaho toward Lewiston along U.S. Highway 95. In early July, her dismembered remains began to be discovered in and along the Snake River, west of Clarkston, Washington. Her bicycle and other belongings were never recovered.

The FBI continues to publish details of her case, underscoring both its brutality and its evidentiary challenge: the passage of time, missing items, and uncertainty about where the abduction occurred have made reconstruction difficult, even as the river-disposal method suggests planning and effort.

It remains unclear whether Kristin David is part of the Lewis–Clark Valley cluster. Some law enforcement commentary over the years has leaned toward linkage; other coverage suggests she may be an “outlier” with a distinct signature. Modern media has highlighted that debate rather than settling it.

The final—and in many ways most concentrated—episode associated with the Lewis–Clark Valley murders centers on the night of September 12th, 1982.

Twenty-one-year-old Kristina Nelson and her eighteen-year-old stepsister Jacqueline Ann “Brandi” Miller disappeared while walking from Kristina’s apartment to a grocery store in downtown Lewiston, Idaho.

Thirty-five-year-old Steven Pearsall, a janitor at the Lewiston Civic Theater, also vanished that same night after being dropped off at the theater. He left behind items that were uncharacteristic for him to abandon, including his clarinet and an uncashed paycheck.

In March 1984, the remains of Kristina Nelson and Brandi Miller were found in a rural area near Kendrick, Idaho, roughly thirty-five miles from Lewiston. Investigators reported that Brandi had been murdered; for Kristina, the cause of death could not be determined from the remains. Steven Pearsall has never been located.

Over time, investigators moved away from early speculation that Steven Pearsall might have harmed the two women and instead suggested all three were likely victims, possibly with Steven killed after witnessing something or being caught in the same event.

Because these crimes span jurisdictions (Idaho and Washington) and include both missing persons and confirmed homicides, the investigative picture has always been fragmented. Still, police have repeatedly implied they see a single pattern: vulnerable targets, disappearances within a tight geographic footprint, and the likelihood that the offender blended into the community well enough to avoid immediate detection.

In the mid-1990s, Lewiston police publicly expressed strong confidence that a series of killings were connected and pointed to a prime suspect associated with the Lewiston Civic Theatre. A major newspaper report from January 1995 described police belief that the trio who vanished on September 12th, 1982 may have been killed at the theater, and that the same suspect had links or statements relevant to Christina White’s 1979 disappearance.

Later television reporting likewise stated that Lewiston police had identified Lance Voss (a former theater employee) as a suspect or person of interest, and described investigative reasons authorities considered him significant.

The historical record also includes the recurring complication of unreliable confessions. According to summaries of the case history, Idaho State Police at one point indicated that serial killer Ottis Toole had implicated himself in Kristin David’s murder, while also noting that other men confessed to the same crime. A retired detective later said he ruled Toole out.

The Lewis-Clark Valley murders have inspired multiple documentaries and longform segments, including the 2011 documentary Confluence, which frames the crimes as five disappearances with only three bodies recovered.

More recently, podcasts and national coverage have re-amplified the cases, especially Kristin David’s, sometimes bringing in new tips but also highlighting that the evidence base is decades old and difficult to convert into a prosecutable case without corroboration.

Law enforcement maintains that the case is still active, but as of this writing in February 2026, all of the ostensibly linked crimes remain unresolved.