Early Life and Childhood Residences
Ted Bundy was born in Burlington, Vermont, and spent parts of his early childhood in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. His biological father was largely absent, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents, who told him his mother was his sister. The family moved frequently during his youth, with documented residences in several northeastern states before he settled in the Pacific Northwest as a young adult.
Bundy attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington, and later enrolled at the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington, where he studied Chinese and psychology. During his college years, he lived in off-campus apartments and shared houses in Seattle and Tacoma, areas that would later become central to his criminal activities.
College Years and Pacific Northwest Residences
While at the University of Washington, Bundy worked at the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Commission and volunteered at a suicide hotline. He lived in a small apartment near the university campus and was known as a charismatic, good-looking student who dated several women during this period. His charm masked a growing pattern of predatory behavior targeting young women in the Seattle area.
After graduating, Bundy moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, to attend law school at the University of Utah. He commuted back to Washington state for work and continued to maintain connections in Seattle. During this time, he committed multiple murders across the region, including in the Seattle suburbs and the Cascade Mountains, using his knowledge of the area to evade capture.
Fugitive Period and Final Known Addresses
After his first escape from jail in Colorado in 1975, Bundy fled to Florida, where he committed his final known murders in Tallahassee in 1978. He lived under aliases in various apartments and motels across the state, including a residence near Florida State University and the Chi Omega sorority house where he attacked students. His movements during this period were tracked by law enforcement across multiple states.
Bundy was eventually captured in Pensacola, Florida, in 1978 after a traffic stop and a subsequent nationwide manhunt. He was extradited to Colorado and later Washington state to face charges. His trial and imprisonment took place in Florida, where he was held on death row at Raiford Prison until his execution in 1989. For more details on his crimes and the investigation, see the FBI's case summary here, and learn about the impact of his crimes on victims' families through the Forbes coverage.