Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two set to appear in Monday’s Tribune online at lmtribune.com.
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COLFAX — Joyce Margaret LePage was born Dec. 4, 1949, into a farming family that lived just outside the city.
As an athletic and intelligent student, her decision to attend Washington State University was not a surprise to the LePage family. The family had several ties to the university in Whitman County.
But Joyce would not graduate. In fact, Joyce would never grow beyond the age of 21 years old.
In the summer of 1971, the WSU junior disappeared without a trace.
Nine months after her disappearance, her remains were found April 16, 1972, in a gully roughly 10-15 miles south of Pullman, west of Colton just off Wawawai Road in remote Wawawai Canyon.
Her mostly skeletal remains were wrapped inside a military blanket and green carpet. The green carpet had gone missing roughly 10 days before she was reported missing from the university’s Stevens Hall, which was under construction at the time she disappeared.
Joyce was known to hang out on the first floor of the vacant dormitory, where she would study, play piano and relax from the stress of taking extra classes during the summer term.
An extensive cold-case file shows the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office reported she was most likely killed when WSU police first investigated the missing carpet.
Current Sheriff Brett Myers has taken hold of the case since his election to office in 2003.
“Joyce was someone’s daughter, sister and friend. She was a person,” he said. “For the LePage family, they mourned. There are still families who miss and love her.”
She was the second out of five children. Joyce was the second after her sister, Phyllis LePage. She had three younger brothers — Bruce, Steven and David.
Joyce, and her brothers and sisters, grew up on the family farm on LaPorte Drive.
As a child, Joyce would often pester her brothers and leave them scattered notes when they were too noisy or bothersome.
“All of us kids played well together and generally had good times,” brother Bruce LePage said during an interview Tuesday. “We had opportunities and good parenting.”
According to Myers, the family reported her missing after she didn’t come home for a weekend visit in Pasco.
“We have a theft case and a missing person case, but it was not until April of 1972 that we discovered that her body was deliberately put somewhere in the carpet,” he said.
The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office reported her remains were sent to the FBI for examination. The FBI discovered seven possible knife markings on her ribs that they reported to be the cause of death.
However, after nine months in a gully of Wawawai Canyon, animals and scavengers had consumed part of Joyce’s decomposed remains.
“A unique set of hurdles have been placed for this case,” Myers said. “She wasn’t reported missing for 10 days and DNA testing didn’t really hit the scene for another 20 years.
“Most of the material and resources are well over 50 years old. The timeline factors in, too.
“Between her going missing and her officially being declared a murder victim, a lot of information we need is missing.”
There have been numerous suspects and persons of interest throughout the years. However, any of those individuals would be well into their elderly age or have died.
One person of interest — a convicted serial killer in particular — died in 1989.
Ted Bundy — who confessed to 30 murders and was confirmed in 20 — was a person of interest in the disappearances of Joyce LePage and Laure Patridge, of Spokane.
Bundy, however, never confessed in Joyce’s murder. And he denied responsibility for Joyce’s death before his execution in 1989 in Florida’s “Old Sparky” electric chair.
“We have to broaden it (the case) out and take all the possibilities. Ted Bundy is one of them,” Bruce LePage said. “But sometimes you get too broad and get distracted and the probability goes out.
“We can just hope for an opening in the case in some way.”
The anniversary of the day Joyce’s remains were found is an emotional day for the LePage family. Her brother continues to investigate the case.
“I’ll never give up on this case,” he said.
In the last few years, Bruce has placed a reward for anyone who can provide information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Joyce’s death.
The reward is $100,000 — $40,000 for information that leads to an arrest, with an additional $60,000 if that leads to a conviction.
“I will remain involved and keep the reward up for $100,000 for as long as I am alive,” Bruce said.
Anyone with information on Joyce LePage’s disappearance and homicide should contact the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office at (509) 397-6266.
— Olivia Harnack, Whitman County Gazette (Colfax), Thursday
MVSD board balances budget with cuts, changes
GRANGEVILLE — With four board members present at an April 7 workshop, Mountain View School District 244’s board of trustees made nearly $1.5 million in cuts and decisions for the 2022-23 school year. Trustee Casey Smith was absent.
The board met, in part, to decide how to make up for the district’s $1.7 million deficit following the March 8 failed levy.
As soon as the budget discussion opened, trustee Melisa Kaschmitter moved not to provide the 3% cost of living increase for the coming school year.
“Steps will still be made on the state career-salary schedule, which does not include any pass-through money from the state,” Kaschmitter said. “This is specifically cutting out the COLA increase for the 2022-23 school year.” This amount was budgeted at approximately $310,000.
Trustee Laci Myers seconded the motion, and it passed 4-0.
Kaschmitter also made a motion not to adopt any new curriculum for 2022-23 or 2023-24.
“It’s not that I don’t think it’s important,” she said that the situation was desperate. “When making cuts, I feel this is an area where we can do less harm than in other areas.”
Chairman Larry Dunn seconded, while trustee B Edwards dissented.
“We haven’t adopted reading curriculum in nine years, and I really feel we need to spend the $100,000 for this for grades K-5,” she said.
Clearwater Valley Elementary School teacher Joe Tosten spoke up from the audience to say there are pieces to the current reading curriculum, such as online materials and out-of-print items, which are no longer available to teachers.
Despite discussion on the need, the motion passed 3-1, with Edwards voting no. Removing this budgeted item will save $300,000 throughout the two years.
Kaschmitter also moved to reduce the district’s cash flow reserves by $700,000 and put this toward the budget deficit.
“This would leave us with a cash flow of between 40-45 days,” she said, admitting it wasn’t ideal, but doable.
The motion passed 3-1, with Edwards voting no.
Kaschmitter mirrored her motion from the last meeting and moved to cut all extracurricular activities for the 2022-23 school year. The motion died for lack of a second.
Edwards then moved to cut transportation for all sporting events for the 2022-23 school year, seconded by Myers.
Superintendent Todd Fiske explained the state does not reimburse extracurricular activity miles.
“We get 85% reimbursement on routes and field trip miles,” he said, adding that cutting athletic transportation would provide a “recognizable savings,” however, he reminded it is also a district liability.
“When you’re not transporting kids in yellow buses, it’s a liability,” he said of when parents and others provide the transportation.
The motion passed 4-0.
Fiske asked for clarification regarding upcoming teacher and staff hirings as positions become open through resignations or retirements.
Edwards moved to maintain current staffing levels with no new additions for 2022-23, allowing Fiske to post those positions as needed. The motion passed unanimously.
The board felt their decisions and cuts reached the $1.5 million mark, not counting savings, which may be realized from the previous month’s decision to go to a four-day school week.
The board’s regular meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Monday at the CVES library in Kooskia.
— Lorie Palmer, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Wednesday
