Murder Stories I Can Never Forget: Snake River Serial Killer Still at Large?
by JJ Rogers
I was born in Clarkston, Washington and grew up across the Snake River in Lewiston, Idaho. The two cities are located in a deep valley at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers. They are not large cities and they didn’t traditionally experience the horrors of serial killers that metropoleis are known for. That is, until the late 70’s and early 80’s when I was in my teens. That’s when everything changed. That’s when one man, filled with loathing and complete disregard for human life, selected a series of girls and young women as the objects of his dark desires.
Every spring the Valley filled with excitement in anticipation of the Asotin County Fair, which was held on the Snake River just north of both cities. Everyone who possibly could attended. It was April 28, 1979. I was there. So was Christina White, a 12-year-old child.
At some point during the day Christina felt ill from the early spring heat, and her mother suggested she get a damp towel to cool herself down. Christina went to her friend’s house, where she was apparently given a wet towel and also used the phone. She reportedly called her mother, but no one knows what was said. After that, Christina was never seen again. No one saw her leave the house at 503 2nd Avenue — she simply vanished. The home belonged to Patricia Brennan, Lance Voss’s girlfriend. Lance and Patricia were married 26 months later on July 24, 1981.
For the next two years the rumors concerning Christina White’s death swirled like eddies in the mighty Snake River. These rumors created fear in our closely connected region of small towns and cities. For the first time in our lives, our parents admonished us not to walk alone and began locking our doors, even in the daytime.
Then it happened again. It was unthinkable but it happened. On June 26, 1981, 22-year-old Kristen David vanished while riding her bike between Moscow and Lewiston-Clarkston. About a week later, the dismembered body of the 22-year-old University of Idaho student was found in the Snake River. The rumors spread fast that her dismembered body parts were found in plastic bags floating down the river.
Then in September 1982 it happened a third time. Three people turned up missing who were last seen at, or near, the Lewiston Civic Theatre, where Kristen David, the dismembered biker, had once worked. These three victims were 21-year-old Kristina Nelson, her stepsister, 18-year-old Brandi Miller and Former Air Force Cpl. Steven Pearsall who was 35.
On her last evening on earth, Sept. 12, 1982, Kristina left a note in her apartment for her boyfriend indicating that she and Brandi were going downtown to do some grocery shopping at the Safeway store. A logical route downtown would have taken them by the Civic Theatre.
Steven Pearsall, 35, worked as a janitor there — he and Lance Voss had recently helped build a pirate ship that rolled on a dolly complete with several ropes for actors playing pirates to slide down. Steven’s girlfriend dropped him off at the theater around midnight on Sept. 12th. Steven’s plan was to practice his music. He may have walked in while Kristina and Brandi were being attacked. Steven was never seen again, nor was he ever considered a suspect. He is presumed dead.
The bodies of stepsisters Kristina Nelson and Brandi Miller were found 18 months later in March of 1984 at the bottom of a steep embankment near the community of Kendrick, along with rope that is presumed to have been “borrowed” from the Civic Theater’s pirate ship that Steven and Lance had built together.
The authorities noted that three of the four female victims had similar names: Kristin, Christina and Kristina, and that all three were about the same height.
One person of interest was interrogated by the police, twice. That person of interest was Lance Jeffrey Voss, a big man standing 6’ 5” and weighing roughly 200 lbs. Voss was not only seen at the theater, but actually admitted to being there at the time of the murders, working on the pirate ship for the play with the missing Steven. Voss had also, of course, dated (and later married) Patricia Brennan, the owner the house on 2nd Avenue where the 12-year-old Asotin girl, Christina White, was last seen alive. In addition, Voss admitted that he often drove the same route taken by 22-year-old Kristen David when she met her grisly fate.
Lance is quoted as stating, “I was in the theater, but asleep; yes, I just saw Kristina.”
Lewiston authorities believe the same person killed Christina White, Kristin David, Kristina Nelson, Brandy Miller, and Steven Pearsall. One Lewiston Police Captain went as far as to say he’s “99 percent certain” who the killer is. But law enforcement doesn’t believe they can prove who the killer is in a court of law. Lance Jeffrey Voss moved back to the East Coast and no similar murders have occurred since he left town. It’s no secret that authorities want to bring formal charges against him, but to this day, they have taken no action.
Voss is a self-proclaimed survivalist who enjoys listening to Rush Limbaugh. Here is a quote by Voss that I came across while I was researching the case. Hunting is of course very popular in our part of the world but Voss’s quote is certainly not something we would expect a hunter to say:
“By the way, don’t neglect edged tools/weapons in your survival kit. After you’ve shot your dinner rabbit, preparation is much easier if you don’t have to gut it with a rock. It can be done, but it’s not fun.”
This case is still open and surfaces from time to time in the Valley. Many of us grew up hearing, telling and re-telling this awful tale and much as we would like to, these are murders we cannot forget.
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Wonder what listening to Rush has to do with anything. Not everuone that listens to Rush is a killer you libersl ass
Obviously, and the article does not make that claim. Rush has a lot of listeners and we don’t have nearly that many killers, you impolite conservative.
In my opinion, Rush listeners have no critical thinking skills. In fact, the AMA is investigating allegations that Rush is sucking the brains out of the heads of his listeners and turning them into unthinking automatons who regurgitate the talking points downloaded into their heads. . .
Nicely stated Rick. Scary to think Rush is preying on people who are already at a disadvantage in the brains department… 🙂
Thank you for the laugh 😆 😂 !!!!
I did not make any connection to Rush nor did I make an opinion.
The article stated that Voss himself bragged about these things.
Like being a survivalist didn’t make him more likely a murderer.
Certainly gives me a new perspective on my mom!
😆 poor mom but funny!!!
Hi JJ Rogers. Please contact me when you have a minute to talk. I’m a producer for television. Thanks.
Please contact me at the email
[email protected]
The way the story is told of Christina White is inaccurate. I would like to know the source. I was 10,I was there, it was a damp washcloth , not a towel,it was my idea , not her mothers.I gave her the phone to call her mother. Her mother told her to wait outside on the porch. She did for just a few minutes, then stepped back in the house and handed me back the washcloth. (As though a ride had arrived for her.)Her mother arrived over an hour later and knocked. I answered and she asked if I knew where Chris went.I said I didn’t know. Chris had arrived with a migraine, I gave her a washcloth because it had helped me in the past with migraines. Everything I heard (of one side of the conversation )and witnessed in her demeanor indicated to me that she was expecting someone to pick her up right away and that whoever it was had arrived. It has been almost 40 years and it terrified me when a few days had passed and she didn’t come back. I have a very clear memory of that day and I would like to see the case get solved. I in no way am making any accusations of anyone ,I am simply telling you how it happened because I was there. I keep reading different stories and they all seem to be way off. I can’t help with the other cases because I was not there, but in Christian’s case I was, and that is what happened first hand.
I would have loved to had you to interview when I wrote this.
I am interested if you are available.
I had very limited police files or notes.
But what I write is accurate. You actually confirmed that.
But I would love to talk.
I also wrote Asotin is south, editorial error?
So why aren’t you mentioned in the police report as one of the last people to see her alive? Were you a juvenile at the time?
Truthfully, your time line is way off from that day. She never talked to her mother until she was on the phone.I gave her the washcloth(completely my idea) that was how I treated my own headaches. Chris told me herself that her mother said to wait on the front porch. She said her mother would be there in 5 minutes.So I did get to know some of what was said.That’s what Chris told me anyway. She rushed inside and handed me the washcloth back. She was eager to leave and I assumed that her ride was there. (Timing and conversation)
To Fackrell: I was 10. I was in Mrs. Cables 4th grade class at Asotin Grade school.
Bet you are Lance Voss right?
Nope Matt. I am Clint Clarneau, the stepson.Telling it like it happened. You don’t have to believe me. No one much ever has about this case, but they do about most other things. If you already had your mind made up then don’t by any means let yourself be confused by the facts.
Hello my name is Jaron, doing a paper for my school on the “Snake river killer” and am wondering if I could ask you some questions about the impact it had on the community. Email me @[email protected]
Hello Clint, my name is Angel, me and some friends are looking into this case. Could you email me at [email protected] we would like to ask you some questions.
Clint, you know this is not accurate. I have posted a thread and some questions to you on my website, Protect Your KiDs where I discuss your posts here. Have you forgotten some of your posts on Topix? You gave a different story there.
I read another article about the murders. That article state Clint Clarneau is the son of Patricia Brennan,the woman who married Lance Jeffrey Voss.
Yes Tina. That is correct.
Clint, I’m doing a documentary project regarding this case. If it’s not to much trouble, can you email me? My address is [email protected]
Thanks in advance for your time.
Hey Clint, I found a website where you indicate that your grandfather was Walter Brennan. That would mean your mother Patricia is Walter’s daughter? As far as I know he had only one daughter and her name was Ruth Brennan. My husband’s grandmother was first cousin to Walter, all from the Lynn/Swampscott MA area.
Would Lance Voss or any of his family or friends please post
where Steven Pearsall’s body is? He is my cousin. His brother’s want
him home. His family is broken hearted. We talk about him every time we are together.People know what happened. Or, could you leave a Note on the grave stone of His mom’s. Betty Shalin. There is a computer name finder on the grounds. Please. At the Veteran’s National Cemetery in Covington, WA. I will check every week. We just want Steve to be home with his family. There are no security camera’s there.
I am doing a exhibit/paper type of project for school and I chose “The Snake River Killer” and I would like to interview someone who knows more about this. Or someone who lives in that area and can tell me what impact this had on the community. Email me at [email protected].
Thanks 🙂
[…] The serial killer in question was the Snake River Killer. details […]
THERE IS A MATERIAL WITNESS, WHO IS AFRAID OF THE SUSPECT AND WILL NOT COME FORWARD. I BELIEVE THIS PERSON COULD BE THE KEY TO THE CONVICTION OF THE MURDERER. I AM TEMPTED TO WRITE THE NAME BUT I DO NOT WANT TO PUT THIS PERSON IN DANGER. GOD DOES NOT WANT YOU TO LIVE IN FEAR AND KEEP EVIL PEOPLES SECRETS. YOU SHOULD COME FORWARD ON YOUR OWN AND HELP CONVICT THIS MURDER. I WILL TELL A POLICE OFFICER WHO YOU ARE AND HOW I KNOW OF YOU.
Tammy Lindsey this is Gloria Bobertz a family member of Kristina Nelson and Brandy Miller. If you are willing I would like to talk to you. My contact number is 707-218-8360.
So glad everyone enjoys the stories that are spinoffs from the research I put into these cases long ago for Gloria. I spent so much time at the LCSC Library looking up the articles from microfish, photocopying them, and then hand typing them to my website Protect Your KiDs to help Gloria bring these cases to the internet. It was in the hope that it would raise public awareness of these cold cases and hopefully bring justice to the families of the victims. However, I do wish that ALL who have used my research and the articles which took so much of my life and time to produce, would at least give me due credit for my hard work.