A woman is pleading with authorities to excavate her childhood backyard in Washington state, asserting that her father murdered a woman there nearly six decades ago and buried her remains. Jodie Tedder, now 62, claims she was three years old in 1968 when she witnessed her father, James Steele, rape and kill a woman he had met at a bar, subsequently burying her in the yard of their Vancouver home.

Tedder has identified the victim as Madeline "Lyn" Babcock, a 35-year-old woman who disappeared from California around the same time. Babcock was last seen in Venice, California, days before the alleged murder. Tedder stated she recognized Babcock from childhood memories and a photograph. Lyn Babcock pictured with her mother, was reported missing by her family in the summer of 1968. Her loved ones said her Venice apartment appeared to have been cleared out and cops weren't interested in investigating at the time

According to Tedder, her father and a friend brought Babcock to a hotel room in Vancouver, Washington, on June 8, 1968. She recounted witnessing her father assault Babcock and then slit her throat with a knife from his belt. Tedder alleges her father handed her the knife to hold while he cleaned up the scene before they wrapped the body in a bedsheet and buried it in the backyard. Tedder described the ongoing guilt from this experience, stating it significantly impacted her life and led her to seek therapy in her 30s.

Tedder reported that her father confessed to the crime on his deathbed in December 2010, apologizing for what she experienced and the guilt she carried. Following this confession, Tedder approached the Vancouver Police Department. A spokesperson for the department stated they believed her but lacked sufficient evidence for a search warrant. Tedder once tried to excavate the yard where she says the woman is buried, but had to abort the process, leading her to believe the body is still there

In the years since her father's death, Tedder has made attempts to locate the remains herself. Approximately a year after her father's passing, she tried to excavate the property but had to stop due to proximity to a driveway. The property is currently owned by Tedder's sister, and Tedder claims her mother sold a portion of the land with awareness of the alleged burial site.

Tedder expressed her determination to have the woman's remains found so she can be returned to her family for proper burial and mourning. She stated that the lack of action from authorities is due to her father's death, leaving no one to arrest. Tedder, pictured with her husband, has vowed not to give up – insisting that the woman buried in her yard 'needs to be back with her family'