Companion post for Crime Clueless, Parts 1 & 2 — “No One Stopped – The Murder of Barbara Mae Tucker”.
On the night of January 15th, 1980, multiple drivers on a road at the edge of Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon watched a 19-year-old woman run into traffic, waving her arms and begging for help. Not one of them realized, in time, what they were actually witnessing.
It would take 44 years, a genetic genealogist, and a piece of discarded chewing gum to finally answer the question this small Oregon community spent nearly half a century asking: who killed Barbara Mae Tucker?
Who Was Barbara Mae Tucker
Barbara was born February 25th, 1960, the youngest of seven children in a blended family — daughter of Albert and Louise Tucker of Southeast Portland. She graduated from Cleveland High School in 1978, where she played basketball, ran, and swam, before enrolling at Mount Hood Community College as a business major working toward a degree in business management.
Friends and instructors described her as ambitious, dedicated, and a little bit of a goofball. She sewed and knitted her own clothes, wrote poetry, and was deeply involved in the school’s business club, DECA. She worked part-time at Sears and Jafco to help pay her way through school, with plans to become a retail buyer.
Shortly before she died, Barbara wrote her father a poem for his birthday. After her murder, Mount Hood Community College placed a bronze memorial plaque on campus quoting it — words that still stand on that campus today:
“I want to travel as far as I can go; I want to reach the joy that’s in my soul, and change the limitations that I know, and feel my mind and spirit grow. I want to live, exist, ‘to be,’ and hear the truth inside of me.”
The Night of January 15th, 1980
That evening, Barbara and a friend went to a local athletic club, worked out, and returned to their apartment complex — Ash Mountain Apartments, near campus — a little before 6 p.m. Barbara left around 6:30 for an evening business class scheduled to run from 7 to 10.
Her route took her across a road at the edge of campus, then known as Kane Road. Just before 7 p.m., multiple witnesses saw her run into traffic, waving her arms. Cars swerved to avoid hitting her. One witness believed it was a prank. Another thought she might be on drugs. A third assumed she and a man behind her were hitchhikers. Only one driver actually stopped — and even then, when she asked if everything was okay, neither Barbara nor the man beside her answered.
No one called police that night.
The next morning, a fellow student on his way to class found Barbara’s body in shrubbery near a campus parking lot. She had been sexually assaulted and killed by multiple blows to the head from a heavy object that was never recovered. (Note: some later retellings of this case describe her as having been strangled — the original 1980 medical examiner’s findings explicitly rule this out.)
An Investigation That Covered Enormous Ground
What followed was one of the largest investigations Gresham had seen. Within days, police released a composite sketch. Within a week, they’d interviewed roughly 95% of the students in Tuesday-night classes at the college. A witness was hypnotized in hopes of sharpening the description further. An FBI investigator consulted on the case. Nearly 450 people attended a memorial service for Barbara at Hinson Memorial Baptist Church. The student body offered a $1,000 reward.
By the six-month mark, police had interviewed more than 150 people, developed and cleared 14 suspects, administered 13 polygraph tests, and conducted seven hypnosis sessions. Every version of the suspect description that emerged from that work agreed on the broad strokes: a stocky, olive-complexioned man in his early-to-mid twenties, well over six feet tall, with an “arrogant strut.”
The case reshaped the community around it. That May, Mount Hood Community College overhauled campus security — locking gates at night, adding cameras and lighting, launching an escort service. That September, a Gresham woman named Sharon Kelley, moved by what she’d read, built an entire neighborhood watch program from scratch, partnering with local merchants and a county sheriff’s deputy.
And yet, the case did not close.
Decades of Waiting
Barbara’s father, Albert, died in 1989, nine years after her murder, never having found the words to talk about his daughter’s death. Her mother, Louise, died in 1995 — fifteen years on, still without an answer, though she’d once said, “If it takes ten years, I don’t care. I just can’t let it rest… She was too special.”
Her sister Susan spent decades calling Gresham police for updates, raising the reward to $7,500 by 1993. Barbara’s name sat alongside a growing list of other unsolved Gresham-area homicides that local papers revisited again and again through the 1980s and ’90s — a running wound for a city, not just a family.
The DNA Breakthrough
In 2000, evidence collected during Barbara’s original autopsy was finally sent to the Oregon State Police Crime Lab, where technicians developed a DNA profile of the unknown suspect. But there was nothing yet to compare it to — no database, no match. The profile went back into storage.
In 2021, Gresham police submitted that same profile to GEDmatch, a genealogy database, where genetic genealogist CeCe Moore identified a distant relative — someone sharing less than 1% of DNA with the unknown suspect — and began building out a family tree. That tree eventually pointed to one man: Robert Arthur Plympton, 58, a river-tour guide living in Troutdale, just a few miles from Gresham.
Detectives began covertly surveilling him. They didn’t yet have enough for an arrest — they needed his actual DNA, not just a genealogical pointer. So they waited until he discarded something in public: a piece of chewing gum, spit onto the ground while biking along the Sandy River. Under longstanding legal doctrine, once someone voluntarily discards an item in public, they give up any reasonable expectation of privacy in it — meaning police can collect and test items like this without a warrant. It’s sometimes called a “trash pull,” and it’s become a known technique in genetic-genealogy cold case work.
The DNA on that gum was a match. On June 8th, 2021 — 41 years after the murder — Plympton was arrested.
The Twist Nobody Saw Coming
Robert Plympton was 58 years old at his arrest. In January 1980, he had been 16 — a student at Reynolds High School, not even a Mount Hood student, living about half a mile from the campus where Barbara died.
Every composite sketch, every hypnosis session, every description built from dozens of eyewitnesses over months of investigation had described a man in his twenties. Plympton, at trial, was shown to be 5’8″ — shorter than Barbara, who stood nearly six feet tall, even though contemporaneous witnesses had specifically and repeatedly described her attacker as taller than her.
He was not, however, a stranger to violence. In 1985, he was convicted of attempting to kidnap a woman named Patricia Spangler, who later testified at his murder trial: “I could have easily been his next murder victim.” A second accusation, in 1997, was dismissed by prosecutors without explanation on record.
The Trial and Sentencing
Plympton’s 2024 trial was a bench trial — decided by a judge rather than a jury. His defense argued the sex was consensual and pointed to the height and appearance discrepancies in the original eyewitness accounts, at one point comparing the DNA evidence itself to a “bright shiny object” distracting from those inconsistencies.
On March 15th, 2024, he was found guilty of first-degree murder — but not of rape or sexual abuse, as prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the assault occurred while Barbara was still alive.
At sentencing that October, prosecutor Kirsten Snowden read aloud from a note Louise Tucker had written in Barbara’s baby book decades earlier: “Barbie, your mommie loves you and misses you so very much. I just pray that they will get him soon.” Judge Kelly Skye sentenced Plympton to life in prison with a 40-year minimum before parole eligibility — double the standard minimum, given his age at the time of the crime.
Barbara’s sister Alice Juan spoke outside the courthouse: “I don’t think he’s had any remorse, any regret, any conscience. I never thought we’d see this day.”
Forty-Four Years Later
Barbara’s parents didn’t live to see justice. Neither, really, did the community that spent decades checking in on a case that never seemed to move. But her sisters were there in 2024, when a judge finally said the word “guilty.” And on a Mount Hood campus that still bears her memorial plaque, her own words remain, written for her father days before she died — a young woman who wanted, more than anything, to “live, exist, ‘to be.'”
Listen to the full two-part episode on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
If Barbara’s case stuck with you, here are a few more we’ve covered where a case sat cold for decades before DNA and genetic genealogy finally caught up:
Christine Franke — A University of Central Florida student murdered in her own apartment in 2001, her case sat cold for 17 years until genetic genealogy identified a killer who’d never once crossed investigators’ radar. Read about her case here and here, or listen to this four part series on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Nancy Anderson — Stabbed to death in her Honolulu apartment in 1972, Nancy’s murder became Hawaii’s oldest cold case — solved 50 years later when the same technique that cracked Barbara’s case pointed to a man her own family says was never a suspect. Read about her case here and here or listen to this two part series on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, plus our interview with her brother, Jack Anderson on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Christy Mirack — A schoolteacher murdered days before Christmas in 1992, whose 26-year-cold case broke open when genetic genealogy identified a killer so ordinary — married, no record, well-liked — that even his own wife never suspected him. Read about her case here or listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Robin Lawrence — Stabbed to death in her Virginia home in 1994 by a total stranger, Robin’s nearly 30-year-old case was finally solved through the same DNA phenotyping and genealogy process used in Barbara’s investigation. Read about her case here or listen to this episode on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Michelle Martinko — An eighteen-year-old killed within weeks of Barbara, in December 1979, Michelle’s case is maybe the closest parallel we’ve covered: decades of dead-end composite sketches, both parents gone before an answer ever came, and a killer finally named through genetic genealogy in 2018. Read about her case here or listen to this two part series on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Have thoughts on this story or other cases you’d like to see highlighted? Share them with us in the comments or connect with us on social media. Together, we can ensure that stories like this one are never forgotten.
Don’t forget to follow us on social media, share your thoughts, and let us know what you’d like to hear about in future episodes. If you have any true crime stories of your own, send them our way crimeclueless@gmail.com to be featured on a future episode! And as always, remember: refuse to be clueless, careless, or caught off guard. Not today, murderers.
See you in the next episode of Crime Clueless!
Resources:
Newspaper Sources (Newspapers.com)
Amick, S. (1989, August 14). Four Gresham slayings refuse to yield to police work. The Oregonian. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1091343009/
Associated Press. (2024, March 21). Man found guilty of murder in 1980 cold case. Corvallis Gazette-Times. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1051662406/
Barker, N. (1980, May 13). MHCC locks gates at night. Oregon Journal. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1094248077/
Don, M. (1980, July 8). Pain of daughter’s death still fresh for family. Oregon Journal. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1094489572/
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Green, A. S. (1993, August 27). Unsolved 1980 slaying burdens victim’s sister. The Oregonian. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1091897871/
Hamburg, K. (1980, January 24). Gresham witness offers no leads in coed slaying. Oregon Journal. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1094093495/
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McCarthy, N. (1994, February 13). Unsolved murders: Families fear the trail grows cold in a Jan. 17 triple homicide. The Sunday Oregonian. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1092106837/ ; https://www.newspapers.com/image/1092106900/
McCarthy, N. (1995, January 9). Death sets a record. The Oregonian. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1091898713/
Mueller, D. (1980, January 30). Campus fear turns to anger over coed’s murder. The Oregonian. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1090287718/
Oregon Journal. (1980, January 22). Gresham police search for witness to coed’s slaying. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1094089630/
The Observer. (1980, January 17). Coed dies after struggle. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1182261795/
The Oregonian. (1980, January 17). Police seek killer of student at Mount Hood college [A. K. Ota & J. Guernsey, reporting]. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1087381854/
The Oregonian. (1980, January 18). Murdered coed cried for help, but to no avail [J. Snell & J. Guernsey, reporting]. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1087480093/
The Oregonian. (1980, January 19). Police lack murder lead despite calls. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1087585420/
The Oregonian. (1980, January 24). Slayer described. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1090265425/
The Oregonian. (1980, February 12). Hypnosis seeks clues in coed slaying probe. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1086074952/
The Oregonian. (1986, January 9) [Reed, W., reporting]. Police still probe 16 homicide cases, mysterious deaths. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1086628722/
The Oregonian. (2024, October 5) [Sparling, Z., reporting]. ‘Sadistic’ man gets extra-long sentence 44 years after murder. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1129639807/
The Oregonian. (2024, March 4) [Sparling, Z., reporting]. 44 years later, Gresham man on trial in student’s killing. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1116066536/ ; https://www.newspapers.com/image/1116066595/
The Register-Guard. (1980, January 18). Drawing released. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1262575133/
Snell, J. (1980, January 31). Mount Hood coed safe in California, police say. The Oregonian. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1090294749/
Thompson, C. (1980, February 12). Mood on campus remains cautious. Oregon Journal. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1094066736/
Thompson, C. (1982, February 16). Two murder probes strain Gresham police. Oregon Journal. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1094081410/ ; https://www.newspapers.com/image/1094081591/
West, L. T. (1980, February 7). For a sister, please help solve slaying. The Oregonian. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1086067498/
Online Sources
ABC News. (2021, June 9). Arrest made in city’s oldest cold case murder thanks to genetic genealogy: Police. Arrest made in city’s oldest cold case murder thanks to genetic genealogy: Police – ABC News
CNN. (2021, June 11). Police arrest a suspect in an Oregon city’s oldest cold case homicide with the help of DNA. Police arrest a suspect in an Oregon city’s oldest cold case homicide with the help of DNA | CNN
CNN (Babineau, A.). (2024, March 23). DNA collected from chewing gum leads to arrest and conviction in 1980 cold case murder. https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/23/us/oregon-cold-case-chewing-gum-dna/index.html
Fox News. (2024, March 19). Oregon man found guilty of murder after DNA links him to 1980 cold case. Oregon man found guilty of murder after DNA links him to 1980 cold case | Fox News
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KPTV. (2024, March 19). Man found guilty in Gresham’s oldest cold case murder. Man found guilty in Gresham’s oldest cold case murder
KPTV. (2024, October 4). Man gets life for 1980 assault, murder of Gresham college student. Man gets life for 1980 assault, murder of Gresham college student
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OPB. (2024, March 19). Oregon man convicted of 1980 murder of college student. Oregon man convicted of 1980 murder of college student – OPB
Oxygen.com. (2023, December 13). Robert Plympton arrested for 1980 murder of Barbara Mae Tucker. Robert Plympton Arrested For 1980 Murder Of Barbara Mae Tucker
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