The bodies of two Breckenridge women who disappeared in the winter of 1982 were mysteriously tied together by a pair of orange socks but law enforcement never identified the killer.
Now, their deaths will be the focus of an episode of “On the case with Paula Zahn.” The show will explore facts of the 37-year-old cold case when it airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on the true-crime network Investigation Discovery, Justine Doiron, spokeswoman for the show, said.
On Jan. 7, 1982, an orange sock was discovered near the body of 29-year-old Bobbie Jo Oberholtzer in a wooded area not far from Hoosier Pass.
The match wouldn’t be discovered until six months later on July 3 when the body of Annette Schnee was found 10 miles away from where Oberholtzer’s body had been found. The two women had vanished within a span of two hours on Jan. 6, 1982.
On the day that Oberholtzer and Schnee disappeared, Oberholtzer had received a promotion and was supposed to be celebrating in Breckenridge. When her husband, Jeff Oberholtzer, asked her if she needed a ride home she said no.
When he awoke it was past midnight and his wife had not yet returned home, according to a news release. Jeff Oberholtzer began calling friends and searching for his wife. He reported her missing around 3 a.m.
A rancher called Jeff Oberholtzer the next morning and told him that he had found Bobbie Joe’s license on the edge of his property. While he drove to the area, Jeff Oberholtzer found his wife’s blue backpack. Near the backpack was his wife’s gloves, covered in blood.
Detectives found a series of clues leading from Bobbie Jo’s body back to a parking area off the side of the highway that ran through Hoosier Pass. It appeared the young woman had been abducted and taken to the parking area by her captor. Bobbie Jo had broken free and as she tried to escape she was shot twice and left for dead, the news release stated.
Six months later, when Schnee’s body was found, the other orange sock was on her foot, it says. Another clue tied the women together.
“The second clue was even more ominous,” according to the TV show. “Both young women were carrying the business card of the same appliance repair man. His name was Jeff Oberholzter, Bobbie Jo’s husband.”
The cases have been featured on various true crime shows over the years.