Dianne Abbuhl's alarm clock rang unabated on the morning of Sept. 8, 1988.
Her roommate went to check on the 24-year-old University of Arizona student and found her bed empty.
Five weeks later, hunters found the skeletal remains of the third-year accounting major in the desert near North Sandario and West Picture Rocks roads in Avra Valley.
Abbuhl apparently disappeared from her dorm room sometime after 1:30 a.m. - the last time a neighbor saw her - leaving her purse, identification, checkbook, keys and all other personal effects behind.
STATUS
Abbuhl's case was last reviewed in 2005. It is considered active but dormant, and there are no suspects.
The case is scheduled to be reviewed again, said Dawn Barkman, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman. Because of advances in forensic technology, the review may include additional DNA testing.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
At the time of Abbuhl's abduction and homicide, her brother, Bill, was being treated for cancer. He died a year after his sister. They were Dorothy Abbuhl's only children. In the months between the deaths of her children, Abbuhl's father died.
"I went into a major shock," said Dorothy Abbuhl, who lives in Phoenix. "I knew I was going to lose Bill, but it was kind of unfair to lose Dianne, too."
Dianne Abbuhl was working as a waitress at a restaurant near campus to pay for college. She didn't have a car, so she walked to her job.
"She disappeared from her dorm room. Her body was found 25 miles away in the desert. She didn't have any transportation, so she certainly didn't get there on her own," her mother said. "In the back of my mind, I've always felt somewhere along the way we'll find out what happened.
"You don't get over it, but you learn to live with it and go on. What are your options? You either go crazy or you work at maintaining and getting as much out of life as you can."
ABOUT THE SERIES
The Star will feature some of the Tucson-area violent crimes that remain unsolved - sometimes many years later.
Anyone with information is urged to call 88-CRIME. Tips also can be submitted online at www.88crime.org or by text message at 274637, then enter tip259 plus your text message.
Contact reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or at 573-4191 if you have been a victim of an unsolved crime or if you are related to a victim of an unsolved homicide.
