On the evening of March 16, 1990, thirty four (34) year old Lynn Parker Priestley was out enjoying the evening with some friends and a man she had been causally dating. The Charleston native, was known by friends for her friendly and carefree nature. This particular evening, Lynn was adorned in light blue Jordache jeans (with lace hearts on the pockets and zippers at the ankles), a blue Jordache top and white tennis shoes. The group started at the Bennagins which was located downtown in the Charleston Towne Center (the mall for all you non-locals) before breaking off and heading in separate directions (some friends went to Spanky’s-a popular bar on the levee while Lynn and her companion made their way to the Tidewater Grill, also at the Towne Center Mall). Lynn and her companion arrived at Tidewater around 11:00pm.
Reports tend to vary, but the following is a rough timeline of events that followed:
11:00pm- Lynn and Male Companion arrive at Tidewater.
11:30pm- Lynn and her companion have an argument. The Male Companion leaves Tidewater and arrives back an est. 15 mins later.
12:00am- Lynn and White leave Tidewater Grill. White claims to have left from the Charleston Town Center, taking a taxi cab home since he did not want to go to Spankys. Lynn leaves her car keys on the bar where she had been sitting.
12:30am- Lynn was spotted having an argument with (presumably) White. A Security Guard reported hearing a couple arguing but was unable to see them because of his broken glasses. Moments later, a bailiff encounters the pair. He stops the male to speak with him, the female continues East on Quarrier Street. This is the last spotting of Lynn Priestly alive. She never arrived at Spanky’s to meet her friends.
The next day, when Lynn failed to get in touch with her family, they reported her missing to the Charleston PD. It was also stated that White went to the Tidewater Grill the next evening around 6:00pm, and retrieved Lynn’s car keys that had been left.
Lynn’s body wouldn’t be discovered until five (5) days later on March 21, 1990 when a fisherman discovered the nude body of a female around ten (10) feet from the Kanawha River banks. The body was discovered around ten (10) miles outside of Charleston between Chesapeake and Cheylan.
From the crime scene and autopsy, we were able to ascertain the the following information regarding Lynn’s murder:
Her clothing was never recovered
Her panties were found crumpled and stuffed inside her mouth
Cause of Death was determined to be manual strangulation
A rape kit was performed but the result have been withheld from the public.
LE will not comment whether or not signs of sexual assault were present.
Body was estimated to have been dumped at its location on the riverbank about 4-5 days prior to discovery.
From the crime scene, a mold was made of several footprints that were found.
For more information, be sure to stay tuned for our UPCOMING episode, “The Murder of Lynn Priestley,” coming LIVE on all streaming platforms on June 22, 2022. And be sure to let us know What YOUR theory is…
If you or anyone you know has any information regarding the murder of Lynn Priestly PLEASE contact Charleston PD at www.charlestonpolice.org . You can also phone them at (304) 348-6460. You are not required to give your name and are able to remain anonymous.
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Mysterious WV: Unsolved The Murder of Lynn Priestley
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