BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2022 A3
LOCAL
Linda
Continued from A2
Sarah believes Linda was a
victim of her own kindness, that
she tried to help the people who
ended up killing her.
“She always tried to help peo-
ple out,” Sarah said. “Because
she had lived on the street, she
tried to help the people she met
out there.”
Lucille Lane, another of Lin-
da’s younger sisters, agrees.
“She had always kind of taken
in the outcasts and the troubled
ones,” said Lane, who lives in
Pocatello, Idaho. “She had been
in and out of that lifestyle.”
Sarah still wonders whether
she made a mistake, even
though she was trying to help
Linda, by encouraging her
daughter to move into the
apartment.
“I talked her into getting that
apartment — I wished I hadn’t,”
Sarah said. “She was safe on the
street. Safer, anyway.”
Lucille remembers the “sick
feeling” she had in March 2019
when she learned, from Linda’s
daughter, Alesia, that Linda was
missing.
“She was very schedule-ori-
ented,” Lucille said of Linda.
“She had never just disappeared
without telling anyone like that.”
Loretta said she suffered from
severe depression after Linda’s
disappearance.
Loretta lived for about four
months with a friend in New
Hampshire before returning to
Baker City.
What happened?
Linda’s mother, her sisters
and her daughter-in-law, Steph-
anie Mailman, who lives in La
Grande and is married to Lin-
da’s son, Anthony Mailman,
all believe that Linda was mur-
dered and that they know two
people who were involved.
That pair, a man and a
woman, seem to be inextricably
linked to Linda’s disappearance,
Sarah said.
Many people have mentioned
those two names when talking
about the case, she said.
Stephanie, who helped Ale-
sia, Linda’s daughter, clean out
Linda’s apartment after she
disappeared, said there was no
evidence that a struggle had
taken place in the apartment.
No blood, no marks on the
walls.
Stephanie, like Linda’s other
relatives, believes she was killed
somewhere else.
“Whatever happened did
not happen at that apartment,”
Stephanie said.
Although Linda’s relatives
know she had a history of drug
addiction, and that she asso-
ciated with people who both
used and sold drugs, they be-
lieve that the motivation for
her murder was more likely
money.
Sarah said Linda had with-
drawn $400 from an account
just before she went missing.
“The two people I think did
it, I think they wanted that
money,” Sarah said.
Duby, the police chief, said
officers removed a variety of
items from Linda’s apartment,
including sections of carpet and
furniture.
The items were tested but
Contributed Photos
Linda Peterson with her grandson, Keiran, in La Grande in 2016.
Lucille said she got a call
more than a year and a half ago,
in March 2021, from a woman
who said her niece claimed to
have been present when Linda
was killed.
The woman told Lucille that
her niece, the supposed witness,
had been threatened by some-
one who was involved in killing
Linda.
Lucille said she doesn’t know
whether the story is true.
Duby said he understands
Linda’s family’s motivation
about publicity.
But he believes that there are
1941 - November 4, 2022
Linda Peterson, second from right, in Baker City in 2013 with her daughter, Alesia, far right, her mother, Sarah
Leffler, sitting, and Linda’s son, Anthony Mailman, left.
This drawing of Linda Peterson is
from a photograph that is a favor-
ite of her mother, Sarah Leffler.
none yielded evidence that sug-
gested any crime had been com-
mitted in the apartment.
But neither does that mean
Linda wasn’t harmed there, he
said.
“It’s an unknown,” Duby said.
He said Sgt. Wayne Chastain
was recently assigned to oversee
Linda’s case. Detective Shannon
Regan, who has been on paid
leave since July 2021, was origi-
nally the lead investigator.
Sarah and other relatives said
they appreciated Regan’s efforts
to keep them up to date on the
investigation while she was
working the case.
They said they haven’t had
as much contact with police re-
cently, however.
Duby said he understands
that Linda’s loved ones are frus-
trated by the lack of resolution
— her body hasn’t been found
and no one has been charged.
“I would be (frustrated) too,”
he said.
Duby said police have ob-
tained warrants to search multi-
ple buildings and properties and
have employed dogs trained to
find cadavers.
Police towed a van from one
property that, according to ru-
mors, might have been involved
in Linda’s disappearance, and
that she had been in the van,
possibly after she died.
“We tore that thing apart,”
Duby said. “There was not one
iota of evidence.”
None of the other searches
has turned up evidence about
Linda’s whereabouts, either.
Duby shares the suspicion of
Linda’s family that Linda knew
the people who killed her.
“This is not the bushy-haired
stranger kind of situation,”
Duby said.
“The person or persons re-
sponsible were known to Linda,
associated with her. We’re pretty
focused on a very limited num-
ber of people, and kind of al-
ways have been.”
Duby said the police depart-
ment’s file on Linda’s disappear-
ance contains nearly 1,000 pages
of documents.
One area of contention be-
tween Duby and Linda’s rela-
tives is the value of distributing
new fliers about her disappear-
ance.
Stephanie, who maintains a
Facebook page where she fre-
quently posts about Linda’s case,
contends that putting out fli-
ers not only would “let people
know that we haven’t forgotten
about her,” but could potentially
also prompt someone who was
involved in her disappearance,
or who has information, to con-
tact police.
Stephanie believes the people
involved could be influenced by
remorse or guilt.
She said she wants to “put
pressure” on people who have
knowledge that could resolve
the case.
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See Linda / A5
Wesley Ann Brown
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“very, very few people out there
who know what happened” —
and possibly only those who
were directly involved in Linda’s
death.
None of those people has
confessed in going on four
years, and Duby is skeptical that
publicity will persuade anyone
to do so.
Greg Baxter, Baker County
district attorney, said he’s opti-
mistic that Chastain, the newly
assigned detective, will bring a
“fresh set of eyes” to the case.
Baxter said police have re-
ceived multiple leads in Linda’s
disappearance in 2022, and
they will continue to probe
each one.
“It’s an active case that we are
pursuing,” Baxter said. “We are
working hard.”
Linda’s relatives said they un-
derstand police are still working
on the case, but some criticize
aspects of the investigation,
both in its early stages and con-
tinuing today.
Stephanie, for instance, said
she and Linda’s daughter should
not have been allowed to re-
move items from the Broadway
Street apartment before police
had searched.
Stephanie said her husband,
Anthony, who is serving a sen-
tence for drug and firearm
possession charges in Powder
River Correctional Facility in
Baker City, told her recently he
feels that Linda’s disappearance
“is not getting the attention it
deserves.” He attributes this to
Linda’s socioeconomic status,
and contends that if she were
wealthy, rather than a some-
times transient, police would
have been more aggressive
in the early stages of the
investigation.
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Wesley Ann Brown, daughter of
Rev. Thomas Jefferson and Laverne
Franks, went to dwell in the House
of the Lord forever on November
4th, 2022, after a courageous battle
with cancer.
Wesley Ann was born in 1941 at
Wesley Hospital in Wichita, Kansas,
where her father was pastor at
Wesley Methodist Church. Wes was
a member of the Park Hill Methodist Youth Fellowship
in Denver, Colorado, where she met the love of her life,
Philip Jay Brown. After graduating from East Denver
High School she attended and graduated from Colorado
Women’s College. Shortly thereafter, she became a
teacher in the Denver Public Schools. She married Philip
Jay Brown in 1964 at Rockland Community Church in
Golden, Colorado. They honeymooned at Y.M.C.A. of
the Rockies, Estes Park, Colorado. After a brief stint in
Colorado, they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she
taught school for three years. They then moved back to
Colorado Springs, Colorado where she taught for another
three and a half years in the Pikes Peak School District.
Staying true to her three-year pattern of employment,
she taught another three years in Kewanee, Illinois. After
the adoption of their son, Matthew, in 1971, moved out
west to the town they would ultimately call their “true
home,” Baker City, Oregon. Seven years later, their
second son, Christopher, was adopted. In Baker City, Wes
continued teaching until her retirement in 1998.
Besides the lifelong friendships created at North
Baker Elementary and Churchill Elementary, another
highlight of her educational tenure was, along with her
6th grade class, creating a submission, being selected,
and ultimately representing Oregon in NASA ‘s “Name
the Shuttle” contest. She was invited as NASA’s guest
to witness the launch of the shuttle Endeavor at Cape
Canaveral. She also coached the Baker High School
tennis team for a few years in the 1990s.
After retiring, Wes stayed active by being involved
in numerous United States Tennis Association teams
and sanctioned tournaments, even qualifying for the
National Champions in San Diego, California. They went
on to take 2nd place overall. Wes continued pursuing
her hobbies and passions, which included her dogs,
birding (feeders were always full) and participating
in Senior Short Course Triathlons. In the late 1990s,
valuable time was spent taking care of her dogs on the
farm and participating in the USTA’s Senior Grass Court
tournaments, some matches played on their homebuilt
grass tennis court with lights. It seemed as though Baker
City would become their “forever home” into retirement
and beyond, but after the birth of their first granddaughter,
Annika Grace Brown, they uprooted and moved to
Nampa, Idaho, to be close to their expanding family.
After moving to Nampa, Wes continued playing in USTA
league tennis until “Father Time” hinted that it was time
to put the racquet down. Her remaining years in Idaho
were focused on being ever-present in her children’s and
grandchildren’s life. Wes attended every concert, sporting
event, and performance possible, until she became ill in
2021. She was her grandkids’ biggest fan, advocate, and
model of unconditional love!
Wesley Ann is survived by her husband of 58
years, Philip Brown, her two sons Matthew Garth and
Christopher Gallen, daughter-in-law Stephanie Kinman
(to whom she was as close as a daughter), and three
grandchildren, Annika, Riley and Camden. Her family
was her life! Her never-ending love and sense of humor
will be missed, but never forgotten. Her laugh and smile
were contagious!
Wesley Anne wishes any donations in her memory
go to Stand Up To Cancer at standuptocancer.org. or the
United Methodist Church in Baker City, Oregon. Many
THANKS to family, Honi Deaton, St. Luke’s Hospice
program, and Alsip and Persons Funeral Chapel.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1 p.m. on
Saturday, November 19th at Alsip and Persons Funeral
Chapel in Nampa, Idaho: 404 10th Ave S., Nampa,
ID 83651. Remembrances may be shared at www.
alsippersons.com.