Ted Bundy is perhaps one of the most notorious serial killers in history. The rapist and necrophiliac admitted to 30 murders in his lifetime, but he often suggested that the true tally of victims was significantly higher.
Part of what made Bundy so terrifying was his narcissism. Witnesses have often said that he was a naturally charming man who easily earned women’s trust. One of those females was his former co-worker Carole Ann Boone, whom he married in a courtroom while being tried for the murder of a 12-year-old. Their relationship produced one child, but Boone reportedly filed for divorce after he finally confessed to his depraved crime spree.
Since then, Ted Bundy’s daughter, Rose Bundy, has been living a life of anonymity. While we respect her right to privacy, exhaustive research on Bundy’s life has exposed some details about her. Here’s what we know.
Serial Killer Ted Bundy Had A Daughter Named Rose Bundy
Rosa Bundy, often referred to as Rose Bundy, was born on October 24, 1982 to Carole Anne Boone and Ted Bundy. She is the killer’s first and only biological child.
Photos of Rose and her parents do exist and have circulated on the internet, but there are very few accounts of the family’s dynamics. One thing we do know is that despite her husband’s heinous crimes, Carole Ann often had Rose accompany her on prison visits to see Bundy. It is said that his wife believed he was innocent throughout his multiple trials.
“There really was a dream that Ted would get out, they’d find him proven innocent, and they would move in together and raise the kids,” said Trish Wood, director of the 2020 docuseries Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer.
Wood’s series doesn’t delve into Bundy’s experience. She prefers to see things through the lens of his victims, and says that looking at pics of the killer with Rose is “horrifying.” Listen to her talk about Rose in this 2020 Oxygen interview:
Rose Bundy Was Conceived While Her Father Was On Death Row
Rose was conceived while her father was in prison. Bundy wasn’t permitted conjugal visits while awaiting the death penalty, so there are multiple theories as to how Boone was impregnated. Some believe that prison guards were bribed and turned a blind eye while prisoners had sex with spouses; another wild theory is that Bundy slipped his wife a condom full of his own semen so that she could do the job without intercourse.
As Florida State Prison Superintendent Clayton Strickland told the Deseret News in 1981, “Where the human element is involved, anything is possible. They’re subject to do anything.”
The latter theory is particularly far-fetched—until you learn what Carole Ann was capable of. According to the docuseries Conversations With a Killer, she often smuggled drugs “vaginally,” which Ted would then bring to his cell “rectally.”
When asked for details about the child during her pregnancy, she told the Deseret News, “I don’t have to explain anything about anyone to anybody.”
Rose Bundy Vanished From Public Eye After Ted Bundy’s Execution
Rose Bundy’s current whereabouts are unknown. Carole Ann filed for divorce in 1986, three years before Bundy was executed via the electric chair. It is believed that she took her two children and changed their identities to protect themselves from public scrutiny.
Theories about Rose’s new name and location have been floating around the internet, but none have been confirmed. Ann Rule, author of the 1980 biography Bundy, The Stranger Beside Me, issued an update in the 2008 reprint of her book. “I have heard that Ted’s daughter is a kind and intelligent young woman but I have no idea where she and her mother may live,” she wrote. “They have been through enough pain.”
She also added on her website, “I have deliberately avoided knowing anything about Ted’s ex-wife and daughter’s whereabouts because they deserve privacy.
“I don’t want to know where they are; I never want to be caught off guard by some reporter’s question about them. All I know is that Ted’s daughter has grown up to be a fine young woman.”