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E274: Dian Harlin
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In the fall of 1982, the quiet rhythm of Morro Bay, California was shattered when the body of 43-year-old Dian Harlin was discovered beneath a cluster of cypress trees near the high school. She had been strangled with a dog leash—an eerie detail that raised more questions than answers.
Was her stormy marriage to blame? Or was Dian the victim of a predator who struck by chance? And what are we to make of the fact that her husband Hugh, who acted strangely after her death, also vanished without a trace just four years later?
More than four decades later, the mysteries remain. Who killed “the Dog Lady” of Morro Bay? Did her husband know more than he admitted? Or was he another casualty of a truth still buried in the fog?
Tune in as we unravel the case of Dian Harlin—a story of eccentric lives, whispered rumors, and unanswered questions that continue to echo through the small seaside town.
If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases
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Transcript
Morro Bay's Tranquility Disrupted
00:00:00
Speaker
Morro Bay is the kind of place where the ocean sets the rhythm of life. Fishing boats bob in the harbor, the fog drifts low over the cypress trees, and the town seems to breathe in a steady, predictable way.
Discovery of Diane Harlan's Body
00:00:11
Speaker
But on an October evening in 1982, something disturbed that rhythm. That fall, the fall of 1982, the coastal town of Morro Bay carried the kind of quiet that every sound from the ocean seemed to amplify.
00:00:23
Speaker
That calm was broken when a woman's body was discovered beneath a cluster of trees near the local high school. She'd been strangled with a dog leash.
Identification and Initial Suspicion
00:00:31
Speaker
Her remains hidden only steps from a popular cross-country trail.
00:00:35
Speaker
The scene was chilling, not only because of what was found, but because of what was left behind. The discovery was as haunting as it was confusing. Who was she? For a while, no one knew. Her body was badly decomposed, her features unrecognizable, and her story a mystery.
00:00:50
Speaker
but the bracelets laying beside her, Jade and Silver, offered the first clue. When her husband was asked to look at them, he confirmed what investigators already feared. This was no stranger. Suspicion soon spread through the small seaside town.
00:01:04
Speaker
The husband's explanations didn't add up, and his shifting story only deepened the unease. Neighbors whispered about their stormy marriage, about the arguments about the dogs that seemed to be her constant companions, and yet no evidence ever placed him at the scene.
00:01:17
Speaker
Four years later, as if fate demanded a cruel symmetry, her husband would vanish without a trace. His truck abandoned on the roadside, his belongings left behind, his body never found. The woman at the center of today's case is 43-year-old Diane Harlan.
Introduction to 'Coffee and Cases' Podcast
00:01:31
Speaker
Her murder remains unsolved, her husband's disappearance unexplained, and the questions they left behind continue to haunt this place more than 40 years later.
00:02:13
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:02:32
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases Podcast, because, as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive.
00:02:46
Speaker
So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week. Whoa.
00:02:54
Speaker
Y'all. i well, first of all, first of all, we're recording in a new space. Yes. It took us a hot minute. Yeah. Well, I can't. To try to figure everything Like 30 minutes.
00:03:05
Speaker
But. couple hot minutes. But we're here. Mm-hmm. And then Maggie smacks me in the face with all of those details. Yeah. It's to be good.
00:03:15
Speaker
ready. Buckle Ready. Ready.
The Harlan Marriage Dynamics
00:03:18
Speaker
So I feel like to understand Diane's story, we need to first kind of understand the Harlins themselves. Okay. Because they were very unique individuals.
00:03:31
Speaker
So Diane, who at the time was 43 years old, lived with her husband Hugh Morro Bay. They were both well-known in the community for being eccentric. Okay.
00:03:42
Speaker
Okay. hey Diane, in particular, was intriguing. She had a few social contacts outside of her marriage, which, honestly, saying, like, I really don't talk to and Anthony. We don't have friends. Yeah, we don't have a lot of friends.
00:03:56
Speaker
You know, whatever. That's a lie. We just don't have time. Yeah. And, like, mean, the people that work with me in my library are my friends, but. Right. Yeah, we just don't have time. Who has time? We don't have hangout friends. Yeah, yeah.
00:04:10
Speaker
This so, like, her little handful of friends was in contrast to Hugh because he was more of a social butterfly. So, he knew a lot of people in the community.
00:04:21
Speaker
And I feel like those type of people are always drawn together. Like, the introvert and the social butterfly. Because it's you and Rodney, too. It is I'm the introvert. Yeah, and Rodney's the butterfly. Yeah. But, Diane...
00:04:35
Speaker
I don't want to say weird because I feel like that's insensitive, but she had some qualities. I feel like you've been tiptoeing around. Yes. Okay. Well. Topic. So just. Just. just going to do it. Yeah. So she was nicknamed the dog lady because people would often gossip about her extreme, extreme, like, love for her pets.
00:04:55
Speaker
And she would often say, quote, unquote, she was a pure dog person, which is fine. I, too, love dogs. Yeah. I haven't heard you say anything yet that's. bizarre Well, the weird things come when she was often said to spend way too much money on her four-legged friends and then the neighborhood strays, which again, i would do the same thing. You all know I'm an animal lover and I will leave food out for strays and all that, but I'm not going to take money away from my own family if we don't have it.
00:05:24
Speaker
to feed strays in the community. Is that what she would Or what extremes would she go to? So she would basically squander their money. Like she would spend all their money on dogs.
00:05:35
Speaker
And it was to the point that people in the community would whisper that she loved the dogs more than she loved her husband, which like, LOL, I say the same thing about Anthony sometimes, that he loves our dog more. but And then she would also, people rumored that she would feed her husband dog food Like, that's to the extent that she loved dogs.
00:05:59
Speaker
Like, bake it into casserole type things. Do we think that's legit, or is this people who are like... I mean, it came from couple different articles that I read. So, but again, like, is it just rumors, and like, those have been reported to people, and, you know... There has to be a reason why people...
00:06:21
Speaker
But if she's, like, obsessed with her dog, though, then people would like, bet she feeds him dog food. and You know, like, just feel like that's a little weird. It is. It's strange.
00:06:32
Speaker
that But, you know. Okay. Okay. Diane also attracted attention because I read of her unique clothing and mannerisms. But in the pictures that I saw from her, she just looks like she walked out of, like, 1974. I don't know.
00:06:46
Speaker
and Oh, yeah. she Well, she, to me, yeah, looks very... Hippie, indie, Woodstock-ish. Like, probably makes her own deodorant.
00:06:57
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Owns soap. Yeah. Yeah. Makes candles. I wish you make soap. can make soap. I used to make it with mammy. Yeah. Lye soap. It'll eat your skin off.
00:07:08
Speaker
Oh. Yeah. And then I feel like they kind of give, like, Hatfield McCoy vibes. Like, he looks... I don't know how to take that picture. He looks like he should be in the Hatfield McCoy feud.
00:07:21
Speaker
He looks like Debil Lance Hatfield. His eyes look piercing. And why is it black and white? It's 1980-something. He does look like Hatfield McCoy. Does he have on one of those, like, golfer, like, paper boy kind of hats? think so. man Yeah.
00:07:39
Speaker
Okay. And then she is... Looks like she's surprised. Yeah. Her eyebrows are up. And she's staring and They look a lot older. It looks like she's wearing black but with like a long white necklace.
00:07:55
Speaker
And i look older than. She looks older I think than thirty s Oh. Yeah, it said... Or was it 43? Okay, see. That's younger than I am.
00:08:07
Speaker
I would have said older. Yeah, like if I hadn't researched this case and this was just like the first picture I saw of them, I would have thought they were like grandma and grandpa's. And what is he holding? Where?
00:08:19
Speaker
Okay, well, he had some physical limitations. He had lost some fingers, so I don't know if that is kind of what we're seeing in the bottom of the picture where it's kind of like draining. It kind of looked like he was grabbing her inappropriately. Oh, yeah, it kind of does now. I can't unsee it. Why is his hand there?
00:08:38
Speaker
It could be resting on his leg. It's black and white. It's very dull. It's hard to see. That's true. Maybe it's a little just. We'll go with that. We'll go with that. Maybe those are his legs that it's resting on. Diane, despite these oddities, was described as friendly and almost generous to a fault. You know, she's taking their money to give it to all these stray dogs.
00:09:00
Speaker
But she also believed that she had a special gift for predicting the future. Okay. So, don't for yeah But she claimed to have foreseen her own death through a dream.
00:09:14
Speaker
She said that she claimed to have a dream that her Afghan dog died. And she said that in this dream, she knew that when something happened to the dog, that she too would die. Because it was just like they were almost bonded. Yeah. Like soulmates kind of.
00:09:30
Speaker
And again, I love my four-legged friends. And I'll be devastated like when something happens to Emma or Aries. You know, Willow. She'd give or take. Yeah. But, like, to go as far as to say i would die is, like, it's almost like you don't have anything else live for. which I guess if she didn't. Which is maybe why the neighbors were saying she would spit your dog over her husband. Maybe this is, like, her children, you know?
00:09:55
Speaker
Interestingly, she was also undergoing treatment for an aneurysm, though I couldn't find. Okay, so first off, I just thought that. One could have like just
Diane's Last Known Movements
00:10:04
Speaker
a brain aneurysm. I didn't know there were aneurysms of other parts of the body.
00:10:09
Speaker
Is there? ah think that's what Google told me. I believe that there are aneurysms because I guess if there were, if they weren't other places, then you wouldn't say this person had a brain aneurysm. You would just say an aneurysm. Correct.
00:10:25
Speaker
So she was being treated for an aneurysm. I'm not sure where that was located, but she would tend to forget to take her medication. That's not sure good.
00:10:36
Speaker
Yeah, like I don't know how that played into her mental and physical health. But aneurysms, like the brain aneurysm, it's on my list of fears. Just put that right up there with the ball lightning and all crazy stuff. It's terrifying.
00:10:53
Speaker
Okay, so that's a little bit about ok Diane. Okay. So we're going to talk briefly about Hugh because we are also covering his case in the next episode. So I don't want to go into like a lot of details about him because we're going to cover his case too.
00:11:06
Speaker
Okay. But at the time he was 47 and he was also quite the character. So he was, i hate this word, working. It's like, it's the same as rural. Yeah. a But that's only one reason why that word.
00:11:22
Speaker
Because I think, like, when I first heard that word, so Anthony's uncle called me that once. And I was like, always just thought that was, like, people that were just really comfortable with their self and, like, you know, just didn't care. apparently, that means you're a weirdy.
00:11:37
Speaker
oh yes No. Yes. No. that's what Google said. Google says. I think quirky is. That it can be negative. I'm sure it can but I would say that I'm quirky.
00:11:50
Speaker
i would say that my daughter's quirky. And we're not weird. No. We're completely normal. Okay. Not at all. Yeah. So, that's how he was described. He was a fisherman.
00:12:04
Speaker
was a tinker. um He did lots of manual labor and mostly, it seemed to be like as a handyman. okay Okay. unlike Diane, he was described as very social.
00:12:16
Speaker
And was always willing to jump in and help others. Most of the time, he didn't charge for his services, which again, like, you're in a financial strain because your wife wants to help all the dogs in your community, but you're not charging for your work. So, like, it's a us problem at that point. Yeah. It's both of us. Agreed. Yeah. Agreed.
00:12:34
Speaker
So, as I mentioned earlier, he was missing his left thumb and forefinger. um He was known as a survivalist, somebody that could live off the land for extended periods of time. The couple did live rent-free on a ranch that was less than half a mile from where.
00:12:50
Speaker
Diane's body would later be discovered. So it all kind of happens right there. Kudos to him for being able to live off the land. I'd last not even a full day.
00:13:01
Speaker
Listen, I'm telling you, God knew when I needed to be born. Like he knew. I say this all the time. He knew. I could not survive the heat. I could not. I have to have electricity. and conditioning Yeah. I got to have electricity. i have to have running water. Refrigerator. Yeah. I'm like, and I try. I know that's like such first world problems of me. Yeah.
00:13:19
Speaker
And it makes me feel awful sometimes. But it's just who I am. I'm sorry. guess I'm an awful person. Please don't judge us. Yeah.
00:13:31
Speaker
I'm sorry. i love air conditioning. Okay. So their marriage, as you can probably guess, was far from idyllic. It was widely known throughout the community that their marriage was stormy, rocky, turbulent. It was often described as difficult.
00:13:47
Speaker
Let me say, I'm guessing it's not stormy and rocky and difficult just because of financial situations, because it doesn't seem like either one of them were particularly concerned nor consumed with like the rat race of life of like earning a bunch of money. Yeah.
00:14:06
Speaker
I think that in the research, it always brought up money because I just think that's such a common problem for people to argue over. But it never really went into any details about...
00:14:20
Speaker
why their marriage was storming into the I know that Diane would frequently criticize Hugh. That'll do it. Yeah. And they would have, like, loud verbal arguments. But it was never reported that these quarrels would turn physical, just loud verbal altercations.
00:14:35
Speaker
And then, apparently, Diane would do things to... intentionally enrage you but sometimes like when Anthony ah and I are arguing I'm like oh yeah pushing that button this will get him and then like I say something that I probably shouldn't say in the minute in the moment but then I'm in so all's fair and loving yeah exactly So, okay, so they would say she would say things knowing it's going to get his goat. Yes, yes.
00:15:06
Speaker
The financial strain caused by her lavishing on these dogs, for friends, and even beggars in the community was a source of friction because Hugh felt that he struggled to support her these dogs.
00:15:19
Speaker
his fisherman's paycheck. But again, you're working a lot and you're not taking money. So it's, it's a best problem. Unless he's like, you know what? Maybe if I don't take money, if I have less, she's going to spend less.
00:15:30
Speaker
Yeah. Maybe he's thinking reverse psychology. Like maybe this will, maybe, no Like she'll, she'll have to figure out what she could give up.
00:15:41
Speaker
Yeah. get what I'm saying? Like if i catch power I have multiple thousands coming in every month, then I can buy whatever I want. But if I only have 500, well now I've got to be selective about what I need versus what I want.
00:15:54
Speaker
And maybe he's thinking that because then if more money starts rolling well, she already realizes, okay, I didn't really need that. Right. But I needed my dog food. I'm just psychoanalyzing him.
00:16:06
Speaker
Well, I know that in the research that that was, i so like I said, a common argument that they had. And it was like that and the intentionality behind some of her remarks right was why they had such a turbulent marriage. And I guess that sets the backdrop for of this mystery.
00:16:24
Speaker
Okay. Okay.
00:16:33
Speaker
So the last time anyone officially saw Diana alive was on October 2nd, 1982, between 5.30 and 6.30. So just that little hour.
Discovery and Evidence of Murder
00:16:44
Speaker
She was doing what she loved to do She was walking her two dogs. Now listen, this research, i feel, I want to say the type of dog Is a maybe.
00:16:59
Speaker
Okay. Because ah some of the research said it was an Afghan dog and then a small brown dog. Some of it didn't say what the dog was. And i it's it'll make sense why I have that little caveat here in a little bit.
00:17:11
Speaker
Okay. So she was. two dogs. Yes, two dogs. She was a familiar face in the area because she was often seen walking her dogs near the west side of the school that was in their community. So this in and of itself wouldn't have been viewed as abnormal. Her out with her doggies. Right. Fair.
00:17:28
Speaker
No one that saw her that afternoon really noted anything that stood out because, again, it wasn't abnormal. They were used to seeing her there. yeah About an hour after she was last seen, though, her dogs were spotted running away from a row of trees that were near the school.
00:17:44
Speaker
And they didn't make it home until about 11 p.m. that evening. And they come without Diane. Okay, yeah, which would never happen. Well, and that's if those are her babies. But then there's like things that Hugh says that is weird. So the owner of the ranch, because remember, they don't own it. They're just living there. Yes.
00:18:03
Speaker
He sees the dogs and he goes to Hugh and he's like, hey, this is kind of weird. Do you think you need to call the police? And he's like, no. And he told the owner that Diane would often disappear for periods of time. So it wasn't really unusual and that.
00:18:16
Speaker
He claimed he was used to her being gone for a while. But I go back to what you said, Allison. Was it normal that she just, like, let her dogs run off leash back home? That doesn't, yeah. I think if you're they're basically your children, then you're not going to do that.
00:18:32
Speaker
I understand if she knew they were safely in her home. Yeah, or, like, their yard. But then she goes off for an extended period of time. But to just let them roam free?
00:18:42
Speaker
Yeah. Like, yeah. She loved her dogs. Some would argue more than her husband. So did she just like let them run home? I don't. That doesn't make sense. And then it takes them several hours to get home.
00:18:53
Speaker
are they just. Yeah. I don't know. it just is weird. But she wasn't just gone for a day or two. She was gone for a long time. 11 days because on October 13th, 1982, grim discovery was made. And again, what's Hugh doing during this time? And like, how long are these trips that she takes to like, is it normal for her to be gone two weeks away from him her dogs and away from him like the life that she has? I just doesn't think that's kind of weird. But again, i wasn't there.
00:19:23
Speaker
Right. But during a cross-country meet at the local high school, the coach's wife took a walk and found a badly decomposed body of a woman under these cypress trees just off the beach. And remember, she was seen on this path off the dunes at the local high school. okay The body was partially nude. And then, obviously, we have the motive from that that she was assaulted. Yes.
00:19:44
Speaker
Yeah. Near the body, a dark-colored webbed dog leash that was about three or four feet long was also found. Okay. So sadly, though, due to the state of decomposition, the woman couldn't immediately be identified.
00:19:59
Speaker
So the police released a description to the public, hoping people would come in. Well, hopefully Hugh was like, know what? There was a dog leash beside her. No, girl, that's not what happened. No.
00:20:11
Speaker
A friend recognizing the description urged Hugh to go to the police because he was like, she or he was like, this is Diane. Does Hugh not watch television? like I don't think they give off those vibes, though.
00:20:23
Speaker
They don't. But surely he was in town. Surely he heard people talking. About a decomposed body. Right.
00:20:33
Speaker
Well, he finally agrees to go. Someone tells to go. And when Hugh met with investigators, he was able to identify two bracelets that were found near the body. One was jade and one was silver.
00:20:44
Speaker
And he knew that those were Diane's. And then fingerprints would later confirm that she was the murdered woman. So they're found near her body, not on her body. yeah And then they are able to confirm that the cause of death was strangulation with a dog leash.
Hugh Harlan's Inconsistent Statements
00:21:03
Speaker
Wow. Which... Which tells me it was opportunistic because whoever went there obviously didn't come with a weapon, whoever did this to her, because they're using dog leash. Because they're using something she had.
00:21:19
Speaker
But Hugh's behavior quickly drew suspicion. So he claimed that he hadn't seen Diane for 12 days since she had left with the dogs on the 2nd. And that he hadn't reported her missing because she often left for those extended periods of time without contacting.
00:21:34
Speaker
What I couldn't find was how often, like we talked about, she would go on those extended leaves. And how long she would be gone. Because ah guess it would have to be fairly often if 12 days didn't raise any type suspicion to him.
00:21:48
Speaker
Unless, obviously, he's lying. But I don't know. I do know that his story became inconsistent. Initially, he told police that when the dogs returned home on the night of the second, they were wearing their leashes.
00:22:00
Speaker
But when investigators informed him that Diane had been strangled with a dog leash, he was like, oh, just kidding. I remember now that they were came home without their leashes. And to play devil's advocate, I feel like this is something that, like, a mistake right I could have made too. Because you're just going to assume that they have their leashes on.
00:22:20
Speaker
Right. And like, You know, I just don't think that that's a a detail I would have thought to remember, especially if I didn't find them roaming home weird. Though, just, I don't know how he couldn't have found them roaming home weird.
00:22:37
Speaker
Well, after this pivot in his story, like, oh, wait, no, they did... Come home with a without without the leashes. Okay. And police are kind of like, well, this makes you a little suspicious. He's like, I want an attorney. I'm not answering any more questions.
00:22:53
Speaker
Which, again, doesn't make you guilty. Makes you smart. Can't blame him for that. yeah I would have done the same thing, I think. So given this tumultuous nature of their marriage, Hughes' failure to report Diane missing, the shifting statements, he was immediately considered a suspect by police. Well, and it's usually... Right, the spouse.
00:23:12
Speaker
Exactly. The lover. Exactly. However, though, he denied police theories about his wife and he accused them of, quote unquote, bringing disgrace by investigating it as a homicide. I guess to like her memory, which to me is is weird. She had a leash around.
00:23:29
Speaker
Well, he says, this is what he says, that she died from an aneurysm, the one she had previously sought treatment for, and that her death wasn't a murder at all. But police knew and told him that she had been strangled. So, like, I'm confused how... And he claims, because this definitely builds your credibility, that his astrologer backed this theory.
00:23:53
Speaker
That it was... he She died of a remnant aneurysm. Right. The only thing... Okay. Let's say his theory is right. Okay. She could have had...
00:24:05
Speaker
Something like a brain aneurysm. And collapsed. And the dog maybe wrapped the leash around her? As they're like running around to check on her. And you think it pulled tight enough? I feel like would leave. Well, there are breakaway leashes.
00:24:16
Speaker
But it wouldn't leave strangulation marks, though? If that's how they're determining that. If they've wrapped it. Right. If they're like checking her and they're continuing to. Right. if Or if she has like. Let's say she's holding the leashes in her hand. She holds her hand up to her head.
00:24:28
Speaker
if her head hurts and they're circling around. But then I feel like her arm would be caught up in the leashes. Or they would be able to tell that the strangulation was secondary.
00:24:40
Speaker
You know, that. Because they, feel like with an autopsy, which I'm assuming that they did, they would have been able to determine if it was an enderism. would think so so. I'm assuming they did an autopsy. That's how they determined strangulation. It's the cause of death.
00:24:53
Speaker
It's the cause of death. The astrologer was all I needed to know. So, again, he says, like, astrologer backs me up.
00:25:05
Speaker
This is what happened. And his theory about this trip that she supposedly has was going on. So, he thinks that she went to Colorado to see a swammy.
00:25:16
Speaker
What is a swammy, Maggie? That is a Hindu religious teacher. Okay. So she went to this. So she's looking for guidance. Yes, she's looking for religious guidance.
00:25:27
Speaker
So she goes to Orange County, according to Hugh, just to seek condolences after the death of her beloved Afghan dog. So this is why I was saying. Oh, so she said she had a dream where she said, i will die. I will die my dog dies.
00:25:41
Speaker
And that's why I was saying, I don't know. But if he said that she went to go... For condolences. Condolences. I don't know if the dog that she was walking was was actually an adult. Unless where she originally had three dogs.
00:25:55
Speaker
um Or maybe she had, like, she got another, maybe she loved that breed so much, like, she got another one. Or she had two of them. Right. Yeah. So, obviously, this dog died before her disappearance, if this is the case. So, then it wouldn't have been
Theories and Unanswered Questions
00:26:09
Speaker
the one that she walked. And I guess it was recent enough, the death of the dog, for it to be a factor in Hugh's initial theory about what happened to her.
00:26:18
Speaker
Like it would have been fresh enough that she would have needed. like you would think though, if he's like, no, no, she went out west. She went out to this Swami.
00:26:32
Speaker
Then when there's proof that she didn't go anywhere. That he would be concerned? Yeah, that he would say, oh my gosh. Something happened. Yeah. Well, despite the initial strong suspicion surrounding Hugh, police never charged him in connection with Diane's murder.
00:26:47
Speaker
He was... Did have alibi? They said that they ultimately believed that he did not commit the murder. They did feel that he knew more than he was saying that he knew, suggesting that he might have been concealing facts, maybe out of fear or something like that. But they said that he was not connected to the murder of Diane's murder.
00:27:11
Speaker
Interesting. And then another prevailing theory is that Diane was the victim of a stranger, which you said, like maybe a sexual predator. Was this just um like an opportunity? yeah Because the circumstances of her murder, so the strangulation, the nudity, especially being strangled with the leash, like you said, it's opportunistic. But that's almost like psychologically. Or if that's a riff in their marriage. Right.
00:27:36
Speaker
That's what I'm saying. Like, then it makes sense that that would be the very thing. Like this. His 13th reason why. Yeah. And he just snaps. Yeah. Diane often, like we talked about, walked in the secluded area near the high school. So they were considered, I guess, locations that could leave someone vulnerable.
00:27:56
Speaker
And for those who believe in this theory, the idea was chilling, right? A woman alone with her dogs on a quiet evening encounters with A predator in a moment that turns deadly. But this town is a small town.
00:28:08
Speaker
And they didn't see any suspicious persons that night. So feel like it's almost ah like an incomplete theory. Yeah, because you feel like somebody would be like, oh, yeah, I saw a strange vehicle that I've never seen before. Hugh himself, again, maintained other...
00:28:25
Speaker
versions of events that she suffered from a medical emergency possibly related to her aneurysm for which she was being treated kind of this theory he claimed was even supported by that their astrologer and friends who had been aware of her health struggles and while this idea might have explained like her sudden like guess disappearance of presence of the doglies just And the state that her body was left in. Like, why?
00:28:51
Speaker
That's something else we didn't talk about. If she died from an aneurysm, we could talk away the leash, right? but she's nude. Partially nude. Yeah. So how are explaining that away? Did her dog pull her pants off? Yeah.
00:29:01
Speaker
Mm-mm. See? No. No. That doesn't make any sense. so See, does is Hugh not thinking logically here? Like, wait a minute. And is it?
00:29:12
Speaker
Unless she, again... Maybe she had a habit of swimming partially nude in the water. We don't know.
00:29:23
Speaker
But again, circumstances I would have liked him to explain that detail away. Yeah. There's also this unsettling notion that Diane's killer could have been someone she knew, maybe a friend, a neighbor, someone with knowledge about her habits, because the unusual method of strangulation, but using the leash that was familiar to her and her dogs, might suggest a personal approach.
00:29:49
Speaker
connection kind of like you mentioned or some type of familiarity this theory points to the possibility that the perpetrator was someone the town overlooked so like it wouldn't be weird to also see them along this route and right like seeing her or seeing this person through Diane's routines as well like it wouldn't have been weird so obviously theories abound yet none of offer complete closure and all of these years later we're still asking like who killed Diane Why?
00:30:19
Speaker
Why all the secrets with her husband? Who was this person that was lurking? Was it someone unexpected? i don't know. And then, like I said, we will talk about Hugh week.
00:30:30
Speaker
but His disappearance coming four years later, i think, just adds another layer of entry. Definitely. Because then it's like, has he been silenced because he knew too much about Diane? Which is what police suspected.
00:30:43
Speaker
Right. Did he run away because he was trying to escape some type of danger? Or maybe he was guilty and so he left, like, out of guilt? Mm-hmm. I don't know, because his fate also remains unknown.
00:30:57
Speaker
Oh, I need to hear the details of that.
Listener Engagement and Conclusion
00:31:01
Speaker
Tune in next week. Oh my goodness. More than 40 years have passed and the questions remain, who strangled a woman with her own dog leash beneath the cypress trees of Morro Bay?
00:31:13
Speaker
Did her husband hold the answers or did he become the next victim of a killer who was never caught? The ocean still rolls against the shore, the fox still drifts over the harbor, and Morro Bay still breathes with its steady rhythm.
00:31:24
Speaker
But for those who remember the fall of 1982... There's an absence that never lifted. a silence that still begs to be broken. Diane Harlan's murder is still officially unsolved. If you have any information, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem regarding her murder, please contact the police department at 805-772-6225.
00:31:46
Speaker
Your tip could be the missing piece that could bring justice for Diane. Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases Podcast, to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode.
00:31:58
Speaker
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00:32:10
Speaker
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00:32:21
Speaker
Stay safe. We'll see you next week.