Lynne Schulze was last seen at a bus stop across the street from a health food store owned and operated by Durst after making a purchase earlier in the day

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Robert Durst has been linked to the 1971 disappearance of a female student in Vermont, police confirmed on Monday.

This announcement comes a week after Durst, a 71-year-old one-time real estate heir, was formally charged on murder and weapons charges following his appearance in the HBO documentary series The Jinx.

At the time of Lynne Schulze’s disappearance at age 18, Durst owned and operated the All Good Things health food store in the town of Middlebury, Vermont.

“We are aware of the connection between Robert Durst and the disappearance of Lynne Schulze,” Middlebury police chief Tom Hanley said in a statement. “We have been aware of this connection for several years and have been working with various outside agencies as we follow this lead.”

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The Middlebury College freshman was last seen at a bus stop across the street from Durst’s health food store on the afternoon of 10 December 1971. Hours earlier, she had been seen outside the store, eating dried prunes she had bought inside, according to the Burlington Free Press.

Schulze had registered for January and spring semester classes three days before disappearing, according to the Associated Press. Her mother has believed foul play was involved since her daughter went missing more than 40 years ago.

The Middlebury police department said it would not release any more details because the information was part of an active criminal investigation.

The “cold” case was reopened in 1992 and has been continuously generating new leads ever since, police said.

Durst is being held without bond in New Orleans, on a weapons charge. He is to be extradited to Los Angeles to face a murder charge for the 2000 shooting death of his friend Susan Berman.

The Jinx examined Durst’s involvement in the Berman case, as well as the circumstances surrounding the 1982 disappearance of his wife Kathie. He agreed to an interview for the six-part series, and the season finale featured a clip of Durst, who did not know he was still being recorded, saying to himself: “What did I do? Killed them all, of course.”