Thomas Nauss Jr.

Real Name: Thomas Robert Nauss Jr.
Aliases: Tommy Noss, Bobby

Wanted For: Murder, Assault, Rape, Escape
Missing Since: November 15, 1983

Case

Details: In 1979, Thomas Nauss was convicted of first-degree murder, indecent assault and rape against his twenty-one-year-old girlfriend, Elizabeth Ann Lande. She vanished on December 12, 1971, after leaving her home to visit him. Nauss was the prime suspect, but he could not be arrested at the time due to lack of evidence.
However, in 1977, he was arrested after a witness came forward. The witness, a friend of Nauss's, told police that Nauss had shown him Elizabeth's body on December 13, 1971. Disturbingly, her body was hanging from the rafters of a nearby parking garage. Nauss admitted to killing her and forced him to help bury her body. However, Nauss moved her remains before police could find them. Nauss also allegedly bragged about the murder to other witnesses.
In November of 1983, he and drug manufacturer Hans Vorhaurer escaped from a Pennsylvania prison through a trunk that was delivered out of the prison. Vorhaurer was later caught, but Nauss remains at large.
Extra Notes: The case was featured as a part of a special alert in the February 8, 1989 episode, along with Lena Regina Smith, Carl Alfred Eder, and Joseph Mancini. He was also featured on America’s Most Wanted.
Results: Captured. In 1990, Nauss was located in Michigan thanks to an AMW viewer; while on the run, he married and had two children. He was returned to the Pennsylvania prison, where he remains incarcerated. Sadly, Elizabeth's remains have never been found.
Links:

• Warlock charged in slaying
• Heard Nauss tell of killing, woman says
• Girl's murder described
• Murderer who escaped in 1983 is captured
• Graterford Escapee Nabbed After Seven Years In Michigan
• Lifer Who Escaped Gets More Jail Time - Montco Judge, Citing His `Rehabilitated Life,' Issues Less-than-standard Sentence
• Elizabeth Lande at The Charley Project
• Elizabeth Lande at The Doe Network

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