Eleanor Louise Cowell: What Happened To Ted Bundy’s Mother?

Eleanor Louise Cowell is the mother of the late Ted Bundy. Ted who was born Theodore Robert Cowell was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped, and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. He confessed to 30 murders committed. He is famous because of the unbelievable and horrific crimes he committed.

Eleanor Louise Cowell: Bio Summary

Eleanor Is The Mother Of Ted Bundy

Eleanor Louise Cowell is the woman who gave birth to notorious serial killer Theodore Robert Cowell also known as Ted Bundy. Eleanor’s date of birth is September 21, 1924. She was born in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA to Samuel Knecht Cowell (September 23, 1898 – December 4, 1983) and Eleanor Miriam Cowell née Longstreet (February 16, 1895 – April 25, 1971).

Eleanor Louise Cowell (known as Louise) is a mother of 5. She gave birth to Ted Bundy on November 24, 1946. Her son’s biological father’s identity has never been confirmed. Ted’s original birth certificate revealed that his father is salesman and United States Air Force veteran, Lloyd Marshall. A copy of his birth certificate listed his father as unknown.

According to Eleanor Louise Cowell, she was impregnated by a war veteran named Jack Worthington, who later left her after she got pregnant. Some relatives suspected that Eleanor’s father is the father of her son Ted. Eleanor’s son Ted was raised by Eleanor’s parents Samuel and Eleanor Miriam for the first three years of his life.

Ted Bundy lived in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Roxborough with his maternal grandparents. His grandparents took care of him as their son to escape from the social stigma that accompanied birth outside of wedlock at that time. Ted thought his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his older sister.

Also Read: Johnny Culpepper Bundy- Who is Ted Bundy’s father?

Eventually, Ted Bundy found out that, Eleanor Louise Cowell is his real mother. After finding the truth, Ted began to feel a lifelong resentment toward his mother for never talking to him about his real father, and for leaving him to discover the truth about his biological parents by himself. During Ted’s formative years, he occasionally exhibited disturbing behavior.

Ted Bundy’s sister Julia recalled one time, at the time Ted was three years old, she awakened from a nap to find herself surrounded by knives from the kitchen, and Ted standing by the bed, smiling. Eleanor Louise changed her surname from Cowell to Nelson. She and Ted relocated from Philadelphia to live with cousins Alan and Jane Scott in Tacoma, Washington.

Eleanor Married And Had Other Kids

Eleanor Louise Cowell started a new life and family. She met Johnny Culpepper Bundy (April 23, 1921 – May 17, 2007), a hospital cook. They met in the year 1951 at an adult singles night at Tacoma’s First Methodist Church. They soon started dating and later got married. Johnny decided to adopt Ted, which he did.

Eleanor Louise Cowell and her husband Johnny welcomed four children. Johnny did his best to be a good father to Ted Bundy and attempted to get Ted involved in camping trips and other family activities but Ted remained distant from him. Ted later claimed that Johnny “was not his real father”, “wasn’t very bright,” and “didn’t make much money.”

Eleanor’s Son, Ted Became A Serial Killer

Eleanor Louise Cowell’s son Ted Bundy became a serial killer who kidnapped, raped, and murdered young women and girls. When or where he started his killing is still unknown. Eleanor was working as a secretary at the University of Puget Sound when allegations against her son, Ted Bundy arose. Ted was accused of killing several people.

Also Read: Rose Bundy: Untold Truth About Ted Bundy’s daughter

Ted Bundy would approach women in public places, either asking for help by faking a physical impairment such as an injury or impersonating an authority figure. Whoever falls for his shenanigans would be bludgeoned unconscious and taken elsewhere to be sexually assaulted and eliminated from the world. He often revisited the bodies of those he abducted.

Ted Bundy groomed the bodies and performed sex acts on the corpses until decomposition and destruction by wild animals made any further interactions impossible. At least twelve of his victims were decapitated and their severed heads were kept as mementos in his apartment.

At times, Ted went into people’s homes at night and bludgeoned his victims as they slept. His mother Eleanor Louise Cowell refused to believe her son could be a killer. “Ted Bundy does not go around killing women and little children!” she said. “And I know this, too, that our never-ending faith in Ted – our faith that he is innocent – has never wavered. And it never will.”

“I resent the fact that everybody in Tacoma thinks just because he lived in Tacoma he did that one, too, way back when he was 14,” she told The News Tribune. “I’m sure he didn’t.”

Eleanor’s Son, Ted Was Arrested And Executed

Eleanor Louise Cowell’s son Ted Bundy eventually got arrested but he run away and committed further assaults in Florida, including three murders before he was recaptured in 1978. He ended up with three death sentences in two trials for the Florida homicides. He confessed after more than a decade of denials.

Ted Bundy confessed to 30 murders committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978. He was executed at Florida State Prison in Raiford on January 24, 1989. Ted talked to his mother Eleanor minutes before he got executed. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location in the Cascade Range of Washington State, per his will.

Also Read: Is Carole Ann Boone Alive, Where is she now?

What Happened To Ted Bundy’s Mother?

Ted Bundy’s mother Eleanor Louise Cowell died on 23 December 2012, in Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington, USA, at age 88. She died after a long illness. She was an active member of Tacoma’s First United Methodist Church until recent years when she became too ill to attend. She was the sister of Julie Cowell and Audrey Cowell. Per Findagrave, her last words to her son Ted were, “You’ll always be my precious son”.