25 years later, a mom waits with optimism

Tina Stensaa of Stanwood was laid to rest in Edgewood Cemetery north of Weed, Calif. Barbara Giddens gave up on religion after her daughter, Tina Stensaa, was murdered.

“I was raised in the Baptist Church,” she said. “My mother always told me, ‘God will never give you more than you can handle.’”

After the events of Valentine’s Day in 1986, Barbara stopped believing in that statement.

On that day, 17-year-old Tina Stensaa was found suffering from severe injuries on a road in Weed, Calif. She died as a result of the injuries and her case was determined a homicide.

She was not identified until months later.

Since then, the case has remained unsolved.

When investigators from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department informed Barbara last month that a new lead points to convicted serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, a rush of emotions — dulled from 25 years of coping — snapped sharply into focus.

A possible confession to the murder by Jesperson, who is serving four life sentences at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem for murdering eight women in six states, was discovered by Weed Police Department detectives.

Details in the confession correspond to the Stanwood girl’s murder.

“It brings it all back,” she said, “just like it was yesterday.”

Tina was a “fat, sassy and fabulous baby,” said her mother, who currently resides part-time in Lake Stevens. Growing up with three younger brothers, Michael, Benjamin and Jonathan, Tina was a happy child.

“You couldn’t take the smile off her face,” said Barbara, “and she just never had a bad thing to say.”

Typical for many teenagers, Tina displayed a rebellious streak. A former student of Stanwood High School, Tina received her GED and was attending classes at Everett Community College.

“She was very loving,” said her stepfather Tim Giddens, who lived with Barbara in Mill Creek at the time. “She was also flexing her independence.”

Tina spent time living with Tim and her mother before moving to Stanwood to live with her father, Raymond Stensaa, and stepmother at the time, Lori Gibbs.

Lori said Tina had a tendency to leave home after getting upset and “did not respond well to confrontation.”

Lori described her as “sweet,” but somewhat confused about life.

“She wasn’t perfect, none of us are,” said Barbara.

Usually, when Tina left home to “cool off,” she spent time at friends’ houses and let someone know where she was, said her mother.

When the days after Feb. 13 turned into weeks without word from the teenager, suspicions rose and Barbara remembers fearing the worst.

“When she disappeared, the light went out of my life,” she said. “I knew Tina was dead.”

Her instincts proved true months later in July when she received a call from the Weed Police Department.

Her resulting emotions were mixed.

“Not knowing for so long was the worst,” she said. “We went through every scenario possible.”

Initial devastation was subdued by a brief sense of relief.

“To know she wasn’t suffering,” said Barbara, “in a strange way, that gave me some comfort.”

As Barbara was dealing with the loss of her oldest child, she was preparing to bring another son into the family.

In the midst of what she described as a “mother’s worst nightmare,” the pregnancy allowed her to shift focus away from the emotional pain.

“You never get over something like this, you learn to live with it,” she said.

Part of “living with it” meant playing a proactive role in identifying Tina’s body, providing her with a proper headstone — she was buried as Jane Doe in the Edgewood County Cemetery — and searching for information.

Tim and Barbara traveled up and down Interstate 5 hanging flyers of Tina’s picture at rest stops and restaurants, spoke with reporters in Weed and Stanwood to provide information to the public, placed ads in public transportation centers and on buses and even contacted the television show America’s Most Wanted.

Support groups helped Barbara to deal with the grieving process. However, the constant rehashing of difficult emotions began “doing more harm than good,” she said.

That’s when she made her peace with God, returned to church and tried to reestablish a normal family life.

Barbara said the experience has made her develop a stronger bond with all of her children. They communicate daily and she “never hangs up without saying ‘I love you.’”

Despite being born after Tina’s death, two halfbrothers, Shane and Kyle Giddens, have grown up under the shadow of a family mystery.

Barbara said her youngest boys share a unique bond with the sister they never met.

A short time before the family was contacted by investigators, Shane placed flowers on Tina’s grave while traveling through California, she said.

The strength of the siblings inspires Barbara to approach the new lead with cautious optimism.

“False hope. We’ve definitely been on that route before,” she said. “I’m hoping and praying for closure.”

Staff Reporter Adam Stewart: 629-8066 ext. 115 or astewart@scnews.com.