The Murder of Deborah Lynne Bates

Murder, She Told

Kristen Seavey

Society & Culture, Documentary, True Crime

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 March 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

1993. Chelmsford, Massachusetts. 23-year-old Deborah Lynne Bates, known as Debbie, was trying to start over after leaving her abusive ex, George, with whom she shared a child. She wasn't perfect, but she was determined to build a better life. One February night in 1993, seven months pregnant, Debbie stepped out of her apartment for a pack of cigarettes and vanished. She never came home. Police treated her disappearance as routine, but her family knew she would never abandon her young son. The case lay practically dormant until 2004, when a gruesome discovery that was meant to stay buried turned up on the side of the hideaway—raising questions no one was ready to answer. If you have any information on what happened to Deborah Bates, please contact the Massachusetts State Police at the Middlesex District Attorney's office at 781-897-6600. Episode sources and photos: https://www.murdershetold.com/episodes/deborah-bates Support the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.murdershetold.com/support⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@murdershetoldpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@murdershetold⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠/mstpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠murdershetold.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ---- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:36.6	23-year-old Deborah Lynn Bates was trying to start over seven months pregnant.
0:41.7	But one February night in 1993, she stepped out for a pack of cigarettes and never came home.
0:47.7	For years, her disappearance went cold.
0:50.4	Then, more than a decade later, a shocking discovery turned up, raising questions that nobody was ready to face.
0:58.4	I'm Kristen C.V. And this is the story of Deborah Lynn Bates on murder she told. This episode covers topics of domestic violence. Please listen with care.
1:36.3	Joseph and Ethel Bates were born and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where they started a family. In the mid-1960s, the family left the coastal town of Glace Bay for Boston, where Joseph easily found work as a skilled machinist.
1:46.4	It was here in Boston in 1969 that Ethel gave birth to a daughter, Deborah Lynn Bates,
1:53.4	who they called Debbie. Shortly afterward, they moved to nearby Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
1:59.8	Debbie and her siblings would be raised outside of Boston,
2:03.1	eventually settling in the city of Lowell.
2:06.5	They stayed in touch with family in Canada,
2:08.7	and when tragedy struck,
2:10.0	they knew that they had to travel back home to support them.
2:13.2	When Debbie was four years old,
2:15.0	a relative died in a house fire.
2:17.5	The Bates family made the 10-hour drive back to Nova Scotia for the funeral.
2:22.3	Too young to truly understand what happened, Debbie got to spend time with some of her favorite
	...

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