Victim 43: The Murder of Roberta Hayes
Born Restless
Roberta Joseph Hayes was a pretty blue-eyed human dynamo who attracted attention everywhere she went. Besides being a head turner, her bubbly personality drew people to her like bees to nectar. Unfortunately, her natural magnetism didn’t always serve her well.
Fiercely independent from the time she could walk, Roberta — or Bert as she was known on the streets — left home in 1979 at the age of twelve after butting heads one too many times with her father and stepmother. Though her maternal grandparents, whom she adored and vice versa, had welcomed her with open arms, she ultimately found the family she always wanted in the runaways and vagabonds who populated the Pike Street area of Seattle.
By the early 1980s, Roberta was making a living as a prostitute. At the age of fifteen, she had given birth to her first child. Over the next five years, she would have four more children, all of whom ended up in the state’s foster care system. While she may have enjoyed the freedom that life on the streets offered, it had forced her to grow up before she was ready.
A Story Worth Telling
In 1983, British filmmaker Martin Bell approached the tight-knit group of teens who hung around on Pike Street, including Roberta, and asked for permission to document their day-to-day lives…
