The Last Time We Saw Her

by Robert Scott

The author of Shattered Innocence tells the harrowing true story of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 19-year-old Brooke Wilberger, a beautiful, blue-eyed blond, Oregon college student and devout Mormon. Original.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Robert Scott was an investigative journalist and crime expert.

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book? Author? Just stated that the criminal was taking various meds including 2mg of phenergan and 2 mg of synthroid. I want to know how those doses were being made. The lowest you can go on a phenergan is 6.25mg which is half of a 12.5. Even if you half the 6.25, which would be difficult to do (it would be very small and no longer scored) you still wouldn't get 2mg unless he’s getting it IM, which even then would not be a therapeutic dose just placebo. Besides that point his lawyer is stating because of his lack of meds he's threatening to kill himself. Umm his meds are Advil, a muscle relaxer, and the two I just stated. He has been prescribed ZERO mental issue meds. He may not feel well but having an upset stomach and needing an NSAID doesn't typically make you incompetent. I keep looking back at that paragraph...shaking my head. By the end of the paragraph the lawyer is calling bipolar and screaming give him his meds! This pisses me off! ZERO BIPOLAR MEDS ON PROFILE! ZERO!

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an engaging story about a pretty young woman who goes missing the summer of 2004 in Oregon and the search that ensues for her and her killer.

[Amy Flink · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book. I remember when Brooke disappeared; I heard about it on Nancy Grace. I have a passion for the missing so it really interested me.
The beginning of the book was very good, but then it bogs down and parts of it were a real snore. I was hoping to learn more about the kind of person Brooke was. It gives some detail then goes off into legal crap. Also it has a centerfold of pictues but only one of Brooke. Well, two, if you count the missing poster. But the photos are shoddy quality. The rest of the photos are uninteresting and of suspects and the culprit. I'd rather see pictures of the victim. So I say it was okay, not the best.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Book. Although the court case at the end dragged on a little for me. I recommend though.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A straight-forward true crime book with plenty of interesting detail. I read this when it first came out in 2012 but didn't remember too much about it so I read it again for inclusion on Goodreads. It's quite sad (the principal victim is a teenage girl), and it begins to drag once the legal wrangling begins, but overall it's quite interesting.

[Koren · Rating 3 out of 5]

As other reviewers have said, this book was interesting in parts, but it would have been better as a much shorter book. The courtroom scenes are, for the most part, repetition of what we were told during the investigation.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently, I'm not much a fan of the true crime genre. Who knew? Or maybe, who knows, it might be just this book. The first half or so was interesting, with all the drama of the abducted young woman, clues and red herrings and hopeful searches throughout the areas where she was last seen, and further afield, all without finding anything useful at all.
But it went on, inexorably and painfully, going down rabbit holes and fixating on the wrong "persons of interest" and more; and it begin to feel ... boring.
Forgive me if I sound callous; this was a very serious matter, and I acknowledge the deep pain of the girl's family and the frustration of the several law enforcement agencies involved - including the FBI! But the way I perceived the investigative processes was that the local, and even state, agencies wasted time and money on an unlikely suspect for way too long.
But this is a review of the book, not the actual event and resulting series of events.
So: the book, I suppose, was probably meant to echo the actual events, which dragged along, till when a year of real life had passed, I remember feeling surprised because I figured much more time had passed.
So, stepping into my own real life for a moment, I discovered when I tried to open the book this evening that my library copy of it had expired. Only slightly disappointed, because I was still willing to slog through to the end (I accidentally found out the ending so there was no real need now to read on); honestly, though, I felt very relieved of the responsibility to finish what I'd started.
I guess this might be typical of true crime genre, reflecting the tedium that accompanies crime investigation that doesn't start with a clear suspect who easily is found and it all comes together like on TV. Still, I believe that my three-star rating is generous. Maybe the author just couldn't bring the story to life; maybe he picked the wrong subject murder to write about; or maybe the crime occurred in his own neighborhood, globally speaking, and he felt compelled to make people not from the Pacific Northwest aware of this ultimately tragic episode. I don't know, but possibly it's all on me, that I prefer my murder mysteries to be entirely fictional. Guess I'm not a huge fan of reality, and also such a great fan of fiction ...

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very slow...😴

[Barbara Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

For true crime fans a good book with a sad ending.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very well researched by the author, however it seemed like the author felt the need to include every fact he learned about these cases, no matter insignificant. It was hard to keep track of who was who, and follow the sequence of events. The "story" sometimes got lost in the details.