She was beautiful, wild, she loved life and liked to go overboard – but her death was brutal and undignified. And above all: It is still not clear who strangled Playmate Star Stowe in 1997.
There are different statements about how Star Stowe got her stage name. The blonde, born Ellen Louise Stowe in Arkansas in 1956, is said to have chosen the pseudonym “Star” because she loved the Rolling Stones’ song “Star, Star.” Or because she had a small, blue star tattooed on her private area. Or because she loved the view of the vast American night sky so much.
But perhaps it is much simpler. Perhaps the young woman had a clear goal: to become a star. As we know, you shouldn’t dress for the job you have, but for the one you want. Maybe it’s similar with names. Stowe knew early on that the life she dreamed of would not be waiting for her in her hometown of Little Rock. As a teenager, she packed her things, left her parents’ house and moved first to Las Vegas and then to Los Angeles. She dreamed of a career as a dancer, but only found jobs that required her to dance naked on poles.
A playmate with big goals
After all, Star Stowe’s jobs as a stripper initially brought her luck: she was discovered in a club by a scout from “Playboy” magazine – then as now a platform for young women who hope for a real career through the revealing photos. And it actually worked for the then 21-year-old: Due to the fact that she was the first model with a visible tattoo (we already mentioned where), the photo series caused a stir. Star Stowe was named Playmate of the Month. And since she posed in a picture with a guitar, rock musicians suddenly showed interest in her.
“She liked to have fun,” recalls “Playboy” photographer Mike Pompeo. Star Stowe had an “adventurous spirit”. It was a good thing that the model met Gene Simmons at this time – the legendary bassist of the rock band Kiss. Known, among other things, for his supposedly unusually long tongue and for the fact that he has had sex with thousands of women and claims to have taken a Polaroid of each one. As of today there are supposedly 5,000.
Kiss bassist was not a man for life
However, Star Stowe appears to have been something special for the then 28-year-old – as he turned to her after long-term relationships with superstars Cher and Diana Ross. And Star was also present at the promo shoot for the album “Destroyer,” where she posed in a skimpy white wedding dress with all the band members. The pictures of the young woman with her doll face, big eyes and pouty lips made her a sensation even among people who didn’t read “Playboy.”
But Simmons, at least in the wild 70s, was not a man for life. The relationship ended. And unlike other groupies, Stowe didn’t manage to stay in the scene and hook another famous and well-off musician. Instead, she met a “normal” man, married and had a son, Michael. This could have been an unspectacular end to her groupie career – giving up the dream of a wild life for the tranquil happiness of her family. But that didn’t match Star’s “adventurous spirit.”
Star Stowe never found her place in life
The marriage, which began in 1981, ended in divorce after just a few years. Star took her young son and moved to Fort Lauderdale, California, in 1986, and found the kind of jobs that had previously kept her afloat: stripping. But this time, working in a shady environment wasn’t a jumping off point to Rock Olympus, but rather the exact opposite. She came into contact with alcohol and drugs and became addicted. At least after two years she realized that her life was not one that had room for a child. She sent Michael to live with her mother, where he grew up.
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And at some point, dancing alone was no longer enough to pay the bills. After all, the drugs and numerous parties also had to be financed. Star Stowe turned to prostitution and fell into hopelessness. Until she met a new man: in 1991 she moved in with a new boyfriend, now 35 years old. She gave up prostitution and allegedly also gave up drugs – but not alcohol. Although she spoke to her son on the phone regularly, she rarely visited him. Nevertheless, her life seemed to be stabilizing.
Until the big crash. After five years of dating, there was a drunken argument between the two, Star Stowe left – and returned to her old life. From now on, as a prostitute, she waited on the side of the road for customers in Coral Springs, northwest of Fort Lauderdale. The bitter fall of a fun-loving woman who was able to taste the life of the beautiful and rich for a moment. Now she at least had the opportunity to look at the night sky, which she loved so much. At least until she was murdered.
A brutal end
On March 16, 1997, she worked in her usual area for the last time and witnesses saw her there. The next morning, the 40-year-old was found almost naked and strangled behind a pharmacy. The police quickly assumed that the perpetrator was probably a john. Whether he knew who Star Stowe was, what she had experienced, what she wanted for her life, that she had a son – probably not.
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Investigations revealed striking similarities with two other murder cases: a few weeks earlier, another prostitute, Sandra Walters, had been murdered nearby. In November 1997, a woman named Tammy Strunk died. Other prostitutes in the area are said to have been attacked and strangled – but the murderer, most likely a serial offender, has not been caught to this day.
Sources: “Medium”, Blog post, “Reprobate Press”, Facebook