In 1956, the 18-year-old Starkweather was introduced to 13-year-old Caril Ann Fugate by her older sister, whom he had previously dated. He had dropped out of Lincoln High School in his senior year and was working at a Western Union newspaper warehouse. He sought employment there because the warehouse was located near Whittier Junior High School in Lincoln, where Fugate was a student. Given his working schedule, Starkweather began to visit Caril Ann Fugate every day after school. He was considered a poor worker; his employer later recalled, "Sometimes you'd have to tell him something two or three times. Of all the employees in the warehouse, he was the dumbest man we had."