[7] Her partially submerged body was found six days later by kayakers in Mark West Creek. (sic)[54], Arthur Leigh Allen, of Vallejo,[55] owned a mobile home at Sunset Trailer Park in Santa Rosa[56] at the time of the murders. PRESS DEMOCRAT STAFF. More recently, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office announced it was looking into Jack Alexander Bokin; Bokin was linked to a cold case murder in 1996 with new DNA technology. This location connected Walsh with Michelle Way, a road that intersected with Lorraine Way in Santa Rosa. We will remove any comments or commenters that do not follow this commenting policy. It was proven early on that Kursa had deliberately run away from home. Up to 14 victims have been attributed to the Doodler. In the decades since 1979, several high-profile names have been suggested as to the identity of the Santa Rosa murderer. UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: From the mysterious disappearance of two teens in Forestville to answers in the killing of a Napa beauty queen, here are 11 cold cases we won't soon forget. The sheriff's office said that anyone with information about Georgia's murder should call 707-565-2185 or submit a tip at www.sonomasheriff.org/silent-witness. A high school friend said she last saw the girls on a morning in December when all of them were smoking outside the high school. That witness believed the drive was a white male in his early 20s with Afro style hair.. The Bay Area, while truly wonderful, is also the sad hometo our fare share of high-profile and terrifying crimes. Initially, Jane Doe was suspected of being the remains of Jeanette Kamahele, but DNA tests in 2009 ruled that out. According to Yvonnes stepfather, Santa Rosa police insisted the young pair were willing runaways. Her body was found on Dec. 14 in a ravine 50 feet off Calistoga Road in Santa Rosa. With the window quickly closing on any hopes of catching a still-living suspect, here is what investigators know about the hitchhiker murders that terrorized the young women of the Bay Area. SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Last week, the Sonoma County Sheriff's office announced that they've finally identified who killed a 32-year-old Union City woman and mother of three girls in 1996. Most Popular. Three days after Christmas 1972, their bones were found by two teenage hikers near Franz Valley Road. He died in December 2021 at the California Department of Corrections Medical Facility in Vacaville, where he was serving a life sentence for attempted murder. The cause of the plane's crash remains a mystery. The Doodler's identity remains a mystery. They also found a distinctive hat on a turnout above the beach on Hwy 1. She was last seen alive on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in the tiny resort town of Malibu, California. "It's a horrible, senseless crime," said Margo Rohrbacher of the Central Marin Police. However, Trimble had been prescribed some medication following the removal of her appendix, and she had left this medication in her room on the day of her disappearance. Complicating matters even further is the fact police never found the murder sites. A true crime magazine, Front Page Detective, published an article in September 1975 linking the Santa Rosa murders with the Zodiac Killer and witchcraft. A California deputy stopped a van with 2 corpses inside. He reportedly brandished a gun and threatened to rape her. When the Jane Doe was discovered in 1979, it was believed to be Jeannette. The real life killer wrote numerous letters to both the media and law enforcement, claiming a victim list of 37 people. They were last seen sometime between 9 and 11 p.m. on Feb. 4, 1972. The girls told their friend that they were going to hitchhike to a party in Santa Rosa but did not say who they were meeting. It was never determined whether Kursas dislocated vertebrae injury had occurred before or after her death. Theresa Diane Smith Walsh, 23, of Miranda,[21] was last seen on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in Malibu, intent on hitchhiking to Garberville and joining her family for Christmas. She visited her grandmother in Garberville, California in early July 1973 and spent about two weeks with her before she decided to leave again. The unsolved San Francisco killing of one of the world's greatest chefs. Was the killer an infamous butcher like Ted Bundy or the Zodiac Killer, or was he just another no-name sadist who eluded justice thanks to cunning and a whole lot of good luck? At around 5:20, Allen was seen hitchhiking at the Bell Avenue Freeway entrance. Additionally, I want to thank the members of our community who have come forward with information on this case. February 4, 1972, proved to be a tragic day in Sonoma County, California. And when we at times wondered if this day would ever come, the detectives in particular wouldn't allow us to lose hope. The Sonoma County Sheriff's department offered a $50,000 reward for information.[5]. Benjamin Welton is a West Virginia native currently living in Boston. Friends told homicide detectives that Walsh planned on hitchhiking back to Garberville, a full 740 kilometers (460 mi) north of Malibu. Investigators made the tragic match. No official missing person report was filed for Graham until decades later, when Grahams sister suspected the victims found were Graham and Trimble and urged police to conduct DNA testing. Also investigated were: Joseph Naso, the Hillside stranglers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr., and the Zodiac killer. On March 4, 1972, at 5:00 PM, Allen left her job at a health food store in Larkspur to attend a night class. I'd like to read a statement from Bob and Delores Allen and Chris and Kathy Cutshall: "We are extremely pleased that our children's murderer is in custody where he belongs. They planned to marry in autumn of 2004. Witnesses also reported seeing Cutshall's 1992 red Ford Tempo in the towns of Guerneville, Sebastopol, Forestville, and Jenner before the murders. Rosa Vasquez, 20, last seen May 26; her body was found on May 29, 1973. [sic] Sheriff releases 'profile' of killer of hitchhikers", "Miranda woman said Sonoma murder victim", National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, "Zodiac Theory: Witchcraft in 30-40 Slayings", "She Wanted to Come to the City--Now She's Dead", "Brothers describe childhood horrors - Angela McAnulty's mother was killed, her father was abusive", "serial killer true crime library - California Occult Murders", "Child killer gets death - Angela McAnulty is sentenced to be executed for the torture murder of her 15-year-old daughter, Jeanette", "Angela McAnulty, Eugene woman who killed 15-year-old daughter, lands on new death row", "Zodiac Killer: The Letters - 01-29-1974", "Zodiac Killer: The Letters - 11-09-1969", "DNA seems to clear only Zodiac suspect / new-found evidence may allow genetic profile of '60s killer", "Affidavit For Search Warrant - 2963 Santa Rosa Avenue, space A-7 (14 September 1972)", "Former Calaveras teacher was 'Zodiac' suspect", "Sonoma County Sheriff's Office - Arthur Leigh Allen Arrest Report (30 September 1974)", "Ted Bundy Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992", "Documentary series set to explore Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders", "The Secret Life of a Sexual Predator Crime Magazine", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Rosa_hitchhiker_murders&oldid=1141301949. An aerial view of the hills around Santa Rosa. In August of 2004, a young couple was shotin their tent while camping on Fish Head State Beach in Jenner, Sonoma County. Sheriff's Office detectives are continuing to follow-up on leads and are working hard to complete the investigation. On . Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! The Jenner, California, double murder of 2004 occurred on the night of August 1415, 2004, in which a young couple was shot to death as they slept on a state beach. The case remained unsolved at that time. Her body was discovered in a park in Los Angeles and her death has been publicized repeatedly, mostly because of how particularly gruesome the murder was. The rifle is uncommon, considered too high caliber for most ranchers, and most likely would have required hand loaded ammunition. A 27 year-old man named Jasper Parkins was found dead in his bedroom with a bullet wound to his right temple. The Black Dahlia. [7] An investigator said a witchcraft symbol meaning "carrier of spirits" was found by her body. Her body was found six days later by kayakers in Mark West Creek in Sonoma County. Juan Valencia told SFGATE in a statement. She posted a letter to her parents shortly after she ran away in which she wrote that she had left voluntarily and never planned to return home. . Reports also stated that the van was noticeably damaged on one side and that the driver was a white male with a Afro-like hairstyle.[5]. Amazingly, friends and schoolmates of both girls had lived for over 30 years without ever knowing that the girls were even missing, let alone dead.[10]. Modaferi was never heard from again, although her name pops up in local news every year or so as potential evidence still trickles in. Register for a user account. 1976: Alvin Maddux and Faye Maddux; Elaine Lehtinen, 1980: Charles Slack; Ruben Huijon; Douglas Hancock, 1981: Ian Dallas; Lloyd Johnson; Henry Villanueva, 1991: Kin Po-Ko; Peggy Swarts; Marty Davis, 2007-2009: Johnethel McGehee (McGhee's remains were found in the Berryessa area in 2009; detectives determined she died in 2007. Shannon McAlvain, Lead Detective Joe Horsemen, Detectives Jeff Toney, Jayson Fowler and Jesse Hanshew. On that day, two middle school students, Maureen Sterling (left above) and Yvonne Weber (right above), went missing. [2] Her home life was troubled and she was a frequent hitchhiker and habitual runaway. In Mendocino County, DNA evidence allowed sheriff's detectives to close the books on the quarter-century old murder investigation of Georgina Pacheco, 20, who was raped and bludgeoned to death by her brother-in-law, Robert James Parks in 1988. Almost four years later, investigators caught a break when Fredric Manalli died in a car accident on Highway 12 in August 1976. The skeletal remains of a young woman were found off Calistoga Road, about 100 yards from where Lori was discovered, on July 2, 1979. . The police did, however, conclude that the girls had been murdered elsewhere and that their killer had kept their clothes, possibly as trophies.[2]. Authorities suspect it is possible that she was a possible homicide victim and that her case could have been related to the other attacks in the area during the same time period, but she disappeared months before the killings began. From Fatty Arbuckle's notorious sexual assault scandal at the St. Francis Hotel in 1921 to the 1974 kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst, there's a dark side to San Francisco. Investigators believed it was an oil used in a machine shop, such as one that had metal-cutting equipment. Dont worry too much about me, the only thing I'm gonna be doing is keeping myself alive. It was signed, Love, Carolyn.. We are especially grateful to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office for their tireless pursuit of Jason's and Lindsay's killer. Festival Returns To Napa Valley College April 1, Newly Built Modern Estate Compound In Napa Valley: $14M, NorCal Storm Timeline: When To Expect More Rain, Snow And A Reprieve, T-Mobile Tuesdays: Fresh Perks Every Week, East Bay Wine & Whimsy (Metaphysical Market), Teen Killed In High School Stabbing: Santa Rosa Authorities, Snow Shuts Down Yosemite National Park Indefinitely, Napa Valley: Cats, Dogs, Pets Available For Adoption At Area Shelters, Mustard Is Napa Valley's Superbloom: Photos Of The Week, Photos: 10th Annual Napa PorchFest Brings Good Vibrations, 17 Napa Valley Restaurants On 2022 Wine Spectator List. Anyone with information about Georgia's case is asked to call the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office at 707-565-2185 or 707-565-2650. Modern advancements in DNA analysis have provided important clues in several cold cases throughout the country. Cutshall was from Fresno, Ohio and Allen was from Zeeland, Michigan. Then someone killed him. 2012. Detectives considered Gallon a suspect for 13 years before he was publicly named as the gunman. It was identified as an occult symbol dating back to medieval England and suggested a possible connection to the Zodiac Killer. Eureka/Humbold He works as a freelance writer and has been published in The Weekly Standard, The Atlantic, Listverse, and other publications. For a time, serial killer Ted Bundy was suspected of carrying out a few of the Santa Rosa murders. Los Angeles's most famous murder, The Black Dahlia refers to Elizabeth Short, who was murdered in 1947. Gallon's motive for the killings of the couple and his brother have not yet been ascertained. Graham had a habit of running away to stay with friends, as had her older siblings, and her parents were not overly concerned at first when she did not come home. Slide 1 of 11. She was last seen alive on July 15, 1973. Walshs corpse was found six days later on December 28. No clothing was found, so it was assumed they had been nude when they were left about 66 feet from the road. [10] The two men who gave her a ride, one of whom was given and passed a polygraph test, were ruled out as suspects. [62] Allen was the main suspect in the Zodiac case from 1971 until his death in 1992. If you haven't seen David Fincher's film Zodiac, you should. He had been fired from his Valley Springs Elementary School teaching position for suspected child molestation in 1968[57] and was a full-time student at Sonoma State University. One of the most challenging sections of the old road, the 500-foot drop along. (This is a really good theory.) The girl, who fit Kursas description, appeared to be physically impaired in some manner, as the two men were supporting her between them. The witness told interviewers that, in retrospect, she thought the man she saw in the lobby at the ice arena resembled photographs of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. [23] High water marks contemporaneous with heavy rains in the area suggested the body could have drifted several miles. The middle school students, experiencing a little taste of freedom, must have been buzzing with excitement. [5], On Saturday - the probable night of the murder - it is speculated, but not confirmed, that the couple went to a local motel and restaurant called River's End but were unable to rent a room. The driver was a Caucasian man with an Afro-type hairstyle. I wish I could name them all, but there are too many to list. Unsolved deaths in Napa County 1963: Doreen Heskett 1969: Celia Shephard 1974: Deborah Beltz; Robert Turchin 1975: Maxine Brewer 1976: Alvin Maddux and Faye Maddux; Elaine Lehtinen 1977:. and Bundys locations didnt match, and he was ruled out. the deaths never accounted for or answered for, justice elusive. On a summer day in July 1979, the skeletal remains of an unidentified woman were discovered by hikers in a ravine off Calistoga Road. This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone. The victim had been bound at the ankles and wrists, raped and slowly strangled with a cord for an estimated thirty minutes. Following Manallis death, police discovered several sadomasochistic drawings that Manalli had made featuring Allen, a former student. In fact, a suspect was identified, but three key witnesses refused to come forward for fear of outing themselves as gay. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office at 707-565-2650. 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