They were last seen sometime between 9 and 11 p.m. on Feb. 4, 1972. To all who have worked this case over the years, we can't thank you enough . Modaferi was never heard from again, although her name pops up in local news every year or so as potential evidence still trickles in. [3], Kerry Ann Graham, 15, and Francine Marie Trimble, 14, of Forestville, disappeared in mid-December 1978. February 4, 1972, proved to be a tragic day in Sonoma County, California. She was last seen alive on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in the tiny resort town of Malibu, California. [3] Detailed credit card records and known whereabouts of Bundy reveal he was in Washington on the dates of some of the disappearances. [1][64] A 2011 San Francisco Chronicle article noted that the dates of the credit card receipts show there would have been enough time for Bundy to drive to California, commit the crimes, and then drive back to Washington. UNSOLVED - From early 1972 to 1979, the bodies of seven girls and young women were found in rural Santa Rosa, buried or dumped along steep embankments or in creek beds. One tipster reported seeing two men with a girl on Calistoga Road. Police also learned that an eyewitness had seen Jeanette getting into a brown Chevrolet pickup truck. Indeed, by the decades midpoint, FBI profiler Robert Ressler had coined the term serial killer after conducting several interviews with the likes of Herb Mullin, Edmund Kemper, and Monte Rissell. Moses was last seen getting into a car with a 25- to 30-year old man in Santa Rosa on Aug. 13, 1997. The Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders remain some of the Bay Area's most baffling unsolved crimes. [30] An article published on April 1, 1971 in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that the "Lisa Smith" treated at Novato General Hospital was the same person as the missing 17-year-old Lisa Michele Smith. Johnasen found that Kursa had been dead for one to two weeks, and he further concluded that Kursas killer had thrown her body into the ravine off Calistoga Road. 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. Authorities could not identify a cause of death for the victims who were found in 1979 but duct tape was found at the scene, likely indicating the two girls had been bound. The friend declined to accompany the girls to smoke with the man, whom she had never seen before. Additionally, I want to thank the members of our community who have come forward with information on this case. Another possible victim of the Santa Rosa killer, 17-year-old Lisa Smith of Petaluma, had been abducted not long after hitchhiking on Hearn Avenue in Santa Rosa. 2019. Her body was found, nude, posed, mutilated, and sliced in half at the . The Violent Crimes Unit (VCI) is comprised of One Detective Sergeant, and Four Detectives who investigate felony crimes against persons. Each of the women and girls were killed somewhere else and dumped around Santa Rosa. [4], Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen grew up in the Midwestern United States. At that time, eyewitnesses saw Davis hitchhiking southbound on Highway 101. 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. It was proven early on that Kursa had deliberately run away from home. 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. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office at 707-565-2650. Dental records were not a match, however, and Jeannettes body has never been found. Lori Lee Kursa, Carolyn Davis, Maureen Sterling, Therese Walsh, Kim Wendy Allen and Yvonne Weber, the victims of the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murderer. Walshs corpse was found six days later on December 28. We are especially grateful to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office for their tireless pursuit of Jason's and Lindsay's killer. There was one other odd clue left behind by the murderer: Kims body had traces of a greasy residue. Graham was reportedly reported missing on Christmas Eve that year. [69] [70], Kerry Ann Graham and Francine Marie Trimble, Thompson, Emily G. Unsolved Child Murders: Eighteen American Cases, 1956-1998 Exposit Books, 2017, ASIN: B077DMX9TM, The Mammoth Book of Killers at Large, Nigel Cawthorne (Hachette UK, 2011), Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 10:39, Murders of Kerry Graham and Francine Trimble, List of fugitives from justice who disappeared, List of serial killers in the United States, "Ted Bundy a suspect in Sonoma County cold cases", CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, "Sonoma County slayings unsolved, but not forgotten", "Remains of 2 Bodies Found in Franz Valley", "Lawmen Say Woman's Killer Could Be Injured", "Sonoma County Slayings - 40-year-old mystery", "Reward for Drug Clues Added to Secret Witness", "Secret Witness--Can You Help Solve A Crime? [7] The cause of death could not be determined[4] from the skeletal remains. [2][7] Davis was last seen hitchhiking that afternoon near the Highway 101 ramp,[4] southbound,[2][17] in Garberville. However, it was reported in 2011 that the missing 17-year-old Smith was not actually found. At 10:30 AM on May 5, 2017, Sonoma County Sheriff Steve Freitas read the following statement regarding the 2004 Jenner double murder case: "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. [7] Sterlings mother identified the cross necklace and earring as her daughters property. Known collectively as the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders, this string of unsolved murders continues to haunt the minds of the Golden States cold case investigators. The Sonoma County Sheriffs Office and their Secret Witness program raised a $9,500 reward for any information regarding Walshs death. Some unsolved murders in Sacramento, California, and unsolved murders in Sacramento County, California, include the 2012 murder of . When Ted Bundy was apprehended in 1975, detectives thought he may have killed the girls in the Bay Area; he often targeted young women with long, straight hair parted down the middle, which all of the Santa Rosa victims had. [2] A possible witness to her abduction later came forward stating that on an evening somewhere between December 3 and 9, 1972, while on Parkhurst Drive, he saw two men walking with a young girl. All of the hospital and law enforcement records related to the case were missing by 2011 and authorities announced their intention to find both Lisa Michelle Smith and the young woman calling herself "Lisa Smith" or someone who knew them. 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. But there wasn't enough evidence to close the case." I wish I could name them all, but there are too many to list. On May 17, 2018, Gallon was officially charged with the murders. [67], Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, Jr., the Hillside Stranglers of Los Angeles, were also considered suspects at one time. Also investigated were: Joseph Naso, the Hillside stranglers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr., and the Zodiac killer. Somewhere there was a piece to this to put it together, but somehow you just can't seem to find it.. She visited her grandmother in Garberville, California in early July 1973 and spent about two weeks with her before she decided to leave again. [2], Carolyn Nadine Davis, 15, ran away from her home outside Anderson in Shasta County[3] on February 6, 1973[16] and spent the next five months traveling. "It's a horrible, senseless crime," said Margo Rohrbacher of the Central Marin Police. This victim has yet to be identified. Eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen Kursa in Santa Rosa told investigators that she had been thrown into a van on Parkhurst Drive by two unidentified men. Dj vu! [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. Author Robert Graysmith put forward the idea that the Santa Rosa killer was really San Franciscos Zodiac Killer. According to Yvonnes stepfather, Santa Rosa police insisted the young pair were willing runaways. It was not clear whether this occurred on the day the girls went missing.[34][35]. The Doodler's identity remains a mystery. [3], Jack Alexander Bokin, a violent, serial rapist who died in prison in December 2021 at age 78, has been suggested as another possible suspect by law enforcement. Her killer was never caught. To this day, Jeannette Kamahele has never been found. She was last seen with friends in Santa Rosa on the day of her disappearance. A California deputy stopped a van with 2 corpses inside. The case was unsolved for two decades after investigators. For decades, several murders and missing persons cases have puzzled law enforcement throughout the North Coast. Skeletal remains were found the following July in Mendocino County where they were dumped off the side of a rural highway, but they were not identified as belonging to Graham and Trimble until 2015 thanks to DNA analysis. On July 8, 1979, skeletal remains were found in a shallow embankment inside the Jackson State Forest in Mendocino County, California. Read about more chilling unsolved murder sprees on 10 Horrific Facts About The Oakland County Child Killer and 10 Terrifying Facts Of The Honolulu Strangler. Police also did not question any of the girls classmates and many were not aware they were considered missing. Her grandmother drove the 15-year-old girl to the downtown district of Garberville on July 15, 1973, and parked in front of the post office, which was located two city blocks away from Highway 101. [23] High water marks contemporaneous with heavy rains in the area suggested the body could have drifted several miles. This unidentified victim had been hog-tied, with the killers rope looped around the womans throat. Investigators made the tragic match. Read More . Her decomposing remains were found on July 31 on Franz Valley Road, just feet from where Maureen and Yvonne were discovered the year prior. The nature of this evidence has not been released by the authorities. Kursas body showed no signs of sexual assault. [20] The symbol was located on the roadway above the site where Davis was found. Shell casings were not found at the scene of the crime, suggesting the killer retrieved them. The bodies of the slain couple were not discovered until Wednesday, August 18, when the Sheriff's helicopter was dispatched following a report of a man who was stranded on a cliff above Fish Head Beach. The US in the early 1970s was awash in serial murder. I also want to thank the many men and women of the Sheriff's Office who have worked on this investigation over the years. Read More . The real life killer wrote numerous letters to both the media and law enforcement, claiming a victim list of 37 people. unsolved murders in california. Individuals wishing to remain anonymous may submit their tip via the anonymous tip form. Detectives considered Gallon a suspect for 13 years before he was publicly named as the gunman. This story was originally published Feb. 1, 2021. We uncover the best of the city and put it all in an email for you. The pair, both aged 12 and students at Herbert Slater Middle School, spent their last night alive hanging out at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. A few weeks later, between 6 a.m. and noon on March 24, the killer dropped her personal checkbook into a drive-up mailbox across from the Kentfield post office; two fingerprints on the checkbook may have been the killers, the Press Democrat reported at the time. [62] Allen was the main suspect in the Zodiac case from 1971 until his death in 1992. A theory proposed by Mashable says that the coins are actually the haul from a 1901 robbery at the San Francisco Mint. At that time, Allen not only lived in Santa Rosa but was also supposedly studying chipmunks as a hobby. 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. Read More: The vehicle then sped north on Calistoga Road. [7] They last saw her at approximately 5:20 p.m. hitchhiking to school near the Bell Avenue entrance to Highway 101, northbound,[4] carrying a large wooden soy barrel with red Chinese characters on it. But when their parents returned at 11 p.m., the girls werent waiting as theyd promised. 2012 . Specifically, Trimbles mother filed a missing child report with the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office in mid-December, while the Graham family did not report their daughter missing until Christmas Eve. Our prayers continue to be for the Sheriff's Office as they build their case, for the families of the deputies, who have given them their undying support, for all the dear folks of Sonoma County who have prayed for us, and even for Shaun Gallon who heartlessly committed this senseless and wicked crime. The coroner determined she died of strychnine poisoning. Twenty-year-old Jeannette Kamahele was a student at Santa Rosa Junior College when she disappeared for good on April 25, 1972. Three days after Christmas 1972, their bones were found by two teenage hikers near Franz Valley Road. Click through our gallery above to learn more about some of the North Coast cold cases and investigations, solved and unsolved, since the 1970s. Prosecutors allege he drowned Priscilla Lewis in 1996 in an attempted rape and burglary at a restaurant in the city of Crockett. At least it should be. Credit card receipts placed the duo at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco on August 14, 2004. [24][25] Due to the age of the remains, authorities initially believed them to be those of Jeannette Kamahele[16] until a comparison of dental records later proved negative. Lori, just 13, was reported missing by her mother in November 1972. Looking further into this, according to the same report, from 1965 to 2019 there were roughly 128,787 murders in California alone. Since camping on the beach is illegal, it is unlikely the couple planned to camp for more than one night.[5]. When the Jane Doe was discovered in 1979, it was believed to be Jeannette. Gallon made statements to the detectives with new information (he spontaneously confessed) and additional investigative leads into the case. 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