That was my big sister., In February 1973, 15-year-old Carolyn left for school as usual; she never arrived. [22], On July 2, 1979, the skeletal remains of a young white female were found in a ravine[16] off Calistoga Road approximately 100 yards (91m) from where the body of Lori Lee Kursa had been recovered seven years earlier. Camping on a state beach is technically illegal, but the 20-something couple didn't have a lot of other options. I loved her. "Sometimes I felt like I was letting the girls down, Carlstedt said in 1989. The Violent Crimes Unit (VCI) is comprised of One Detective Sergeant, and Four Detectives who investigate felony crimes against persons. In 1975, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a report stating that fourteen unsolved homicides between 1972 and 1974 were committed by the same perpetrator. 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]. At that time, eyewitnesses saw Davis hitchhiking southbound on Highway 101. There was one other odd clue left behind by the murderer: Kims body had traces of a greasy residue. That witness believed the drive was a white male in his early 20s with Afro style hair.. Some unsolved murders in Sacramento, California, and unsolved murders in Sacramento County, California, include the 2012 murder of . Police wanted to know how the hat and beer bottle came to be in the places they were found. She was initially reported missing from Petaluma, California, by her foster parents on March 16, 1971 after she was last seen hitchhiking a short distance away from her foster home, along Hearn Avenue, at around 7 p.m. At the time, she was wearing a white blouse with ruffles, a dark pea coat, green bell-bottom jeans, and cowboy boots. Individuals wishing to remain anonymous may submit their tip via the anonymous tip form. We uncover the best of the city and put it all in an email for you. The broken neck would have prevented Kursa from moving, but it would have taken some time for her to die from the injury. The Sonoma County Coroner's Office estimated that the couple was slain on either the night of August 14, 2004 or in the early morning hours of August 15, 2004. This Walking Pad treadmill made getting 10,000 steps a How to get tickets for Depeche Mode's new tour dates, submit their tip via the anonymous tip form, The unsolved San Francisco killing of one of the world's greatest chefs, A California deputy stopped a van with 2 corpses inside. Her decomposing remains were found on July 31 on Franz Valley Road, just feet from where Maureen and Yvonne were discovered the year prior. Three days after Christmas 1972, their bones were found by two teenage hikers near Franz Valley Road. [58] Allen was arrested on September 27, 1974, by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office[59] and charged with child molestation in an unrelated case involving a young boy. Her left earlobe had not been pierced. Los Angeles's most famous murder, The Black Dahlia refers to Elizabeth Short, who was murdered in 1947. Detectives are going over evidence to see if Bokin was involved. Dj vu! Due to cold weather, her body was partially frozen and it appeared she had been killed one or two weeks prior. We have appreciated your support for this case throughout our thirteen-year ordeal. Modaferi was never heard from again, although her name pops up in local news every year or so as potential evidence still trickles in. [4] A single earring, orange beads and a 14-carat gold necklace with cross were found at the scene. A witness to Jeannette Kamaheles possible kidnapping said they saw her get into a 1950s pickup truck pulling a faded wooden camper that looked homemade. and Bundys locations didnt match, and he was ruled out. The girls also mentioned to Grahams sister that they planned to go to a party, but she did not recall further details. Daviss cause of death proved to be unusual, for she had died of a strychnine overdose approximately ten to 14 days before her bodys discovery. Yvonne Quilantang, 15, was found strangled in a vacant, Nancy Feusi, 22, disappeared after going dancing at a club in the, Brenda Kaye Merchant, 19, was found stabbed to death at her home on February 1, 1974, in, Donna Maria Braun, 14, whose strangled body was found at 7 p.m. on September 29, 1974 in the, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 10:39. 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. We already have this email. A mate to the earring was not found at the scene. Unlike the killers first two victims, Kim Wendy Allen was a teenager (19, to be exact) and a college student attending Santa Rosa Junior College. A young woman named "Lisa Smith", which is a common name, was hitchhiking on March 26, 1971 and was picked up by a male driver. On March 4, 1972, at 5:00 PM, Allen left her job at a health food store in Larkspur to attend a night class. [65], Fredric Manalli, a 41-year-old Santa Rosa Junior College creative writing instructor,[66] was suspected[67] when, after his August 24, 1976 death in a head-on collision on Highway 12,[68] sadomasochistic drawings he had created depicting a former student, Kim Wendy Allen, who was one of the victims, were discovered among his belongings. [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. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office held a press conference on Friday, May 5, 2017, regarding major developments in the 2004 Jenner double murder case. [2], The cause of her death was a broken neck with compression and hemorrhage of the spinal cord. A little later, at around 9:00 PM, both girls were seen hitchhiking on Guerneville Road. The girls, whom the friend described as dressed in such a way that they were able to pass for several years older than they actually were, disappeared a short time later. Fifty years ago, Maureen Sterling and Yvonne Weber walked into Redwood Empire Ice Arena in Santa Rosa. A pathologist determined her probable date of death was July 20, 1973, five days after her grandmother had last seen her. 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. 2012. We will remove any comments or commenters that do not follow this commenting policy. No one has heard from the Zodiac Killer himself in decades. 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. I'd like to make a brief statement and then I will take some questions. Neither caller was able to provide further details. Upon investigation, the value of the coins was estimated to be around $10 million dollars. [7] They also confirmed that none of Cutshall's or Allen's belongings had been taken, ruling out robbery as a motive, and that neither of them had been sexually assaulted. Lori Lee Kursa, Carolyn Davis, Maureen Sterling, Therese Walsh, Kim Wendy Allen and Yvonne Weber, the victims of the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murderer. Jason and Lindsay were just 26 and 22 years old at the time of their deaths. At least it should be. [2] Her home life was troubled and she was a frequent hitchhiker and habitual runaway. Click through our gallery above to learn more about some of the North Coast cold cases and investigations, solved and unsolved, since the 1970s. PRESS DEMOCRAT STAFF. She was treated at Novato General Hospital for a skull fracture and multiple, severe cuts and bruises. The real life killer wrote numerous letters to both the media and law enforcement, claiming a victim list of 37 people. Police learned from Jeannettes roommate Nora Morales that the Jeanette often hitchhiked 16 kilometers (10 mi) from her home in Cotati to her classes at Santa Rosa Junior College. Sheriff's Office detectives are continuing to follow-up on leads and are working hard to complete the investigation. She was last seen alive on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in the tiny resort town of Malibu, California. The case was unsolved for two decades after investigators. But the M.O. (This is a really good theory.) A number of high-profile 1970s serial killers were probed for links to the Bay Area murders. You are true heroes to us and we thank God for you. Three days before Christmas 1973, Therese attempted to hitchhike from Malibu up to Garberville, where her 2-year-old child and extended family lived. I also want to thank the many men and women of the Sheriff's Office who have worked on this investigation over the years. Dear Mom, it read. [55][57], After his capture for similar crimes in Washington, Colorado, Utah and Idaho,[63] Ted Bundy was suspected in the murders. The killer had thrown the body at least 30 feet (9.1m) over an embankment. On that day, two middle school students, Maureen Sterling (left above) and Yvonne Weber (right above), went missing. A true crime magazine, Front Page Detective, published an article in September 1975 linking the Santa Rosa murders with the Zodiac Killer and witchcraft. The mate to the earring was not found at the scene. Kursas body showed no signs of sexual assault. The victim had not been raped and likely died one to two weeks prior to discovery. The Winchester Mystery House. 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. Kim went missing on March 4, 1972. 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. Jenner Beach Double Murder Camping near the beach is one of life's great pleasures. Retired Sonoma County sheriff's detective Butch Carlstedt told the media in 1989 he looked into over 300 suspects. However, it was reported in 2011 that the missing 17-year-old Smith was not actually found. 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. Looking further into this, according to the same report, from 1965 to 2019 there were roughly 128,787 murders in California alone. 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. Her captor or captors left her by the side of the road. [16], It was determined that the unidentified victim was approximately 16- to 21-years-old, wore hard contact lenses (kept in a metal candy tin with a picture of cherries on it), had red, auburn, or brown hair, was about 5feet 3inches (1.60m) tall and at one time had broken a rib which was healed by the time of the murder. in Sonoma County, California, was once the location for just one series of horrific murders, which would go on to shock this normally peaceful community to the core and which have remained unexplained to this day. ", "Secret Witness - Officials seek killer of woman", https://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/articles/davis/strychnine_killed_caroline.pdf, "Is he Zodiak? This location connected Walsh with Michelle Way, a road that intersected with Lorraine Way in Santa Rosa. The coroner determined she died of strychnine poisoning. I wish I could name them all, but there are too many to list. Given that some eyewitnesses told police that Allen had gotten into a car containing two men, Sonoma County officials quickly brought both of those men in for questioning. Friends told homicide detectives that Walsh planned on hitchhiking back to Garberville, a full 740 kilometers (460 mi) north of Malibu. She had also been bound in the same manner as Walsh.[2]. 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. The victim had been bound at the ankles and wrists, raped and slowly strangled with a cord for an estimated thirty minutes. Additionally, I want to thank the members of our community who have come forward with information on this case. [12] Camo beer originates in Wisconsin, is no longer made, and is an uncommon beer in California. She was a 19-year-old art student, described by friends as a "pure spirit," "innocent" and possessing a "child-like acceptance of people." 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 Black Dahlia. Strychnine was sometimes mixed with other drugs, but an autopsy showed no trace of either heroin or amphetamines in her system.[18]. Credit card receipts placed the duo at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco on August 14, 2004. Arthur Leigh Allen, the man who Graysmith believes was the Zodiac Killer, has also been named as a possible suspect. The reward money went unclaimed, and Walsh left behind a two-year-old son named Danran. . unsolved murders in california. This victim has yet to be identified. It is obvious that they werent, he told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Seven years before and about 91 meters (300 ft) away had been the spot where the body of Lori Lee Kursa had been found.[9]. sonoma county rv laws;. Dont worry too much about me, the only thing I'm gonna be doing is keeping myself alive. It was signed, Love, Carolyn.. The sheriff pegged it as an obvious suicide, even though the dead guy didn't seem troubled and was about to take a walk along the railroad tracks with his brother and niece. 17 infamous crimes in Sonoma County history. Read More. Her family, who still believed Carolyn was hitchhiking around the state, submitted her dental records when they learned an unidentified teenagers body was found in Sonoma County. Namely, in Zodiac Unmasked, Graysmith notes that a police officer had informed him that chipmunk hairs had been found on the bodies of several Santa Rosa victims. Many claim to have spotted a beautiful woman in ghostly blue, and legend has it that she was murdered while walking up to the restaurant. 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