In 1975, the FBI issued an official report entitled Unsolved Female HomicidesAn Analysis of a Series of Related Murders in California and Western America. The report asserted that 14 unsolved homicides between 1972 and 1974 had been committed by one killer. Jeannette was a 20-year-old Santa Rosa Junior College student; she was last seen trying to hitch a ride near the Cotati onramp of Highway 101 on April 25, 1972. Before he died, he confessed to raping and killing at least 27 other women throughout the. The mystery surrounding her death has always messed with my head, brother Larry Kursa told the Press Democrat in 2011. [32] Authorities now believe that Lisa Smith was never found and that the woman also known as "Lisa Smith" was a different woman who had been incorrectly identified as the missing adolescent. [8][9] Initially believed to be a suspect,[10] Burgess's DNA was tested, and did not match that left at the Jenner crime scene.[11]. Jason, from Michigan, and Lindsay, from Ohio, were in California working at a Christian youth white water rafting camp in El Dorado County and were on a three day sight-seeing trip of the Northern California coast. On March 4, 1972, at 5:00 PM, Allen left her job at a health food store in Larkspur to attend a night class. No known connection to him between Lindsay Cutshall or Jason Allen has been uncovered yet either. when I comitt my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc." Although Graham and Trimble are only suspected victims of the Santa Rosa murderer, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence, from the use of a ravine to the fact that both girls were known to hitchhike, to suggest that they ran afoul of the unknown serial murderer. We praise the Lord for his capture and we trust in the due process of the law. Jason and Lindsay were just 26 and 22 years old at the time of their deaths. [5] Their bodies were found on December 28, 1972, [6] 2.2 miles (3.5km) north of Porter Creek Road on Franz Valley Road, down a steep embankment approximately 66 feet (20m) off the east side of the roadway. Modaferi was never heard from again, although her name pops up in local news every year or so as potential evidence still trickles in. Gallon was recently arrested for the murder of his brother in their Forestville home. The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion in San Jose, California which was once the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester. We are especially grateful to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office for their tireless pursuit of Jason's and Lindsay's killer. This post was contributed by a community member. For that reason, we are releasing a photo of Shaun Gallon. [26][27] The victim had been hogtied[28] and her arm fractured around the time of her murder,[25][29] and her corpse had been stuffed into a laundry or duffel bag before being dumped in the ravine,[27] but there was no other evidence to establish a cause of death. Like all of the others, she had been unceremoniously dumped into a ravine. Her decomposing remains were found on July 31 on Franz Valley Road, just feet from where Maureen and Yvonne were discovered the year prior. Shannon McAlvain, Lead Detective Joe Horsemen, Detectives Jeff Toney, Jayson Fowler and Jesse Hanshew. 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. Her captor or captors left her by the side of the road. But the M.O. Homicide detectives from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department launched an investigation into the deaths. Based on the condition of the remains, she was likely killed about three years prior. Camping is prohibited on the rural stretch of beach where Cutshall and Allen met their deaths, but drifters and hitchhikers on State Route 1 (which runs alongside Fish Head Beach) are known to use the oceanfront site for sleeping. On Sunday, March 5, two high school students, 17-year-olds John Bly and Scott Bunting, found Allens nude body in a creek bed near Santa Rosa. 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. 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. Between 1972 and 1973, one of Resslers monsters traveled the roads of Santa Rosa, California, looking for unsuspecting victims. It is also possible that the killer may have carried Walshs body for miles prior to disposal.[7]. You are true heroes to us and we thank God for you. Modaferi was last spotted leaving Spinelli's Coffee at the Crocker Galleria in the Financial District. She had also been bound in the same manner as Walsh.[2]. [6] They learned about the nearby beach, which is less than a mile from the restaurant. We already have this email. Walshs corpse was found six days later on December 28. On a summer day in July 1979, the skeletal remains of an unidentified woman were discovered by hikers in a ravine off Calistoga Road. Police had believed the girls were runaways. [4] A single earring, orange beads and a 14-carat gold necklace with cross were found at the scene. That witness believed the drive was a white male in his early 20s with Afro style hair.. Based on what detectives have been able to learn, we feel confident that we have Jason and Lindsay's killer in custody. When she was found, Allen also had an oily substance on her right side that authorities said was similar to the oil used in a machine shop. 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 made the tragic match. Graham was reportedly reported missing on Christmas Eve that year. They also found a distinctive hat on a turnout above the beach on Hwy 1. Lori Lee Kursa, Carolyn Davis, Maureen Sterling, Therese Walsh, Kim Wendy Allen and Yvonne Weber, the victims of the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murderer. It is obvious that they werent, he told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. He reportedly brandished a gun and threatened to rape her. On their last day alive, the girls had gone to Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa in order to buy Christmas gifts for their friends and family. The bodies of Lindsay Cutshall, 22, and her fianc Jason S. Allen, 26, were found on Fish Head Beach, between Russian Gulch and the mouth of the Russian River, in the small coastal hamlet of Jenner, California. The witness saw the men run across the road with the girl and push her into the back of a van that had been parked on the side of the roadway. It was never determined whether Kursas dislocated vertebrae injury had occurred before or after her death. Authorities later said she had traveled to Illinois and New Mexico. Try another? BY PRESS DEMOCRAT STAFF. [11] Her checkbook was deposited in a drive-up mailbox across from the Kentfield, California Post Office sometime on the morning of March 24, 1972, 20 days after she was murdered. We know that we have miles to go before the case is closed with a conviction, but we also know the power and wonder of God's grace. 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. Some of the oldest unsolved murders on Uncovered 's cold case website include the 1960 murder of Nancy Eagleson, the 1977 murder of Ann Harmeier, the 1977 murder of Roberta Elam, the 1982 murder of Tina Foglia, the 1980 murder of Eve Wilkowitz, and the 1984 murder of Laura Parker. Police wanted to know how the hat and beer bottle came to be in the places they were found. The crime remains unsolved, and the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office recently asked for the public's help identifying a suspect in the case. 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]. [7] The cause of death could not be determined[4] from the skeletal remains. She was carrying the barrel, which had red Chinese characters on it, when she was last seen hitchhiking near a ramp to northbound Highway 101 in San Rafael. [19] Police reported in 1975 that it was a rectangle connected to a square, with bars running along side constructed of twigs or sticks. Friends told homicide detectives that Walsh planned on hitchhiking back to Garberville, a full 740 kilometers (460 mi) north of Malibu. The press conference was held at the Sheriff's Office building at 2796 Ventura Avenue in Santa Rosa. [4] Her body was discovered on July 31, 1973 in Santa Rosa, just 3 feet (0.91m) from where the remains of Sterling and Weber had been recovered seven months prior. Get Started Now According to Yvonnes stepfather, Santa Rosa police insisted the young pair were willing runaways. According to acquaintances, Cutshall and Allen had left the camp on a road trip the day before they were killed. 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. No additional information will be released at this time.. On July 8, 1979, skeletal remains were found in a shallow embankment inside the Jackson State Forest in Mendocino County, California. Although DNA analysis has helped investigators piece together many of the crimes, others still remain a mystery. [27][3][16] Her weight and eye color could not be ascertained, and no clothing was found. There was one other odd clue left behind by the murderer: Kims body had traces of a greasy residue. For a time, serial killer Ted Bundy was suspected of carrying out a few of the Santa Rosa murders. Fourteen-year-old Carolyn Davis, a resident of Shasta County, California, ran away after being dropped off at the post office in Garberville by her grandmother. Beyond this highly circumstantial evidence, there was nothing to tie Manalli to any of the murders in Santa Rosa. Cynics might scoff, but when it comes to spotting a ghost, locals will send you to the Moss Beach Distillery every time. [7] Sterlings mother identified the cross necklace and earring as her daughters property. 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]. Read More. Unsolved Murder; Police Chases: San Rafael & Nearby Crime Log - San Rafael, CA - A look at some of this week's police, fire and courtroom incidents from around Marin County and across the North Bay. Investigators believed it was an oil used in a machine shop, such as one that had metal-cutting equipment. This is a list of notable male murderers who committed their murders in California, USA. I also want to thank the many men and women of the Sheriff's Office who have worked on this investigation over the years. Other investigators later cast doubt on the meaning of the twig figure and whether it had any connection to the girls murder. The mate to the earring was not found at the scene. The girl, who fit Kursas description, appeared to be physically impaired in some manner, as the two men were supporting her between them. Trimbles mother reported her missing to police within a few days when she had not returned home. A reward of up to $2,500 is being. The US in the early 1970s was awash in serial murder. 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. 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. Public assistance is vital to law enforcement, and rewards may encourage the public cooperation needed to . The victim had been bound at the ankles and wrists, raped and slowly strangled with a cord for an estimated thirty minutes. 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. Then someone killed him, An SF man was found dead in his locked home. The Black Dahlia. Police wanted to know how the hat and beer bottle came to be in the places they were found. Juan Valencia told SFGATE in a statement. On that day, two middle school students, Maureen Sterling (left above) and Yvonne Weber (right above), went missing. Graham and Trimble, who had been associating with classmates who used drugs, had gone to school that day but did not attend classes. She defended me tooth and nail. Although ballistics determined the gun type, police declined to publicly disclose it, in order "to eliminate false leads." 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. And when they called the police, no one yet knew that the search for a killer now spanning five decades and counting had just begun. [2] It could not be determined if she had been raped. Her body was found, nude, posed, mutilated, and sliced in half at the . [16] A friend witnessed her likely abduction and reported that she entered a faded brown Chevrolet pickup truck fitted with a homemade wooden camper and driven by a 20- to 30-year-old Caucasian male with an Afro hairstyle. This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone. Initially, it was postulated that a drifter had murdered the young couple and then left the area. [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. 5. [7] Her partially submerged body was found six days later by kayakers in Mark West Creek. 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. Davis would not be seen again until her corpse was discovered on July 31. [5], Both Cutshall and Allen were counselors at Rock-N-Water, a Christian summer camp in El Dorado County, California. UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: DNA analysis has helped investigators piece together many of the crimes, but others remain a mystery. The Sheriff's Office is asking the public for assistance from anyone who may have information regarding this case or who may have been at the Quick Stop Market at 1620 Lincoln Road, Yuba City between the hours of 6: . 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. The Violent Crimes Unit (VCI) is comprised of One Detective Sergeant, and Four Detectives who investigate felony crimes against persons. . No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. At least it should be. Register for a user account. 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. The friend said someone else they knew had seen the girls hitchhiking at a Chevron gas station in Forestville. 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. [55][57], After his capture for similar crimes in Washington, Colorado, Utah and Idaho,[63] Ted Bundy was suspected in the murders. The helicopter spotted the bodies and notified the department. Bundy was known to drive hundreds of miles to commit a murder. [4] Two people later called in tips to the police about possible sightings of Kursa. 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. Police thought it was suicide, but friends are sure it's murder. Her body was found on Dec. 14 in a ravine 50 feet off Calistoga Road in Santa Rosa. Three days before Christmas 1973, Therese attempted to hitchhike from Malibu up to Garberville, where her 2-year-old child and extended family lived. Additionally, I want to thank the members of our community who have come forward with information on this case. These skeletons would not be identified as Graham and Trimble until 2015. The case remained unsolved at that time. The case has received considerable national attention, but the crime remained unsolved, until news given at a press conference on May 5, 2017, suggesting that authorities had solved the crime. Sergeant Crum has that picture for those who want it and it will be posted at the end of this press conference. Thank you. This unidentified victim had been hog-tied, with the killers rope looped around the womans throat. Looking further into this, according to the same report, from 1965 to 2019 there were roughly 128,787 murders in California alone. A pathologist determined her probable date of death was July 20, 1973, five days after her grandmother had last seen her. I'm grateful to the dozens of detectives, from all of the Sheriff's Office investigative units, who persistently and faithfully worked on this case for nearly 13 years. And we thank God for you and Allen had left the camp on a turnout above beach... 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