But several cold cases still remain unsolved. 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. Friends said she was a frequent hitchhiker, which was not uncommon for young women at the time. Complicating matters even further is the fact police never found the murder sites. Additionally, I want to thank the members of our community who have come forward with information on this case. A true crime magazine, Front Page Detective, published an article in September 1975 linking the Santa Rosa murders with the Zodiac Killer and witchcraft. Cutshall was from Fresno, Ohio and Allen was from Zeeland, Michigan. Following an autopsy performed by Sonoma County coroner Andrew Johnasen, it was concluded that Allens killer had tortured her and killed her by slowly strangling her with a cord or wire. Sheriff's Office detectives are continuing to follow-up on leads and are working hard to complete the investigation. ", I will now take some questionsand while I want to be as transparent as possible, please understand that I don't want to jeopardize the continued investigation and prosecution of this case, so I will not be answering any questions that might disclose information that should be saved for the courtroom. [1] [1] An acquaintance who had spoken with them earlier that evening recalled in 2019 that Sterling and Weber had told her that a tall, slender man in his late-teens or early-twenties with black hair had asked them to smoke marijuana. It was 9 p.m. on a Friday, and their mothers wouldnt be back to pick them up for two hours. 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. The Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders were a series of at least seven unsolved homicides involving female hitchhikers that took place in Sonoma County and Santa Rosa of the North Bay area of California in 1972 and 1973. Police wanted to know how the hat and beer bottle came to be in the places they were found. No known connection to him between Lindsay Cutshall or Jason Allen has been uncovered yet either. It was proven early on that Kursa had deliberately run away from home. 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. 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. The Bay Area, while truly wonderful, is also the sad hometo our fare share of high-profile and terrifying crimes. According to Yvonnes stepfather, Santa Rosa police insisted the young pair were willing runaways. And the dedication of all the lieutenants, sergeants, detectives, and support personnel of Sheriff's Office Investigations throughout the years has totally amazed us. 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. She had been sexually assaulted, hogtied with clothesline and strangled. [55][57], After his capture for similar crimes in Washington, Colorado, Utah and Idaho,[63] Ted Bundy was suspected in the murders. [7] Semen was recovered from the body and a single gold loop earring was found at the site. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. 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. Each of the women and girls were killed somewhere else and dumped around Santa Rosa. ", "No Contest Plea In Notorious 2004 Jenner Beach Murders; DA Agrees Not To Seek Death Penalty", "Jenner beach killer Shaun Gallon sentenced to life in prison", "10 years on, Jenner beach killings haunt 2 families", "Retracing the doomed couple's steps / Slain Christian camp counselors spent some time in S.F. This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone. Witnesses also reported seeing Cutshall's 1992 red Ford Tempo in the towns of Guerneville, Sebastopol, Forestville, and Jenner before the murders. Although ballistics determined the gun type, police declined to publicly disclose it, in order "to eliminate false leads." A number of high-profile 1970s serial killers were probed for links to the Bay Area murders. I wish I could name them all, but there are too many to list. Read More . 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. 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]. No clothing or other items belonging to Graham or Trimble were found at the scene.[2]. She was last seen alive on December 22, 1973, at Zuma Beach in the tiny resort town of Malibu, California. Thanks for subscribing! Up to 14 victims have been attributed to the Doodler. Public assistance is vital to law enforcement, and rewards may encourage the public cooperation needed to . Nicknamed "the Doodler"because his modus operandi was to sketch victims, have sex with them and then stab them, this unknown San Francisco serial killerhunted the Castro District in 1974 and 1975. Also investigated were: Joseph Naso, the Hillside stranglers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr., and the Zodiac killer. [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. 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. No off-topic remarks. All were . The killer had thrown the body at least 30 feet (9.1m) over an embankment. Gallon made statements to the detectives with new information (he spontaneously confessed) and additional investigative leads into the case. 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. (Gallon in fact led them to a soda can with the two bullit casings). Modern advancements in DNA analysis have provided important clues in several cold cases throughout the country. She had also been bound in the same manner as Walsh.[2]. These skeletons would not be identified as Graham and Trimble until 2015. 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. Very few witness descriptions are available. when I comitt my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc." 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. [22] She had been hogtied with clothesline rope, sexually assaulted, and strangled, and was determined to have been dead approximately one week. Walshs corpse was found six days later on December 28. All of the victims were found nude in rural areas near steep embankments or in creek beds near roads. 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. [7] The cause of death could not be determined[4] from the skeletal remains. Moses was last seen getting into a car with a 25- to 30-year old man in Santa Rosa on Aug. 13, 1997. 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. We will remove any comments or commenters that do not follow this commenting policy. 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. Officially, however, the mystery remains unsolved. The victims were both counselors at a Northern California Christian camp and hoped to rent a room nearby, but couldn't find one. 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. 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. 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? She had been sexually assaulted, strangled with a cord-like material and dumped naked in the ditch. [5], Both Cutshall and Allen were counselors at Rock-N-Water, a Christian summer camp in El Dorado County, California. All told, it had taken 30 minutes for Allen to expire. Bundy was known to drive hundreds of miles to commit a murder. 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. 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. [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. Most Popular. The broken neck would have prevented Kursa from moving, but it would have taken some time for her to die from the injury. [20] The symbol was located on the roadway above the site where Davis was found. As was so often the case in the 1970s, police officers believed that the girls were runaways. A 27 year-old man named Jasper Parkins was found dead in his bedroom with a bullet wound to his right temple. 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. Only seven victims can officially be tied to the mysterious killer, five of whom actually died. The cause of death could not be determined. [3] Allen was also carrying a soy barrel with red Chinese characters painted on the outside. 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. He works as a freelance writer and has been published in The Weekly Standard, The Atlantic, Listverse, and other publications. 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