CA CA - Gail D. Skelton, 26, Galt/Stockton, 26 September 1980

[LucyOso]

Great work everyone. Let’s find Gail.

 

[rats]

Sitting at work talking to my coworker about my cousin that went missing when I was 5 years old. I decided to google her, although nothing ever comes up. But this time was different, I found her high school picture and followed it to this site. Thank-you, All! For your effort to solve this horrible mystery that my family has lived with for 38 years. Gail's mother Norma and my grandmother were sisters. My aunt Norma outlived all of her siblings despite illness, in hopes of finding her daughter.

I don't have much to add, as I was 5 at the time. But I can confirm that Gail is still missing. Her two brothers are still alive. One resides in the Skelton family home in Galt, but I am not in touch with him. However, I am in contact with her older brother and he is also in Northern California.

As for the address in Stockton, that is a real head-scratcher, as I grew up in Stockton and don't recall any of the family members living on Carlton Ave between 1995 and 2004, but I texted my older cousin and don't quite understand her reply. She said her cousins on her father's side (not related to Gail) lives on Carlton Ave. According to Spokeo, Gail is listed as a current resident if I am reading it correctly. I am tempted to drive by and see for myself. The Carlton address is interesting because we have cousins who live nearby. Somebody would have recognized her. And doesn't seem like Gail would take-off and never return... Her immediate family has suffered so many losses, from her first nephew Aaron Skelton (in 93 in a car accident), to her father, sister, and mother. My aunt never moved in case Gail was found or returned. My heart grieves for my aunt Norma, as she died not knowing what happened to her daughter.

As I mentioned I was 5 when she disappeared, so I don't know anything about prior marriages, but I can also ask my older cousin, since Gail and her are in the same generation. I may ask her brother as well. I know he took her disappearance very hard. Not knowing is extremely painful for the family, especially for her immediate family. I was in-tow when my grandmother was out looking for her. I believe we spoke to a landlord at the Marina, where she lived on a houseboat. I remember visiting her a few days prior to her disappearance. She was in relatively good spirits considering the tragedy that had befallen her fiancé Pat, and by all accounts was managing her grief. But it was still fairly new from what I remember. And she could have been pretending to be a little upbeat, so my aunt and grandma did not worry about her.

Anyway, thank-you again for getting her case posted. I can't believe that after 38 years, we still do not have answers. :'(

*Correction: nephew Erran (not Aaron) Skelton

Welcome, GRS! Thank you for joining us! It’s exciting to have family of Gail’s here. I am so frustrated we have not gotten anywhere.

Is it possible for you to start to stir up interest in the case again out there? Possibly by suggesting a newspaper article (or two or three or four... as many as possible honestly) so that there can be some new info?

 

[Bit of hope]

Here's my blog: Stories of the Forgotten : Disappearance on the Delta

Thank you J Rubio. I finally took the time to read it. It's quite an interesting story and you pinpointed the odd circumstances very good. Personally I don't believe alcohol (or drugs) were involved. Off course Gail could have taken her own life in distress, but somehow I can't "see" her doing that. The political angle (Delta Tunnels vs business plans) is intriguing but it brings on a question. Was the elimination of Pat enough to stop his father and brother going through with the plans?

 

[Bit of hope]

Gail Deann Skelton Here she is on the website!!!!

Just wauww...you are great Rats.

 

[Bit of hope]

Could the husband with the surname Garcia have something to do with it? @ J Rubio, do you know if he was ever a suspect?

 

[Mysteries1974]

Gail Deann Skelton

• 
• 

Skelton, circa 1980; Sketch of last person known to have seen Skelton

• Missing Since09/26/1980
• Missing FromSan Joaquin County, California
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• Date of Birth01/28/1954 (64)
• Age26 years old
• Height and Weight5'1, 115 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA blue plaid flannel shirt and blue jeans.
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Skelton may use the last name Brewer.

Details of Disappearance
Skelton was last seen in San Joaquin County, California on September 26, 1980. She attended a party at Herman and Helen's Marina, a now-defunct bar on Empire Tract at the western end of Eight Mile Road, fourteen miles southwest of Lodi, and never returned home. She has never been heard from again and her car, a blue two-door 1978 Toyota, has never been found.

The last person known to have seen Skelton was another patron at the bar that night, described as a 25- to 30-year-old Caucasian man over six feet tall, with dark hair and a thin build. This person was harassing Skelton at the bar and kept wanting to go places with her, and she refused. It isn't clear whether this individual was ever identified or if he is a suspect in her case. A composite sketch of the person is posted with this case summary.

Skelton's fiance, Pat Malone, disappeared on June 9, 1980, three and a half months before she did, from a boat on the Mokelumne River. Eight days later, his body was recovered in the water 200 yards away. Authorities believe his drowning death was an accident and the timing of his and Skelton's disappearance is coincidental.

The couple had lived together on a houseboat and planned to marry in March 1981. Skelton was still grieving over Malone's death at the time of her disappearance, but her family doesn't believe she left of her own accord. They stated whatever problems she had in her life were normal ones and she wasn't having financial difficulties.

The circumstances of Skelton's disappearance are unclear. Authorities believe she may have accidentally driven her car into the water on the night of her disappearance, but there is no evidence to support any theory.
Investigating Agency

• San Joaquin Sheriff's Department 209-468-4412

Source Information

• California Attorney General's Office
• The Lodi News Sentinel
• Stories of the Forgotten

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated June 6, 2018; casefile added.

Link: Gail Deann Skelton – The Charley Project

 

[Mysteries1974]

Missing Person Case

She’s been added to Namus!!!

 

[Mysteries1974]

What body of water was closest to the area that she had vanished from?

 

[Mysteries1974]

By the way, I put her in NamUs. There has been some activity on her case file (some pictures removed ) but other than that absolutely nothing. She will be MP case 50180 when posted.

Awesome job for entering her on Namus!! It seems they were able to get a DNA sample from her family.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Is anyone willing to submit Gail to Doe network?

 

[Alleykins]

Is anyone willing to submit Gail to Doe network?

Last I read, Doe was only taking reports from law enforcement agencies. Does anyone know if that's no longer the case?

 

[Bit of hope]

Can anybody check Namus if there is DNA available for Gail?

 

[carbuff]

Can anybody check Namus if there is DNA available for Gail?

That information is no longer made public. Apparently it's considered the missing person's private medical data.

 

[Mysteries1974]

That information is no longer made public. Apparently it's considered the missing person's private medical data.

Yep, I’m guessing they must’ve gotten a sample from LE because it took months for them to publish her case.

 

[J Rubio]

Thank you StarrChance, I had his birth and death information but hadn't seen the Obituary before. I am still on the case and trying to figure out just what happened to both Gail and Pat.

Hi J Rubio, Thankyou for your blog, so sad they had a great life ahead of them. I have found Patrick’s Memorial which has some more information for you, also just noting his birthplace was California (which is also in Ancestry Records)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190921953/patrick-robert-malone

Patrick Robert Malone
BIRTH 5 Sep 1949
Santa Ana, Orange County, California, USA
DEATH 20 Jun 1980 (aged 30)
Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, USA
BURIAL Cremated, Ashes scattered, Specifically: Ashes scattered from an airplane flown by his fiancee, Gail Skelton
MEMORIAL ID 190921953 · View Source

• MEMORIAL

The ashes of Patrick Malone, 30, a houseboat rental employee who drowned in the Mokelumne River, will be scattered over the Delta, which had become the focus of his life.
A funeral services for Mr. Malone will be held at 1 p.. Tuesday in the B.C. Wallace & Son Chapel. His father, Robert Malone, said the ashed will be scattered from an airpane flown by his son's fiance, Gail Skelton.
Mr. Malone's body was found in the water by sheriff's deputies Thursday, about 200 yards from where a boat he had operated was found empty six days before. The boat was nosed into the west bank of the Mokelumne River across from Hog Slough.
Sgt. Wil Vieira, commander of the Sheriff's Department boat patrols, theorized that Mr. Malone lost his balance and fell out of the boat, which was found with its ignition on and at nearly full throttle. The accident occured shortly after midnight June 19.
Mr. Malone and his father had been working for nearly four years to obtain permits to build a marina, to be called Irish Isles, on Headreach Island in the Stockton Deepwater Channel. Mr. Malone and his fiance planned to be married there next St. Patrick's Day.
Born in Santa Ana, Mr. Malone graduated from Anaheim High School and obtained an associate in arts degree in computer technology from Fullerton Junior College. He worked in the insurance field in Southern California but moved to the Stockton area in August 1975 and made the Delta his primary interest.
He lived first on a house-boat and then in a two-story boathouse at Holiday Floatels-Delta on Disappointment Slough and worked in various capacities at many area marinas.
He was active in the San Joaquin Delta Marine Association, of which his father is president, and was doing research for a book on the history of the Delta.
Mr. Malone handled rental reservations and assisted renters on shakedowns for Holiday Floatels-Delta and made service calls for customers when necessary.
Besides his parents, Mr. Malone is survived by a brother, Michael Malone of Stockton; a son, Kelly, in Orange County, and his grandmother.
Stockton Record June 30, 1980

 

[J Rubio]

GRS, from all the information I have gathered, the mystery continues to deepen the further I get pulled into it. I have been perplexed by the address in Stockton as well, and I have often wanted to go knock on the door and ask if they knew who Gail was. I haven't done it though, not yet any way. I contacted the Sherrif's department asking if they had any knowledge but no one got back to me. I wrote the coroner's office in Sacramento given the fact where Pat was found it was actually more Sacramento County than San Joaquin, but they have no record of his death at all. I am currently trying to see if San Joaquin County has the records. As of now, I am writing a more in depth chapter for my new book with more information sans the names of living relatives of Pat's but including a lot of stories I have been given permission to mention by them. My overall take on this is that there is a lot more to the story than any of us can imagine. If you ever want to get a hold of me feel free to private email me at my website. www.jaimerubiowriter.com

Sitting at work talking to my coworker about my cousin that went missing when I was 5 years old. I decided to google her, although nothing ever comes up. But this time was different, I found her high school picture and followed it to this site. Thank-you, All! For your effort to solve this horrible mystery that my family has lived with for 38 years. Gail's mother Norma and my grandmother were sisters. My aunt Norma outlived all of her siblings despite illness, in hopes of finding her daughter.

I don't have much to add, as I was 5 at the time. But I can confirm that Gail is still missing. Her two brothers are still alive. One resides in the Skelton family home in Galt, but I am not in touch with him. However, I am in contact with her older brother and he is also in Northern California.

As for the address in Stockton, that is a real head-scratcher, as I grew up in Stockton and don't recall any of the family members living on Carlton Ave between 1995 and 2004, but I texted my older cousin and don't quite understand her reply. She said her cousins on her father's side (not related to Gail) lives on Carlton Ave. According to Spokeo, Gail is listed as a current resident if I am reading it correctly. I am tempted to drive by and see for myself. The Carlton address is interesting because we have cousins who live nearby. Somebody would have recognized her. And doesn't seem like Gail would take-off and never return... Her immediate family has suffered so many losses, from her first nephew Aaron Skelton (in 93 in a car accident), to her father, sister, and mother. My aunt never moved in case Gail was found or returned. My heart grieves for my aunt Norma, as she died not knowing what happened to her daughter.

As I mentioned I was 5 when she disappeared, so I don't know anything about prior marriages, but I can also ask my older cousin, since Gail and her are in the same generation. I may ask her brother as well. I know he took her disappearance very hard. Not knowing is extremely painful for the family, especially for her immediate family. I was in-tow when my grandmother was out looking for her. I believe we spoke to a landlord at the Marina, where she lived on a houseboat. I remember visiting her a few days prior to her disappearance. She was in relatively good spirits considering the tragedy that had befallen her fiancé Pat, and by all accounts was managing her grief. But it was still fairly new from what I remember. And she could have been pretending to be a little upbeat, so my aunt and grandma did not worry about her.

Anyway, thank-you again for getting her case posted. I can't believe that after 38 years, we still do not have answers. :'(

 

[rats]

It looks like Gail is FINALLY public on NamUs!!!

 

[Bit of hope]

Maybe my imagination is far to big, but could there be an IRA connection?

 

[marsyao]

Maybe my imagination is far to big, but could there be an IRA connection?

I doubt it, IRA did launched several attacks in Europe in 70's and 80's, but their targets were always either British military (sometimes their families) or British diplomats, as far as I can remember, they never do a hit in US, and killing an ordinary citizens in a foreign country who had no tie to UK government was not IRA's style

 

[MadMcGoo]

I’m just reading of Gail’s disappearance for the first time! What a series of unfortunate tragedies Are there any updates, anyone know? I saw she has 0 unidentified person exclusions on her NamUs profile.

She looks incredibly similar to WCJD, and the timeline and circumstances (blue car, possibly with other men) seem to fit. IMO She certainly has a familiar face.