Deceased/Not Found CA - Jeanette Louise Ray, 9, Napa, October 4, 1965 *presumed murdered*

[victoriarobinson642]

NAMUS:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

-

Circumstances of Disappearance - Jeanette was last seen with her seven year old sister, Renay Ray, on the morning of Monday, October 4th, 1965 in Napa, California. Their father claimed he had dropped the pair off in front of Westwood Elementary School at 8:30 am but they never arrived for their classes. Renay was later found murdered. The father, Claude Ray Jr., was convicted of murdering Renay and Jeanette is feared to have met the same fate. Jeanette was never recovered.
Clothing - Jeanette was wearing an orange jumper and a corduroy coat
Footwear - She was wearing beige knee length blue socks and light buff suede shoes

 

[dms]

"beige knee length blue socks" ...which was it??

 

[LizzieParker]

Here’s a court ruling of the father’s appeal from his conviction in Renay’s death. It provides more background for the case, and it’s a doozy.

PEOPLE v. RAY (1967)

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Poor girls and their mother. I wonder where Renay was found and why he chose two different places to leave them.
(ETA: The court ruling link above explains where Renay was found.)

 

[LizzieParker]

Poor girls and their mother. I wonder where Renay was found and why he chose two different places to leave them.
(ETA: The court ruling link above explains where Renay was found.)

I wonder if it’s possible that they were both dumped there but due to the placement of her body, Jeanette just got washed out to sea at some point in the six days before Renay was found.

 

[LizzieParker]

Key details from the aforementioned court document to provide some background for those looking for a quick breakdown of the facts:

1. Jeanette and Renay lived with their parents Marlene and Claude Ray, Jr., who had five children in total.
2. Claude was abusive and appears to have had mental health issues. He would often threaten to kill his family over the years, starting around 1959, after an argument the couple had about their eldest child (details of this argument are not disclosed). Earlier, he had checked himself into an asylum briefly after claiming to have unconsciously choked one of the children.
3. This went on for years, and escalated in January of 1965 when Marlene filed for divorce and the couple separated. It’s not clear who was living with who at this point, but the parents got back together after Claude threatened to blow the eldest child’s head off if Marlene did not return. This one child was then placed in foster care.
4. The threats against his family resumed around June. In August, Marlene left with the kids to Salt Lake City, but returned a week later. Later that month, Claude and Marlene had an argument where they ran into Marlene’s mother, brother, and the eldest child. Claude tried to prevent her from going to see them, but Marlene and the rest of the children fled from Claude. He threatened them and drove away. Marlene and the kids never returned to him, but he figured out where they were living and visited them on occasion. He also casually mentioned to Marlene’s father that he had recently purchased a gun and was “looking to do some killing” at some point. Marlene’s sister, her sister’s husband, and a neighbor all confirmed hearing him threaten the lives of his family.
5. This pattern would continue up to October 3rd, 1965. He picked up his son from Marlene, and took him to spend the night at the place he was staying at the time. On October 4th, 1965, he dropped his son off at school, then went to pick up Jeanette and Renay to take them to school. They never arrived, despite Claude insisting that he’d dropped them off. Marlene reported them missing that afternoon. There were searches, and Claude’s account conflicted with those of various other witnesses who had seen him in the community (gas station attendants, bodega workers, etc.). It was later learned that Marlene had told him on October 3rd, 1965 that she was divorcing him and wasn’t budging on the issue. This is believed to be at least part of the motivation.
6. Renay was found dead at the bottom of a cliff at Schooner’s Gulch on October 10th, 1965. She had been murdered, likely the same day she went missing, with her cause of death being noted as asphyxia, likely by smothering. Jeanette was never found, but is believed she met the same fate. Claude was ultimately convicted of Renay’s murder, but no charges were ever brought up for Jeanette’s murder, due to a lack of a body.

 

[Mysteries1974]

"beige knee length blue socks" ...which was it??

Oh my goodness, that was my fault. I submitted Jeanette after finding out she was still missing and not on any databases. She was wearing beige shoes and blue socks, that must’ve been a typo I didn’t see when I wrote her case up. I will contact NamUs to get it revised. My apologies, I made this submission back in 2021 and NamUs staff restricted my access to the case until they got permission from law enforcement to add her case. The restriction happened within two days of the submission so I didn’t realize it until this post

Edit: I also noticed they removed the newspaper clippings I had put in the images section of her NamUs to better explain the circumstances of her disappearance. They only kept her portrait from the newspaper article saying her and Renay were missing and feared kidnapped.

 

[dms]

Oh my goodness, that was my fault. I submitted Jeanette after finding out she was still missing and not on any databases. She was wearing beige shoes and blue socks, that must’ve been a typo I didn’t see when I wrote her case up. I will contact NamUs to get it revised. My apologies, I made this submission back in 2021 and NamUs staff restricted my access to the case until they got permission from law enforcement to add her case. The restriction happened within two days of the submission so I didn’t realize it until this post

Edit: I also noticed they removed the newspaper clippings I had put in the images section of her NamUs to better explain the circumstances of her disappearance. They only kept her portrait from the newspaper article saying her and Renay were missing and feared kidnapped.

No worries. I wonder why they removed the clippings? Seems like those would be very relevant.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

No worries. I wonder why they removed the clippings? Seems like those would be very relevant.

They've done that to various listings I've done as well. I'm not entirely sure why.

 

[Mysteries1974]

The reason I found Jeanette and Renay’s case was because their father was also suspected of another unsolved child abduction and murder which occurred sometime before the two girls were killed, in the early 1960s or at some point in the 1950s. I can’t find the exact case but will be sure to post it here once I do

 

[LizzieParker]

The reason I found Jeanette and Renay’s case was because their father was also suspected of another unsolved child abduction and murder which occurred sometime before the two girls were killed, in the early 1960s or at some point in the 1950s. I can’t find the exact case but will be sure to post it here once I do

I believe that was Doreen Heskett, disappeared in 1963 and found eight months later in a cow pasture. Claude Ray Jr. was also a convicted sex offender, which is why he was a suspect at the time. I’ll have to try and find the old newspaper clips I dug up while reading about him, but this article details things well in the meantime.

 

[Mysteries1974]

I believe that was Doreen Heskett, disappeared in 1963 and found eight months later in a cow pasture. Claude Ray Jr. was also a convicted sex offender, which is why he was a suspect at the time. I’ll have to try and find the old newspaper clips I dug up while reading about him, but this article details things well in the meantime.

That’s the article I remember reading! I wonder if he was truly involved in Doreen’s homicide. Wouldn’t put it past him. Anyone evil enough to kill his two young daughters is capable of opportunistic kidnapping and murder

 

[John/Jane Doe]

4709DFCA - Jeanette Louise Ray

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Jeanette Louise Ray – The Charley Project