Identified! CA - Mendocino Co, 2 WhtFem Teens, Jul'79 *Francine Trimble & Kerry Graham*

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Roy Harrold said:
...The Fandel kids are another very mysterious case. When I first got online a decade ago, there was at least one site about them run by someone from the police department in Alaska that you see referenced on Doe - but it also mysteriously vanished after awhile!
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Websites come and go, but it is possible that the one on the Fandel children was taken down due to threats by the family. There is a thread on them here on Websleuths. You might be interested in some of the comments made there.
 
Wow, again! That was fabulous, Richard! What a great resource this place is.

And eery that user Shadowangel had exactly the same thoughts as we had, regarding the possibility of the unknown remains being children of Jonestown victims.
 
Roy Herrold,


I have read several books on the People's Temple. Your post is very interesting. I had wondered about some other missing persons and chiildren in the 70's in CA being related to the People's Temple. There is a website that is very interesting that lists names (though many are names they received after joining) of those in Johnstown. Very sad. I seem to remember a few kids' identities were unknown. The info was taken from FBI files, I think. I will try to find the link in case anybody is interested.

Also, the book Seductive Poison by Deborah Layton is very good. She was a member of the cult and went to Jonestown, as did some of her family. She knew things were very wrong, but was trapped in the cult. She ended up getting out, and was part of the reason Congressman Ryan went there. Great read.
 
Thanks laini! Very detailed resource there.

Other speculations my friends & I have come up with, related to the unknown remains in question include; that they might have been local kids who stumbled on a marijuana crop or other drug operation in the area and were forever silenced (but then, why no missing persons reports to match?), or that they might have been children of counter-culture types who never registered them legally out of ideological convictions. That area has had its share of cult groups and communes. Research I've done on communes in that area has pretty consistently shown them to have been populated by caring, gentle people - but there was some story about violence-prone youngsters attending a "Free School" somewhere in that area, too.
 
I have a feeling that these two unknown kids could have been boyfriend and girlfriend because they weren't matched DNA wise as being related- they both could have had histories of running away habitually and maybe that's why they don't match missing persons reports...
 
Yes. And regretably, as noted elsewhere, missing persons cases weren't always kept on file by some Police Departments at that time.

This quote from the Seattle Intelligencer's series on missing persons makes me both vary angry & very sad:

"Few know the system better than Bob Keppel, a former King County detective who investigated Ted Bundy and the Green River murders.
Keppel recalls the primitive method one major Western Washington police agency used in the 1970s: A new missing-person report went to the top of the stack and the one on the bottom went in the trash.
"These were viable cases with people who were probably murder victims," Keppel said. "No [expletive] work was done. Nothing. Zero."
 
Another possibility is that these two could have been foster kids, and I think back then authorities were not as vigilant with the foster kids, and the death could be linked to a member of their foster family. Just thinking of all the possibilities.
 
coco said:
Another possibility is that these two could have been foster kids, and I think back then authorities were not as vigilant with the foster kids, and the death could be linked to a member of their foster family. Just thinking of all the possibilities.
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That's a good theory- I like that:clap:
 
I agree, they look a lot like the couple mentioned above, especially the guy (he's a dead ringer in my opinion, NO pun intended) so I must need sleep too.
 
I wonder if they still have the notes of the forensic anthropologist who first thought they were brother and sister...and yes they do look quite a bit like the two above ............I'm sure it is possible and I wonder if they can do a DNA test on the family of the girl who was seen hitchiking...remember the female skeleton was found with an interesting bird like earring..............
 
The height is a difference of five inches between the missing boy and the deceased male.
 
Unidentified DOB: Jan 1, 1965Sex: MaleMissing Date: Jul 10, 1979Race: WhiteAge Now: 42Height: 5'5" (165 cm)Missing City: WILLITSWeight: UnknownMissing State : CAHair Color: Lt. BrownMissing Country: United StatesEye Color: UnknownCase Number: NCMU400033Circumstances: On July 10, 1979, the skeletal remains of a white female and of a white male were found near Hwy. 20, West of Willits, in Mendocino Co., CA. The estimated date of death is 12/8/1978. Jane is estimated to be 14 years old and was about 5'5-1/2" in height. She was wearing the pictured hoop with a pearched-bird earring (pierced-ear type). John is estimated to be 13 years old and was about 5'5" in height. It is possible these children were related, perhaps brother and sister. The photographs are computer-generated facial reconstructions done by a forensic artist at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Features such as eyes color, nose, size of lips and ears are the estimations of the artist to complete the image and should not be used as a significant marker for identification. The "DOB" and "Age Now" fields are an approximation.
I think that could be a mistake because when you click on him the description under it is for her. Also when you click here Unidentified DOB: Jan 1, 1965Sex: MaleMissing Date: Jul 10, 1979Race: WhiteAge Now: 42Height: 5'5" (165 cm)Missing City: WILLITSWeight: UnknownMissing State : CAHair Color: Lt. BrownMissing Country: United StatesEye Color: UnknownCase Number: NCMU400033Circumstances: On July 10, 1979, the skeletal remains of a white female and of a white male were found near Hwy. 20, West of Willits, in Mendocino Co., CA. The estimated date of death is 12/8/1978. Jane is estimated to be 14 years old and was about 5'5-1/2" in height. She was wearing the pictured hoop with a pearched-bird earring (pierced-ear type). John is estimated to be 13 years old and was about 5'5" in height. It is possible these children were related, perhaps brother and sister. The photographs are computer-generated facial reconstructions done by a forensic artist at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Features such as eyes color, nose, size of lips and ears are the estimations of the artist to complete the image and should not be used as a significant marker for identification. The "DOB" and "Age Now" fields are an approximation.


they list them both as having same height and weight, could be but is it really likely or were they just putting anything on paper to move on to the next case?
 
froggierintexas said:
they list them both as having same height and weight, could be but is it really likely or were they just putting anything on paper to move on to the next case?
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Was looking for something else and ran across this case. Almost 28 years since they were found -- so sad.

Yes, it would be possible for them to be the same height and weight. The girl has most likely finished growing (she's an average height) but the boy probably has not had his final growth spurt(s) yet so he's about average size for a boy that age too.

You know, I'm thinking that perhaps the composites are not that accurate. If you go to the Mendocino Sheriff's website, there are three people on it, all of which look like they could be related. The man (to me) looks like he could very well be their dad -- especially the boy's. The man's pic doesn't link to info though, so I have no idea what the story is with him.

Here's the link to the sheriff's site: http://www.pacificsites.com/~mendoshf/MP.htm
 
Wow, it's a shame they spent all those years looking for missing siblings :(

Wonder if they put the DNA in the system.
 
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