Identified! CA - San Joaquin Co., WhtFem 320UFCA, 29-41, Gorilla hiking boots, Mar'95 - Amanda Lynn Schumann Deza

[WyomingSkyAngel]

The correctional officer idea is an intriguing one to me, though. He may have thought she'd never be found, or if she was that she couldn't be traced back to him. That's a really stressful job where you have a lot of power over other people, I could see that spilling over into your personal life if there was a lot of burnout or drinking. Same with a mental hospital (the Stockton State Hospital closed in 1996 or 1997, if I remember correctly, so it would have still been open, and Stockton is really close to where she was found). They'd have had those milk cartons, too, I think.

I mis-used the word transient but I used it to refer to the victim possibly being estranged from her family and moving from state to state for different reasons (prostitution, hippie lifestyle, etc.) She may have not ever been reported missing if there was already an established estrangement from her home area, family and friends. Her fatal injuries suggest a lot of rage being directed towards her, like an angry lover/husband.

BTW I have known young women who come from extremely wealthy upbringings but "rebel" against the family and move away to live a party girl lifestyle, or be with a "rebellious" lower-class boyfriend. The allure of drugs and adventure are irresistable when one is a teenager and in their twenties...you feel like you have "all the time in the world." That is what I think was going on with this woman, and that she was killed by her partner when she tried to leave or upset him (or her).

 

[PricklyPear]

I mis-used the word transient but I used it to refer to the victim possibly being estranged from her family and moving from state to state for different reasons (prostitution, hippie lifestyle, etc.) She may have not ever been reported missing if there was already an established estrangement from her home area, family and friends. Her fatal injuries suggest a lot of rage being directed towards her, like an angry lover/husband.

BTW I have known young women who come from extremely wealthy upbringings but "rebel" against the family and move away to live a party girl lifestyle, or be with a "rebellious" lower-class boyfriend. The allure of drugs and adventure are irresistable when one is a teenager and in their twenties...you feel like you have "all the time in the world." That is what I think was going on with this woman, and that she was killed by her partner when she tried to leave or upset him (or her).

Ah, okay. That makes a lot more sense. In fact, I think Sheriff Huber even described her as possibly a hippie/ren faire type in one of the articles I read about the case, so you could be on to something.

 

[SilentSleuth]

How come no one has done a facial restoration bust with her skull?

My guess- she was a Deadhead/transient-type of person who might have not been from Northern CA, but moved in with some guy who IS from the area. Relationship went sour, he killed her, stashed her body in the fridge until he HAD to dispose of her. (During the mid-1990s to early 2000s A LOT of people were cashing in on the real estate market in CA by selling their homes and moving to towns with lower cost of living- the killer might have done this and then dumped her before he moved out of the area or out of state.)

Could she have been dating a correctional officer or police officer? That might explain the milk cartons. Also the ice bag from the liquor store- cops and prison guards drink more often than not.

I've heard of and witnessed some extremely sad and unlikely domestic violence situations in my lifetime- my guess is the killer really didn't want to get caught and stored the remains for a long while until forced to dispose of them. Plus if the victim had a sketchy history (drug use and transient living) the killer might have rationalized the finger would not be pointed right at him (or her) IF the identity & last times of the victim were ever brought to light.

The police officer idea makes me think Steven Zelich, JMO.

Zelich had a refrigerator removed from his house while they were searching for evidence.

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

This is another idea, but more far fetched than the theory of a the killer being a corrections officer or cop- a LOT of young males in the military have girlfriends they "shine on" with the promise of marriage, even up to the point of gifting a ring and moving the woman in with him...what if the killer was stationed at one of the many bases not too far from the Stockton area, and stored his murdered girlfriend until he had an overseas deployment lined up? With careful enough disposal of the remains and leaving the country in a day or two...he could insure no blame would ever be thrown his way. The victim might also be from Europe (someone who came here with an American serviceman & sadly ended up here for good due to the murder.) That might explain why no one has been looking for her- they don't know where to look and back then it was much harder without widespread Internet access.

 

[PricklyPear]

This is another idea, but more far fetched than the theory of a the killer being a corrections officer or cop- a LOT of young males in the military have girlfriends they "shine on" with the promise of marriage, even up to the point of gifting a ring and moving the woman in with him...what if the killer was stationed at one of the many bases not too far from the Stockton area, and stored his murdered girlfriend until he had an overseas deployment lined up? With careful enough disposal of the remains and leaving the country in a day or two...he could insure no blame would ever be thrown his way. The victim might also be from Europe (someone who came here with an American serviceman & sadly ended up here for good due to the murder.) That might explain why no one has been looking for her- they don't know where to look and back then it was much harder without widespread Internet access.

Hmm. Aside from National Guard posts, I think the closest actual base to that area is Travis AFB, which is a good 50+ miles from where she was found, and would be out of the way for someone going from the Martinez/Richmond area (where LE believes the fridge is from, based on its contents) to Stockton. Holt is right between the two.

Which doesn't rule it out, since there's a National Guard post in Stockton itself, and anyone stationed at Travis who left the base would still probably have a good idea of the area. There's a lot of recreational stuff to do in the Delta area, so I'm sure a lot of soldiers head out when they're off-duty. Travis is pretty decently sized and has a transient population. And I could be forgetting another local base, I can only think of that one, a few up north, and Lemoore down in Fresno County.

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

A lot of the evidence in the fridge screams "middle class" to me- the bedding, the clothing the victim was wearing.... I also wonder if the fridge was picked up elsewhere as a makeshift coffin (& it was tied shut since the seal on the door might have been not sealing anymore.)

BTW there is a Coast Guard station in Alameda & there is also Section 8 housing near the area...Just sharing.

The binding & sock in mouth makes me wonder if the victim had been kidnapped away from a friend's house by an enraged ex-partner and tortured for a while before being killed. The friend might have never reported the woman as missing for different reasons.

Keep in mind the population of Northern California is several million people all together...Without putting more info out there, this case might never get solved. I do suspect the killer might do this again.

 

[PricklyPear]

A lot of the evidence in the fridge screams "middle class" to me- the bedding, the clothing the victim was wearing.... I also wonder if the fridge was picked up elsewhere as a makeshift coffin (& it was tied shut since the seal on the door might have been not sealing anymore.)

BTW there is a Coast Guard station in Alameda & there is also Section 8 housing near the area...Just sharing.

<snip>

Good point, I had completely forgotten you could take Highway 4 all the way to Alameda. There's a Navy base out there, too, isn't there? EDIT: I just looked it up and see that it closed, but in 1997, so after Jane Doe was found.

 

[cvaldez1975]

I agree. I think the milk cartons in the fridge definitely suggest a local connection. This newer article: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130301/A_NEWS0803/303010335 shows the detective's detailed analysis leading to the suspicion she was a local girl.

I am puzzled about another supposition that her clothing indicated she was attending an outdoor event. Kind of like the wedding ring on the right hand...sort of bizarre guess that makes me wonder if LE has more info than they have released.

The one thing I have been thinking of is why someone would dump a fridge in this area. Like, why the body in the fridge and then the fridge in this area? Why not take the fridge to a transfer station (which is closer to Stockton according to Google).

I get that perp was probably concerned about discovery, but it seems like trying to hide a fridge makes the whole process a lot more difficult and cumbersome. Its not completely out of left field to dispose of someone in a fridge, according to MSM, but still...for locals is this area a common illegal dumping ground? Is there a lot of random trash?

The weight of an average refrigerator is around 250 lbs. Add a 130 lbs and you have a heavy load. I imagine it was probably loaded onto a flat bed and then pushed off, based on the way it was laying as photographed. Yes, it could be accomplished by a lone perp, but why go to all the extra work?

I just can't make heads or tails of the post offense behavior. It could be intimate partner or it could be an stranger abduction. The taped mouth and tied hands suggest that she was terrorized before blunt force trauma took her life...

I feel like there is something really obvious in the evidence that if it was a snake would bite me...but haven't figured out yet what it is.

Has anyone looked in to the boots? Gorilla is a long standing brand, and were apparently at least $100 boots in 1995. That plus the dental work gives us some suggestions about socio-economic.

The fact the ring was left suggests robbery was not a motive.

It seems likely she was not reported missing...

i think that area is an ad hoc dumping ground. I know that several other bodies have been found in that area.

as for going to the trouble. i think it was an intimate partner murder, someone who has not dealt w dead bodies. it may be as simple as he kept her in the fridge not knowing what to do w her then finally decided he had to get rid of the fridge but was afraid of what he would find once he opened it.

 

[PricklyPear]

i think that area is an ad hoc dumping ground. I know that several other bodies have been found in that area. <snip>

This is true. Off-topic (he was already in prison by the 1990s, so he couldn't be behind this case, plus it doesn't fit his m.o.), but I think the I-5 Strangler, Roger Kibbe, was responsible for a lot more bodies in the Delta than the two they connected to him, maybe even some that were never found. He lived in Oakley for a while, hung out at the parachute center in Antioch, and left victims at Brannan Island and Terminous. But somehow he had no murders between his first known victim in 1977 and the others 9 years later? The 1977 victim wasn't found until 2011. I think he started getting sloppy in 1986. I think it's incredibly unlikely he would kill one woman in 1977, then none for 9 years, and then at least five women in an eight-month span.

I would not be at all surprised to find other killers, even other serial killers, using that area for the same thing, given how rural and swampy it is.

I just wish we could figure out who this woman is. I hate that there are so many cases that are decades old and the victim still doesn't even have a name. It's like they weren't just murdered, they were erased completely.

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

I just wish we could figure out who this woman is. I hate that there are so many cases that are decades old and the victim still doesn't even have a name. It's like they weren't just murdered, they were erased completely.

I hate to say it but victimizers groom their victims long before the victim is clued in to the worst-case scenario that could happen from a soured relationship....This is to insure against "getting caught" if there are so many ways to discredit/undermine the victim before all of the downward spiral starts....

The manicured nails on this woman made me think of something I learned about Domestic Violence in marriages- the abuser will often give gifts after abusing or give the victim money for beauty treatments like hair and nail care (since in the end the abuser is insuring the victim appears "cared for" and reflects well on the abuser.) She might not have been rich, just considered arm candy until she got to be too aggravating or too rebellious for her killer.

Sadly the killer did exactly what he or she intended- erased all the proof of what he or she really thought about this partner.

 

[Love143]

Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo was going through a lot of changes for a few years leading up to its closure in 1996.

IMO Here in the bay area people commute distances that might seem crazy to people from different parts of the country on a daily basis. I don't think Travis Air Base is too far. I think you guys might be on to something with the military connection.

 

[PricklyPear]

To clarify, I don't think Travis AFB is that far as the crow flies, just a bit inconvenient. But I don't know the back roads all that well in the Delta, I usually stick to the highways, so maybe there's a quicker route between the two I don't know about.

And I obviously don't know the Navy bases out there very well! I didn't know about Mare Island at all, even though I lived in San Joaquin County back when it was open. I think the military connection is a lot stronger than I thought at first. It would definitely explain why no one in the area seems to have reported her missing, if she had moved here to be with a husband or boyfriend and her family wasn't aware of her disappearance at first.

 

[gayeld]

Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo was going through a lot of changes for a few years leading up to its closure in 1996.

IMO Here in the bay area people commute distances that might seem crazy to people from different parts of the country on a daily basis. I don't think Travis Air Base is too far. I think you guys might be on to something with the military connection.

I work with people who commute 1 1/2 hours between the Bay Area and Sacramento, all the time. So Travis is certainly a possibility. I'm pretty sure, back in '95, Mather, McClellan and Castle were all still open (but in the process of closing) and the outskirts of Stockton are within easy driving range of all of them.

 

[Paradise]

I can vouch for the harvest gold refrigerators still being around in the 1980's. My parents purchased a brand new one in 1982 or 83 before I was born (it matched their brown/gold kitchen). Thankfully, they've come to their senses and have since upgraded to a nicer white model.

I know many people who have a second refrigerator in their home, either in the garage or basement for extra storage. With harvest gold most likely not being sold in the 90's, I'd think this was probably a spare. Although, there always have to be some outliers, my husband's grandfather had the original refrigerator from when he moved into his house in the 1960's up until 2011. He had it serviced a few times and it just kept on working so he never replaced it until it finally quit.

This is just such a perplexing case with so many unanswered questions.

 

[PricklyPear]

I wonder if someone reported her missing, but didn't know how long she'd been missing so that the dates are off. If she really was in the area because of a military connection and didn't contact her family or friends regularly, they may not have realized she was missing until months later. If police are looking for someone reported before summer 1994, but she wasn't missed until Christmas 1994 or later, for example, maybe they just haven't been looking at the right records? Is that even a possibility?

I wish she had a NamUs entry, given her injuries and state of decomposition she may not even have dental or usable fingerprint records. I haven't heard anything back on my email.

 

[PricklyPear]

Still haven't heard back from the county about adding her. I heard their current cold case investigator has been out for a few weeks, though, so I will try again after Christmas.

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

OK new idea- what if this UID was somehow involved with someone in the Emerald Triangle grower culture? I think this is a legit suggestion. Here is why-

* I grew up in the Stockton area & in the late 1990s several of my co-workers were part of the "Deadhead" type party scene. Plenty of rich hippie girls & wild lifestyles going on. In fact when I read the info for this case I mentally flashed back to how some of the female co-workers would dress. (They were very typical- smoked a lot of weed, went to lots of concerts.)

* Being part of such a culture would explain some of the puzzle pieces that don't seem to fit (woman with nice jewelry & expensive shoes but otherwise casual outfit stuffed in old fridge & dumped in the middle of nowhere.) A lot of growers launder money through really modest small businesses because it makes the most sense for that region (rural.) Could this woman have been with a lower middle class man who got frustrated/insecure with her & killed her when the relationship started breaking down to a point of no return?

* A friend of mine who frequents that area suggested to me that I go out to the Emerald Triangle to look for a rich "weed grower"boyfriend. I turned down her suggestion because I didn't want to risk drug charges at the time & I also found that group of people to be racist, sexist & scummy. However for a party life loving young girl overlooking such shortcomings would not be too hard if it meant some good times & easy life from weed money revenue. Could this woman have come from there?

I know this is a way less likely scenario than others discussed here. The reason it came to mind is the grower triangle area of Northern California does attract a lot of crazy young travelers ("trimmagrants") & the drug culture does cause a lot of rough situations that never get reported to authorities for plenty of very obvious reasons.

edit to add- I just remembered one of my friends (female) dated a drug dealer (not from the Emerald Triangle but a man who was making a lot of money off of weed.) Her telling of the relationship was completely horrific- the guy was a total psycho who gave her an expensive engagement ring but cheated on her left & right. Lucky for her a female friend took her in when she wanted to leave him so she didn't have to suffer through a potentially violent and explosive last few weeks living at the guy's place. Is it possible the victim here was a nice, naive innocent girl who fell for a shady Lothario's promises, & didn't realize he could be capable of extreme violence?

 

[Morbid Adieu]

Still haven't heard back from the county about adding her. I heard their current cold case investigator has been out for a few weeks, though, so I will try again after Christmas.

Over two years later and she's still not in NamUs :waitasec: for as much publicity this case had received, you would think someone would have taken the time. Perhaps reaching out to John Huber personally in an email (although retired) may be the ticket? He seemed to genuinely be haunted by the case. I remember when this happened.

http://www.lindenusd.com/Default.as...&DivisionID=6446&DepartmentID=0&StaffID=41932

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

I got an email from John Huber.

Here are some of the bullet points about the case as it is now-

.........Thank you for your interest in this case I still work on her trying to identify and last year Channel 13 Sacramento Tony Lopez did another TV story on her..... I have submitted her DNA to California DOJ in case we have a family member who comes forward and we can submit for a match.

 

[Morbid Adieu]

Wonder what the hesitation with NamUs is?