CA CA - Sonoma Co., WhtFem, ~19, red hair, contact lenses, hog-tied, Jul'79

[theshadow45]

More about the Hitchhiker Murders here: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?302778-CA-Santa-Rosa-Hitchhiker-Murders-7-girls-young-women-1972-1973&highlight=paula+pope.

 

[theshadow45]

why not?

I don't know. I do know that there have been attempts to convince her case manager to get her listed in NamUs since at least 2011.

 

[theshadow45]

Did you ever send this in for comparison?

There's a problem: Paula has DNA on file but no dentals. I believe that a dental chart was taken for this UID (which hopefully hasn't been misplaced in the meantime) but it's unlikely that she has DNA available as she died before it was commonplace.

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping.

 

[carbuff]

I find it amazing that this poor woman isn't listed anywhere.

 

[theshadow45]

I find it amazing that this poor woman isn't listed anywhere.

Same, she really needs to be entered somewhere.

 

[burblestein]

At 1510 hours on 2 July 1979, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office received a report that a human skeleton had been found near the 2000 block of Calistoga Road. The remains were spotted by hikers on the bank of a creek, down an embankment dropping off the road's summit between Santa Rosa and Calistoga.

As the aged bones were firmly embedded,a forensic anthropologist was called upon for their removal. He used his expertise to gather the bones. No clothing or shoes were found.This naturally marked the remains as belonging to a homicide victim.

Crime scene analysis revealed that the killer seemed to have begun descending a fire trail before flinging his victim down the bank. Not so incidentally, a previous Santa Rosa hitchhiking murder victim had been dumped only a hundred yards from the fire trail—Lori Lee Kursa. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...Lee-Kursa-13-Santa-Rosa-CA-ca-1-December-1972.

Calistoga Jane Doe had been hogtied like two of the previous Santa Rosa Hitchhike victims, Kim Wendy Allen http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...Kim-Wendy-Allen-19-Santa-Rosa-CA-4-March-1972 and Theresa Walsh http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...a-CA-26-December-1973&p=13684727#post13684727.Her remains were similar in size to a missing young woman purported to be another victim—Jeanette Kamahele http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...eannette-Kamahele-20-Santa-Rosa-25-April-1972.However, a check of dental records soon revealed that Jeannette had not been found.

One of the few forensic clues found was a hard contact lens. Because they were withdrawn from use in the mid-1970s, when soft contact lenses came on the market, it was believed that Calistoga Jane Doe had been murdered sometime between1972 and 1974.

In the end, it was discovered that she had been about 5 feet 5 inches tall, had reddish-brown hair, had a healed rib fracture, and been about 19 years old. That's pitifully sparse information.

Calistoga Jane Doe is usually regarded by LE as the eighth and last Santa Rosa Hitchhiker victim.

Sources: “Lost Coast Highway” by Gray George, pages 222 – 234

News clippings (apparently from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat):

8 July 1979: http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/articles/doe/bones_tell_tortured_tale_of_murder.pdf

11 July 1979: http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/articles/doe/skeleton_dental_charts_to_be_checked.pdf

 

[Mountain Mama]

I believe this area you describe is near where the Tubbs Fire recently began in Sonoma County, off Calistoga Road. The fire (unknown cause) begin on Sunday, Oct 9th 2017 and continues to 25,000 acres and counting.

 

[burblestein]

Thanks for catching the accidental duplication. I am adding a link back to the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ls-young-women-1972-1973&highlight=Hitchhiker

 

[LucyOso]

Thanks taramarie:

The contemporary newspaper clipping about the Jane Doe indicated that the remains had been there for about 5-7 years.

This would make Adrianne very unlikely.

The timeframe was based, in part, because the contact lenses were hard lenses. By 1979, soft lenses were in widespread use, and hard lenses had been out of style for about five years.

The victim also had a healed rib fracture.


So in summary, the details of this Jane Doe are as follows:

Gender: Female
Race: Caucasian
Age: About 19 years old
Height: Approx 5'3"
Hair: Reddish/Brown
Dominant Hand: Right
Approximate Date of death: 1972 to 1974
Clothing & Accessories: Contact Lenses
Physical Anomalies: Healed Rib Fracture

If she had an eye disorder, such as Keratoconus, she might wear hard lenses beyond the time period of the masses. My 28 years old cousin wears hard contacts correctively and has since she was a young teen. They are still used to maintain the shape of the cornea in certain cases. Hopefully, these types of eye conditions have been looked at as one way to rule out missing people.

 

[carbuff]

If she had an eye disorder, such as Keratoconus, she might wear hard lenses beyond the time period of the masses. My 28 years old cousin wears hard contacts correctively and has since she was a young teen. They are still used to maintain the shape of the cornea in certain cases. Hopefully, these types of eye conditions have been looked at as one way to rule out missing people.

The wording is a bit odd: "Because they were withdrawn from use in the mid-1970s, when soft contact lenses came on the market..."

I wonder if they meant the particular brand she was wearing was specifically discontinued?

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[wordsick]

This hard contact issue has come up in other cases so I looked it up a while back. As I understand it, the hard contacts that are in use today are gas-permeable and introduced in 1979. Before that, in the early to mid seventies, hard contacts were taken off the market after the invention of soft contacts. So there is a window of several years in the 70s when hard contacts were not available.

 

[carbuff]

This hard contact issue has come up in other cases so I looked it up a while back. As I understand it, the hard contacts that are in use today are gas-permeable and introduced in 1979. Before that, in the early to mid seventies, hard contacts were taken off the market after the invention of soft contacts. So there is a window of several years in the 70s when hard contacts were not available.

Thank you for that information. I had asked my ophthalmologist about it previously and he thought hard contacts had always been available because they're needed after certain kinds of cataract and corneal surgery, but it's possible those were not on the general market.

In any case, it sounds like the pre-1975 date for this victim is reliable.

 

[burblestein]

Linda Lee Lovell and Steven Packard were last seen along the coastal Highway 1 corridor rather than the inland 101. Just saying, in case it affects any thinking on the subject....

Anyhow, FWIW, Linda's WS thread is at http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-25-Westport-June-1974&highlight=linda+lovell

Steve's is at http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-18-Westport-June-1974&highlight=linda+lovell

Linda and Steve: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-Westport-10-June-1974&highlight=linda+lovell

 

[Odyssey]

New MP added

Very little info but seems to fit SRHM profile

https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/peggy-ann-reed

 

[FiveFelines]

New MP added

Very little info but seems to fit SRHM profile

https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/peggy-ann-reed

She looks very promising.

 

[taramarie]

Peggy looks like a strong possible, and I think her hair appears reddish-brown like the UID. Timing, location, and height is spot on. It also states she wears glasses which aligns with the contact lenses find. Her age is off - Peggy was 15 and the UID is estimated to have been 19. That’s a red flag, but I’ve seen age estimates off. One big potential problem though... it looks like Peggy doesn’t have dentals, and if I’m not mistaken, I think that’s the only existing identifier for the UID.


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[Otterly]

Peggy looks like a strong possible, and I think her hair appears reddish-brown like the UID. Timing, location, and height is spot on. It also states she wears glasses which aligns with the contact lenses find. Her age is off - Peggy was 15 and the UID is estimated to have been 19. That’s a red flag, but I’ve seen age estimates off. One big potential problem though... it looks like Peggy doesn’t have dentals, and if I’m not mistaken, I think that’s the only existing identifier for the UID.

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According to the death certificate, the UID was buried in Chapel of the Chimes Cemetery in Santa Rosa.If this is correct, it may be possible to get DNA from her remains and compare them to Peggy (apparently her mother is still alive, so she is able to provide a sample).
http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/docs/dcs/doe_dc.pdf

 

[burblestein]

While the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker victims were murdered along Highway 101, Linda Lovell and Steven Packard disappeared while in transit on a different north-south route over on the coast, Highway 1. Details for Linda can be seen at: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...Lovell-25-Westport-June-1974&highlight=Lovell

This thread covers their joint activities: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ard-18-Westport-10-June-1974&highlight=Lovell

Steven's individual thread is at: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...t-Mendocino-Cty-June-1974&highlight=Mendocino

For Linda to have become a Santa Rosa victim, either she took a round-about path to hitch from Highway 1 over to the adjacent Highway 101, or the Santa Rosa killer roamed far afield. Also, Linda was 25 years old and looked it--scarcely consonant with the SRHHM's tastes.

 

[Romulus]

NamUs UP 17490

https://www.identifyus.org/en/cases/17490

Unidentified Body/Remains (White Female)
Found July 2, 1979 in Sonoma County, CA
Body Condition: Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton
Probable year of death: 1976 to 1976
Estimated postmortem interval: 3 years

Vital Statistics
Estimated age: 16-21 (Late Teen/Young Adult)
Approximate Height: 63 estimate
Approximate Weight: cannot estimate
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Unknown
Scars and marks: Broken arm

Clothing & Accessories
Clothing: unknown
Jewerly: unknown
Footwear: nothing
Accessories: found near the victim was a hard contact lens inside a metal candy tin with cherries on it

Identifiers
Fingerprints: Fingerprint information is not available
Dentals: Dental information / charting is available and entered
DNA: Sample is currently not available

Case History: On 07/02/1979, a hiker located the skeletal remains at the bottom of a canyon near a body of water.