CA - Unidentified & possible missing victims of Randy Kraft, 1971-1983

[carbuff]

Re: the "Hawth Off Head" notation, I am thinking that "Hawth" is either the city of Hawthorne, or Hawthorne Blvd, which stretches from Inglewood to the cliffs at the end of the Palos Verdes Peninsula overlooking the ocean. Hawthorne Blvd is a major thoroughfare through that portion of Los Angeles County.

It looks to me like perhaps he picked up someone either in Hawthorne, or on Hawthorne Blvd, and decapitated him.

Threw the remains off a cliff at the end of Hawthorne Blvd? Or is New England the only place that calls cliffs "heads"? I guess that would be a bit off his normal disposal means, too.

 

[carbuff]

Re: the two 1982 dates in the middle of the 1970's murders: was that the date of the murder? Or was that just the date when the body was found, several years later?

 

[Milyandel]

Re: the two 1982 dates in the middle of the 1970's murders: was that the date of the murder? Or was that just the date when the body was found, several years later?

Both of those victims were found together the 29th of July, but there seems to be some confusion about the year. LA Times article has got 1982 but the crime library article seems to have 1981. Anyway, it seems both had been missing for some weeks, but definitely not years - their families had been looking for them.

 

[Milyandel]

Threw the remains off a cliff at the end of Hawthorne Blvd? Or is New England the only place that calls cliffs "heads"? I guess that would be a bit off his normal disposal means, too.

I wonder if the word "head" has the same (so far unknown) meaning here as in (according to the LA Times article) the entry #53, PORTLAND HEAD? The victim was identified as Brian Harold Witcher, last seen in Portland, Oregon. But as the article says, "Prosecutors so far have not explained the "Head" connection on the Kraft list."

 

[CarlK90245]

This MP was just listed yesterday in NamUs, but there is no photo.

Paul Fuchs
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/9440/1

He is thought to be a possible victim of Randy Kraft.

I found Paul Fuchs' Junior photo in the 1974 Woodrow Wilson High School Yearbook.

His Senior Photo is not in the 1975 book.

 

[Ambercat]

It says that this UID was buried on Ocean Blvd.

Depending on the location on Ocean Blvd, this could correspond to the "LB MARINA" notation.

There is more than one Marina in Long Beach, but the Long Beach Shoreline Marina is adjacent to the intersection of Shoreline Drive and Ocean Blvd.

Ocean Blvd Long Beach CA map - Google Maps

In 1975, Randy Kraft lived at 1727 ½ Ocean Blvd. This same year that he killed Keith Crotwell and dumped his head off of the jetty at 72nd Place (Ocean Blvd. ends at 72nd Place). I think he dumped the rest of his body somewhere in Orange County. Crime library states that his head was found at a marina in Long Beach. I don’t know if there was a marina at Ocean Blvd and 72nd Pl in 1975. Now, there’s a yacht club on the bay side of the street and a park and parking lot on the ocean side.

I’m not sure if the marina at Shoreline Dr and Ocean Blvd was there during the time that Kraft was active or if that area was part of the Pike amusement park. They have done a lot of changes to that part of town since the early 1980s. There’s a big marina (Alamitos Bay Marina) near the 76 Gas Station (at 2nd and Pacific Coast Hwy) where a still unidentified man’s body was found on August 29, 1979. Marina Pacifica (which is more or less across 2nd St from the 76 Gas Station), used to advertise its condominium complex as “Marina Pacifica at the Long Beach Marina” when they first built it around 1974. A lot of their letterheads/paperwork still refer to it as that. The 76 station was torn down in the 1990s and is part of a parking lot for the adjacent hotel. Sometimes they sell strawberries and Christmas trees in that spot.

 

[Ambercat]

I wonder if the word "head" has the same (so far unknown) meaning here as in (according to the LA Times article) the entry #53, PORTLAND HEAD? The victim was identified as Brian Harold Witcher, last seen in Portland, Oregon. But as the article says, "Prosecutors so far have not explained the "Head" connection on the Kraft list."

I read that it had to do with his drug use.

Could Arturo Ramos Marquez who was found deceased on March 3, 1977 near Palm Springs and I-10 be "Oxnard" on Kraft's list? He was from Oxnard and when he was found, the only thing on his body was his Oxnard High School class ring. Or was he murdered by Patrick Kearney?

 

[Ambercat]

I came across scans of two articles from the Long Beach Press Telegram/Independent asking for information about John Doe Wilmington, John Doe Hawth off Head, the John Doe later identified as Kevin Clark Bailey (Airplane Hill), and Edward Moore.

http://unsolveditn.blogspot.com/2009/09/john-doe-ca-1973.html

 

[zinc]

When checking my notes again I found I've got a small note about Ronald David Kruska [...] He had a tattoo of Japanese lettering below a dragon, so he MIGHT have been interested in Japan and been talking about it.

I was wondering if anyone thought that Sean Kenneth Phelan could be victim of Randy Kraft. He was in the Navy at one point (Navy White?) and was known to hitchhike. He was last seen in Tustin (located in Orange County, CA).

I'm much less timely than the rest of you in keeping up with threads here but when this thread popped back up in February, I collected a few UIDs and MPs from Doe Network whom I wondered about re: Randy Steven Kraft.

The first two in my file are Ronald David Kruska (for the Japanese tattoo) and Sean Kenneth [Getty] Phelan (for the timing, location, and hitchhiking habit):

Ronald David Kruska
Missing since October 10, 1978 from Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kruska_ronald.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/749dmca.html
http://dojapp.doj.ca.gov/missing/detail.asp?FCN=2328816730657
Note: Some believe Ronald David Kruska to be the UID discussed in this thread, Doe Network case file 772UMCA:
CA CA - Sierra Madre - WhtMale Skeletal w/#44 Football Jersey - Jan'81 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


Sean Kenneth Phelan
Missing since October 1, 1981 from Tustin, Orange County, California
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/phelan_sean.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1019dmca.html
http://dojapp.doj.ca.gov/missing/detail.asp?FCN=3739221000034


Here are two other MPs I wondered about:

Richard Frank Plechner
Missing since July 25, 1975 from Huntington Beach, Orange County, California
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/plechner_richard.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3535dmca.html
http://dojapp.doj.ca.gov/missing/detail.asp?FCN=3830429300258

Dale Leslie McKay
Missing since December 24, 1978 from Fountain Valley, Orange County, California
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mckay_dale.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/4240dmca.html
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/5314/ (but note has errors)
Note: CarlK90245 submitted Dale Leslie McKay as a possible match to the UID discussed in this thread, Doe Network case file 336UMWA:
WA WA - Arlington (Snohomish County) - WhtMale Skeletal Near Pilchuck Creek - Aug'80 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

 

[zinc]

On the UID side of things, it looks like I saved at least this one (there may be more):

The Doe Network: Hot Case 542 / NamUs UP #7648
Unidentified White Male
The victim was discovered on September 14, 1974 in Laguna Hills, Orange County, California
[Note: Coroner site says roadside area 0.3 miles south of Calle Corta and 0.4 miles west of El Toro Road]
http://doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase542.html
https://identifyus.org/cases/7648
http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/Sheriff...roner/Unidentified Dead/John DOES/74-03389-GR (currently no postmortem photo/sketch; fingerprint and dentals scanned)

From the NamUs entry: "Nude male found along roadside in El Toro. Valium and ethanol intoxication."

Until at least 2008 this UID's cause of death was listed on the Orange County Sheriff's Department site as HOMICIDE. The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner link above now lists the cause of death as ACCIDENT, I assume due to the Valium-ethanol intoxication. (Doe Network still lists it as homicide.)

However, although combining Valium and alcohol recreationally would not have been uncommon, Randy Kraft is known to have drugged some of his other victims with the same combination.

Prior to the UID's death on or around September 11, 1974, the most recent known Randy Kraft victim would have been Gary Wayne Cordova ("BIG SUR", found August 12, 1974). From truTV.com Crime Library: Randy Kraft (emphasis mine),

Oil field workers in Long Beach found the next victim, on Aug. 3, 1974. Manually strangled and left fully clothed, he was identified as 25-year-old Thomas Paxton Lee, a local waiter and sometime gay hustler last seen alive at a Wilmington bar the previous night. Nine days later, 23-year-old Gary Wayne Cordova was found, fully clothed but barefoot, beside a highway in southern Orange County. Death was caused by an overdose of alcohol and Valium. Lacking any of the killer's trademark mutilations, neither victim was initially connected to the murder series.

Edited to add: A quick runthrough of NamUs, Doe Network, Charley Project, and the California DOJ missing persons search site did not turn up much with regards to realistic MP matches.

 

[carbuff]

Would it be possible to get a separate forum for Randy Kraft's victims? I'm going absolutely crazy here trying to figure out which victim might be tied to which Kraft ID and UID. Being able to have individual threads would make it a lot easier.

 

[Ambercat]

On the UID side of things, it looks like I saved at least this one (there may be more):

The Doe Network: Hot Case 542 / NamUs UP #7648
Unidentified White Male
The victim was discovered on September 14, 1974 in Laguna Hills, Orange County, California
[Note: Coroner site says roadside area 0.3 miles south of Calle Corta and 0.4 miles west of El Toro Road]
http://doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase542.html
https://identifyus.org/cases/7648
http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/Sheriff...roner/Unidentified Dead/John DOES/74-03389-GR (currently no postmortem photo/sketch; fingerprint and dentals scanned)

From the NamUs entry: "Nude male found along roadside in El Toro. Valium and ethanol intoxication."

Until at least 2008 this UID's cause of death was listed on the Orange County Sheriff's Department site as HOMICIDE. The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner link above now lists the cause of death as ACCIDENT, I assume due to the Valium-ethanol intoxication. (Doe Network still lists it as homicide.)

However, although combining Valium and alcohol recreationally would not have been uncommon, Randy Kraft is known to have drugged some of his other victims with the same combination.

Prior to the UID's death on or around September 11, 1974, the most recent known Randy Kraft victim would have been Gary Wayne Cordova ("BIG SUR", found August 12, 1974). From truTV.com Crime Library: Randy Kraft (emphasis mine),


Edited to add: A quick runthrough of NamUs, Doe Network, Charley Project, and the California DOJ missing persons search site did not turn up much with regards to realistic MP matches.

Gary Wayne Cordova wasn’t the only one of Randy Kraft’s victims that were not linked to the series of killings initially. In September 1980, the Orange County Coroner ruled Robert Wyatt Loggins Jr.’s death accidental (an overdose of alcohol and antihistamines) after he was found nude in a plastic garbage bag at the side of Paseo Sombra (which was at the time a Cul-de-sac in El Toro, CA. Later the street was lengthened and the area became Lake Forest(?)). When photos of Mr. Loggins were found in Randy Kraft’s home and car, his manner of death was changed to homicide. Quite a few of Randy Kraft’s victims were found nude.

Maybe the young man in Orange County who was found in Laguna Hills (Calle Corta and El Toro) in 1974 came from out of state or, instead of missing; the military listed him as AWOL.

I wonder if he was diabetic? Directly after Pier 2 which is supposed to refer to Thomas Paxton Lee is “Diabetic,” which has never been connected to any unsolved murder. Before Pier 2, is “LB Marina,” which is also not associated with any unsolved murder (at least according to the Los Angeles Times). Oddly enough, Marina Pacifica at the Long Beach Marina was built in1974; I wonder if the “LB Marina” listing is somehow tied to that. Craig Victor Jonaites was found on January 17, 1975 near the Golden Sails hotel, which is very close (almost directly across Pacific Coast Highway) from the retail half of Marina Pacifica. Also found really close to Marina Pacifica was John Doe #299 (76), the still unidentified young man found behind the 76 Gas Station at 2nd St and Pacific Coast Highway on August 29, 1979.

I’m not sure if there is some other factor (maybe that only Randy Kraft himself knows) other than chronology which is effecting how victims are organized on the list.

 

[Ambercat]

I was reading another thread IL IL - Unidentified John Wayne Gacy Victims - merged - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community and I was wondering if LE had excavated any of 824 Roswell after Randy Kraft was arrested. I know that they were never able to match the bloodstain on the passengers seat in his Toyota Celica to any known victim and was wondering if they had ever looked to see if any were buried at his house.

 

[Ambercat]

This is an article about the young man who was believed to be dismembered by Randy Kraft in 1973 and never identified. Unfortunately, despite being graphic, it doesn't really have much information that could lead to identifying the man. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uxozAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2TIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=3791,5262806&dq=dismembered+and+long-beach&hl=en

It is my understanding that after Randy Kraft was arrested in 1983, LE released some of the photos asking for the public's help identifying the men in the photos. Does anyone know more about this? Where all the men in the photos identified?

 

[Ambercat]

This might be a long shot, but I was wondering if Steve Losonczi http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/losonczi_steve.html could be Portland Eck or Elk http://doenetwork.org/cases/1281umor.html? I noticed a strong resemblance between the two and the heights and weights are very close.

 

[Ambercat]

I wonder if Alan Wayne Soper could have been a victim of Randy Kraft (or Patrick Kearney)? It sounds as though he had a tendency to hitchhike and his clothing and wallet were found in Southern California (Needles) after he disappeared.
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/soper_alan.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1531dmok.html

 

[Ambercat]

I'm wondering if David Arthur Stack was a victim of Randy Kraft. He hitchhiked out of Colorado (en Route to California) and was never heard from again in 1976.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/4309dmco.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/stack_david.html

I was also thinking about the Oil notation on Kraft's list and was wondering if that could be Mitchell Todd Hein because he worked in oil fields (he also worked rebuilding boats and as a car mechanic). I wonder what would cause him to just walk out of the hotel in Indio, CA?

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1083dmco.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hein_mitchell.html

 

[Ambercat]

Frank H. Johnston is also someone who caught my eye as a possible victim of Randy Kraft. His Doe Network listing says that he was hitchhiking from Alaska to California in 1980 and never heard from again.
www.doenetwork.org/cases/253dmak.html
Maybe not, because it seems that if he was, there would have been a notation about Alaska on the list.

I searched for young males who went missing while hitchhiking in route to California between 1973 and 1983. I came up with a few, but none so far for 1973 and 1979 when there an unidentified victim that they could be compared against (Wilmington, Hawth off Head, 76).

 

[CarlK90245]

Here's a newly added UID case in NamUs. I don't see it in DoeNet.

https://identifyus.org/cases/8841

Nov'74 - Late teens or 20-something white male left naked in a Long Beach apartment building carport. Heart Tattoo on Right Forearm, Skull w/"USMC" Tattoo on Left Forearm. Also has "Bud" and a cross tattooed on left arm.

Looks to me like a Randy Kraft victim.

ETA: Could be "Van Driveway", or "Marine Down".

 

[Ambercat]

Here's a newly added UID case in NamUs. I don't see it in DoeNet.

https://identifyus.org/cases/8841

Nov'74 - Late teens or 20-something white male left naked in a Long Beach apartment building carport. Heart Tattoo on Right Forearm, Skull w/"USMC" Tattoo on Left Forearm. Also has "Bud" and a cross tattooed on left arm.

Looks to me like a Randy Kraft victim.

ETA: Could be "Van Driveway", or "Marine Down".

7890 E. Spring Street, Long Beach, CA (the address he was found at) is right off the 605 Freeway and right on the border between Long Beach (Los Angeles County) and Los Alamitos (Orange County). It would be interesting to know if there was a van also parked in the carport. He could very well be “Marine Down.”