Girl with dark long hair and fur coat.

[JeannieC]

I have called in her name to Patrick Ellis of the Huntington Beach PD, and he agreed that there was a strong resemblance. However, I have no idea how much headway he has made in his own investigation. As for my personal efforts, I've made no headway at all. I can find nothing on her. There are several people in Facebook and on the people finder sites, but none who appear to be the same woman. As I mentioned the other day, I started contacting persons over 55 years old with Lower Manhattan addresses and with the same surname, and so far none of the people I've contacted know her.

I am also up to 65 Facebook private messages sent to WIHS class of 70 alumni, and only seven replies, none from anyone who knew her. Unfortunately, people tend to ignore communications coming from people that they don't know, so the response rate on these PM's is very low.

I am using her initials WF because it is Websleuths policy not to reference by name people whose names are not part of the public record in connection to a case, and are not listed missing persons. If you want to know her name, PM me, and I will give it to you.



There are several sites where the photos are available. Here are a few links:

http://nancygrace.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/11/100-photos-found-in-serial-killers-locker/

http://surfcity-hb.org/government/departments/pd/crime_info/rodney_photo.cfm

http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-alcala-murders-pg,0,178235.photogallery



All of his known victims have been females. There are five in California for whom he has been convicted, and another in California whose murder has been linked to him, but he has not been charged. There are also two women in New York whose murders he will soon be tried for.

There are also a couple of severe beatings of a young girl and a young woman where he stopped short (or was interrupted) before he was able to kill them.

From what we know, there is no indication that he had accomplices.



No, this is the appropriate place to pose those questions.

I think it is great that you have been able to do this. I'm impressed and I mean that. I believe everyone of those women, girls need to be identified. They have family that has no idea what happened to them.

Most people don't look at the web sites searching for their children. Since this has been so long they have probably given up hope of ever finding them.

I imagine some parents are deceased. Others probably wouldn't even think to see if their child was among those killed or even associated with a serial killer.

I hope you hear something soon and if this girl is deceased I hope you can bring peace to her family.

Thanks

 

[ynotdivein]

Carl, have you tried tracking down people who may have worked in the front office at WIHS?

They may no longer work there but it's my experience that the loners and between-the-cracks kids sometimes have more memorable face to face time with attendance officers and admin staff than even with their classroom teachers or classmates.

 

[CarlK90245]

Carl, have you tried tracking down people who may have worked in the front office at WIHS?

They may no longer work there but it's my experience that the loners and between-the-cracks kids sometimes have more memorable face to face time with attendance officers and admin staff than even with their classroom teachers or classmates.

No I haven't, but I'm not sure how I would find someone who worked in the front office 40 years ago. I doubt that even the current admin employees would know.

And there are privacy rules that the school administration people must follow. So if a stranger such as myself called the school office and asked for info on a former student, I would probably be told that they cannot reveal that info.

It happened on one other occasion when I contacted a high school front office inquiring about a former student. They told me that they cannot disclose info on their former students.

 

[ynotdivein]

Many yearbooks include the admin/front office staff. But you're right, it's hard to convince a dubious audience that you have good motive to be inquiring...

 

[CarlK90245]

Lookie what I found!!!

Y'all S'ppose?

I found the photo in the Washington Irving H.S. (NYC) 1970 yearbook. Her initials are WF.

She might not have as much cheekbone as the girl in the Alcala photo. But everything else looks spot-on. She even has the same demure facial expression.

Washington Irving HS is less than a mile from NYU, where Alcala was a film school student from 1968 to 1971.

Back in December, a Colorado detective with whom I had communicated on a different subject offered to me that if I needed any help with research on any other cases that I was working on, he would help me out.

So I e-mailed him, asking if he could find anything out about WF.

Today, he got back to his office from vacation, and left me a voicemail message indicating that he contacted the Principal at Washington Irving High School to see if they could come up with any info on WF, such as a DOB. The Principal said that he will look into it and get back with him.

He also contacted a woman in New York with the same name, and she told him that she wasn't the same WF. This is probably the same WF that I contacted last year.

But I'm glad to see that we are at least getting someone from WIHS on the case. Hopefully it will lead to something. :crossfingers:

 

[norest4thewicked]

Back in December, a Colorado detective with whom I had communicated on a different subject offered to me that if I needed any help with research on any other cases that I was working on, he would help me out.

So I e-mailed him, asking if he could find anything out about WF.

Today, he got back to his office from vacation, and left me a voicemail message indicating that he contacted the Principal at Washington Irving High School to see if they could come up with any info on WF, such as a DOB. The Principal said that he will look into it and get back with him.

He also contacted a woman in New York with the same name, and she told him that she wasn't the same WF. This is probably the same WF that I contacted last year.

But I'm glad to see that we are at least getting someone from WIHS on the case. Hopefully it will lead to something. :crossfingers:

That really is wonderful news! This girl is one of the 3 girls from the photos that I am fairly certain either were assaulted/raped by Alcala, if not worse. Please keep us posted and thank you for all of your persistence. I hope it will pay off!

 

[ERRN1313]

I feel so sure that is the same girl. So happy to hear this news and great work!

 

[CarlK90245]

Lookie what I found!!!

Y'all S'ppose?

I found the photo in the Washington Irving H.S. (NYC) 1970 yearbook. Her initials are WF.

She might not have as much cheekbone as the girl in the Alcala photo. But everything else looks spot-on. She even has the same demure facial expression.

Washington Irving HS is less than a mile from NYU, where Alcala was a film school student from 1968 to 1971.

Back in December, a Colorado detective with whom I had communicated on a different subject offered to me that if I needed any help with research on any other cases that I was working on, he would help me out.

So I e-mailed him, asking if he could find anything out about WF.

Today, he got back to his office from vacation, and left me a voicemail message indicating that he contacted the Principal at Washington Irving High School to see if they could come up with any info on WF, such as a DOB. The Principal said that he will look into it and get back with him.

He also contacted a woman in New York with the same name, and she told him that she wasn't the same WF. This is probably the same WF that I contacted last year.

But I'm glad to see that we are at least getting someone from WIHS on the case. Hopefully it will lead to something. :crossfingers:

I spoke with the Colorado detective again today. He says that he was able to get WF's DOB from Washington Irving HS, and he was able to find her current contact info. However, he says that they have been playing phone-tag and he hasn't had the opportunity to talk to her yet.

When he does get ahold of her, he will e-mail the Alcala photo to her and verify if she is in fact the woman in the Alcala photo.

He was reluctant to give me her DOB because of the fact that Rodney Alcala is still pending trial, and he doesn't want to compromise any info that he might learn from talking to her. But he has been in contact with the authorities who are working on the Alcala case, and he will pass on to them any info that he finds out.

But it appears that WF is still alive.

 

[norest4thewicked]

I spoke with the Colorado detective again today. He says that he was able to get WF's DOB from Washington Irving HS, and he was able to find her current contact info. However, he says that they have been playing phone-tag and he hasn't had the opportunity to talk to her yet.

He was reluctant to give me her DOB because of the fact that Rodney Alcala is still pending trial, and he doesn't want to compromise any info that he might learn from talking to her. But he has been in contact with the authorities who are working on the Alcala case, and he will pass on to them any info that he finds out.

But it appears that WF is still alive.

That's wonderful news! I sincerely hope that this girl and WF are the same person. Can't wait to hear! This is very exciting news Carl and I appreciate so much your following up on this!:woohoo:

 

[jackornaught]

So glad to hear. It will interesting to hear how this pans out.

 

[cocomod]

Carl, you are an angel for the UID!! I am so impressed that you found this picture, and I think that she very well may be the person in this photo. I would be extremely surprised if this is not the same woman! I will await your next news on this interesting case. Thank you Carl for keeping us updated on your progress.

 

[sfbaynancydrew]

I actually came back to WS after being away to specifically see if there is any new info on this lead. I just looks so hopeful.

Carl, wtg, and please keep us updated! So glad the PI found out more. Hope it's the right WF.

 

[CarlK90245]

I contacted the Colorado detective again this morning, to see if he was ever able to reach WF. He says that he had still not been able to reach her, and he had gotten busy on other matters. He says that once he completes a current project that he is involved with, he will try again.

Also, today I received a belated response from one of the WIHS Class of 70 alumni to whom I sent Facebook private messages.

She indicated that she does not remember WF by name. However, she made the following interesting comment:

There was girl who if memory serves me correctly looked similar to picture you sent, but I will say it was a common look she had of the era, in any event, there was a girl, who one day did not return to school, and there were rumors that she had died with no explanation, I think she was from Brooklyn. But if it were the same person, I doubt that they would have put her picture in the year book. I can't tell you what year that happened. So I am sure that it does not help you, but I did think of that girl when I read your message, because of the mystery surrounding her and her not returning to school.

That's quite interesting.

Even if this is not WF who she is talking about, given the timeframe and proximity to Rodney Alcala's known whereabouts, it is quite possible that her disappearance might be related.

And BTW, I don't think it is nessarily the case that they would exclude her photo from the yearbook.

 

[norest4thewicked]

I contacted the Colorado detective again this morning, to see if he was ever able to reach WF. He says that he had still not been able to reach her, and he had gotten busy on other matters. He says that once he completes a current project that he is involved with, he will try again.

Also, today I received a belated response from one of the WIHS Class of 70 alumni to whom I sent Facebook private messages.

She indicated that she does not remember WF by name. However, she made the following interesting comment:

There was girl who if memory serves me correctly looked similar to picture you sent, but I will say it was a common look she had of the era, in any event, there was a girl, who one day did not return to school, and there were rumors that she had died with no explanation, I think she was from Brooklyn. But if it were the same person, I doubt that they would have put her picture in the year book. I can't tell you what year that happened. So I am sure that it does not help you, but I did think of that girl when I read your message, because of the mystery surrounding her and her not returning to school.

That's quite interesting.

Even if this is not WF who she is talking about, given the timeframe and proximity to Rodney Alcala's known whereabouts, it is quite possible that her disappearance might be related.

And BTW, I don't think it is nessarily the case that they would exclude her photo from the yearbook.

Wow! That detective is one busy guy! At least he said he would do it next!

The comment from the WIHS member is REALLY interesting! It sure does give me pause for sure. I have the same thoughts you do, Carl. A lot of coincidence for sure. I am excited to hear what next is discovered. I have been working so hard on the California people that I haven't gotten a chance to look at NY yet, but I suspect there ARE more victims besides Cornelia Crilley and Ellen Hover. I also think that New Hampshire has to have some as well. But, I guess we will just have to see.

Lastly, I also agree that they probably wouldn't have excluded her from the yearbook. However, what my yearbook did with the two kids who died that previous year is make a memorial page for them. But, I'm sure that was not a uniform act.

Thanks so much for all of your hard and committed work!

 

[CarlK90245]

...

Lastly, I also agree that they probably wouldn't have excluded her from the yearbook. However, what my yearbook did with the two kids who died that previous year is make a memorial page for them. But, I'm sure that was not a uniform act.
...

When I was in high school, there were several deaths of classmates whose photos were still included in the yearbook, but for whom there was no memorial page.

A couple of years after I graduated, a kid who grew up across the street from me became ill and passed away after traveling to Guaymas, Mexico with the High School band. The yearbook for that year included a memorial page for him.

But the bottom line is that you cannot presume that a deceased student will get any special recognition (or exclusion) in the high school yearbook.

 

[Truman]

Hi Carl - Just wanted to let you know that I check this thread often, as I'm sure lots of others do! Thank you for your dedication...and please be sure to keep us posted if you hear anything. Although I can't imagine I'd be able to find anything the investigator couldn't, if you're interested in a fresh pair of eyes for sleuthing, let me know.

 

[xlurker]

Has Pamela Sue Hobley been looked at as a possible match to this girl.

 

[CarlK90245]

Has Pamela Sue Hobley been looked at as a possible match to this girl.

Pamela Sue does look similar, but I'm pretty sure that we've got this one figured out.

 

[xlurker]

I was looking at missing persons and saw that Pamela was wearing a white fur coat when she went missing. That made me want to go back and look at this photo and I really thought there was a likeness. I spent way too much time looking at these photos for years, then stopped for a while and really don't need to get started back at it. I hope you do have this one figured out.

 

[cocomod]

Carl - any news?