CA CA - Cindy Mellin, 19, Ventura, 20 Jan 1970

[Lavender Moon]

Bumping for Cindy Lee Mellin; despite the distance between Hayward and Ventura , I think it's possible that Cindy and Christine Marie Eastin met their fates at the hands of the same monster.

 

[scriptgirl]

I wonder of the original case files for this are still around and if the cops are still looking into it

 

[Lavender Moon]

I wonder of the original case files for this are still around and if the cops are still looking into it

I believe I've read that state law requires a periodic cursory review of cold cases. If this is so, the files for Cindy's case should still be available.

 

[scriptgirl]

I don't think they are available. Cindy's dad always felt the cops muffed up the case. Does she have any family left?

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

A person who would do something to a potential victim's car in a parking lot so they might later try and approach them would probably have to first spend time learning whose car it was (so they would choose the vehicle of a woman alone as opposed to a group of people riding together, etc.). As such, they may have had to spend some time in the vicinity ahead of time. This may make it more likely that they may have been seen in the hours and even days beforehand by people who work or shop in that area, picked up on security cameras, etc.

 

[Lavender Moon]

A person who would do something to a potential victim's car in a parking lot so they might later try and approach them would probably have to first spend time learning whose car it was (so they would choose the vehicle of a woman alone as opposed to a group of people riding together, etc.). As such, they may have had to spend some time in the vicinity ahead of time. This may make it more likely that they may have been seen in the hours and even days beforehand by people who work or shop in that area, picked up on security cameras, etc.

I wonder how extensively her coworkers were interviewed. Were security cameras commonly present in stores in 1970? The critter that abducted her probably stalked her long enough to be able to identify her car and also to know what time her work shift ended. Cindy may have trusted him if she'd waited on him in the store. Sweet, vulnerable and trusting; that's how she appears to me in her photo.

 

[scriptgirl]

I don't think they had security cameras back then and if they did, that footage is long gone. The man who tampered with Cindy's car did not do this randomly. He had to have his eye on her.

I also want to know more about these coworkers.

 

[Lavender Moon]

Apparently, the early surveillance systems circa 1970 did not store images and required constant human monitoring. So if the store Cindy worked in had some kind of closed circuit tv system, LE would have had to question the person doing the monitoring and rely on his/her memory of activity in the store. I wonder if this occurred. The only thing we seem to know of Cindy's coworkers is that some of them saw a man changing her tire and assumed that man was her father.

 

[Lavender Moon]

Time to bump for Cindy Lee Mellin.

 

[scriptgirl]

This facebook page has a lot of interesting comments on it re Cindy's case-some comments were made by people who knew and worked with her. Scroll down halfway to the post made by PB and you will see it:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=cindy lee mellin

 

[Markybug]

Bump for cindy.

 

[Laughing]

This facebook page has a lot of interesting comments on it re Cindy's case-some comments were made by people who knew and worked with her. Scroll down halfway to the post made by PB and you will see it:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=cindy lee mellin

Link doesn't work for me?

 

[scriptgirl]

The link works for me, try it again. If it still doesn't work, go to Facebook and type Cindy's name. This post will crop up:


‎"Paula Bearden‎ to I grew up in Ventura California"

Read the comments under that post.

 

[Markybug]

Bumping for cindy.

 

[Lavender Moon]

Bumping for Cindy

 

[Richard]

A person who would do something to a potential victim's car in a parking lot so they might later try and approach them would probably have to first spend time learning whose car it was (so they would choose the vehicle of a woman alone as opposed to a group of people riding together, etc.). As such, they may have had to spend some time in the vicinity ahead of time. This may make it more likely that they may have been seen in the hours and even days beforehand by people who work or shop in that area, picked up on security cameras, etc.

It is possible that the perpetrator actually knew Cindy and knew her car and specifically targeted her. However, it is also possible that she was a victim of opportunity, sighted by the perpetrator parking and exiting her car in the parking lot. He could have simply punctured the tire and then cruised around until he saw her again at her car. He might have offered to help her and then abducted her when he felt the time was right.

This occurred in the same time frame and general geographic area of the known Zodiac killings, and it does seem similar to the Kathy Johns case in which a man (believed by many to have been Zodiac) pulled her over and offered to tighten the lug nuts on her "loose" wheel, then abducting her and her baby when the wheel fell off the car (he had actually loosened the nuts).

A major difference between this case and those of known Zodiac cases is that Cindy remains missing, whereas Zodiac's known victims were all found where he attacked them.

 

[hayaletcatcher]

Bumping for Cindy

 

[scriptgirl]

Cindy, where are you? Come home, soon.

 

[Markybug]

Bump for cindy. Missing longer than i have been alive

 

[Ozoner]

It is possible that the perpetrator actually knew Cindy and knew her car and specifically targeted her. However, it is also possible that she was a victim of opportunity, sighted by the perpetrator parking and exiting her car in the parking lot. He could have simply punctured the tire and then cruised around until he saw her again at her car. He might have offered to help her and then abducted her when he felt the time was right.

This occurred in the same time frame and general geographic area of the known Zodiac killings, and it does seem similar to the Kathy Johns case in which a man (believed by many to have been Zodiac) pulled her over and offered to tighten the lug nuts on her "loose" wheel, then abducting her and her baby when the wheel fell off the car (he had actually loosened the nuts).

A major difference between this case and those of known Zodiac cases is that Cindy remains missing, whereas Zodiac's known victims were all found where he attacked them.

The ruse was identical to the one used to abduct Arrilla Webb-Vaul in Louisiana in 1979.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...rish-15-March-1979&highlight=Arilla webb vaul