Reconstructions of the victim by NCMEC and Barbara Martin-Bradley; suspect Taylor Morris Teaford and age progression. To view a postmortem photograph, please click here.
Date of Discovery: October 2, 1969
Location of Discovery: Oakland, Alameda County, California
Estimated Date of Death: Hours prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Homicide by beating and strangulation
Physical Description
Estimated Age: 16-25 years old
Race: White
Sex: Female
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 105 lbs.
Hair Color: Dark brown, short to medium length.
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Indefinite areas of scarring of her right forearm just below the elbow and of the right hand. Needle mark scarring inside both elbows, indicating drug abuse. Slim build.
Identifiers
Dentals: Not available. Partial commercially made denture for an old extraction of a front upper central incisor tooth. The partial denture had been repaired several times.
Fingerprints: Available.
DNA: Not availabl.e
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Wearing a white knit dress with a zipper in the back, black bra, and blue panties. Additional clothing included a white sweater, white knee-height leather boots, multi-colored (pink, green, orange, purple) bell-bottom jeans, multi-colored (yellow, grey, orange, brown, black) blouse, and a multi-colored (black, white, orange, yellow striped) miniskirt dress.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Circumstances of Discovery
The victim entered room 15 of the St. Louis Hotel, 539 7th St., Oakland, California, which is now the site of the North Alameda County Jail, in Oakland with a man named Taylor Morris Teaford on October 2, 1969. He beat her and then strangled her with an article of her own clothing.
A 1971 news article states that the victim was a prostitute and a victim of a serial killer nick-named "the crewcut killer." It is not confirmed if Teaford and the crewcut killer are one and the same.
There is a current warrant out for Taylor Morris Teaford's arrest for murder. He may go by the name "Melvin Teaford", he is Native American, originally from North Fork, California, DOB June 18, 1935, height 6'0", weight 170-190 lbs., black hair, brown eyes, and a crippled right leg and noticeable limp. While crippled, he is a strong walker and was known to regularly lift weights. He is skilled at hunting and fishing. He reportedly drinks heavily and may abuse narcotics. He is proficient with firearms of all types and has a "vicious and explosive temper." Additionally, he has a criminal record that began when he was 8-years-old and includes burglary and rape convictions. Allegedly he murdered his own grandmother and shot his own sister. At one time he was on the FBI's Most Wanted list, but for different charges than listed above.
Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Alameda County Coroner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Patricia Wilson
Agency Phone Number: 510-268-7300 or 510 268-7270
Agency E-Mail: [email protected]
Agency Case Number: 69-2266
Agency Name: Oakland Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Unknown
Agency Phone Number: 510-238-3821
Agency E-Mail: [email protected]
Agency Case Number: 6966670
NCIC Case Number: U765653912
NamUs Case Number: 10945
NCMEC Case Number: 1184565
Information Source(s)
NamUs
NCMEC
Oakland Police Department
The Oakland Tribune News Archive (9/19/71, pg 29)
Fugitive.com
333UFCA
Last Updated: 2/4/2020
