CA CA- Taft, WhtMale, 15-27, UP57039, skeletal remains in a reservoir, possible victim of Bill Bonin. November 1979.

[cheemsg]

This young man's complete remains were found in an empty reservoir, and were skeletal in nature. He either died earlier on in 1979, or in 1978.
He was between 5'1 and 5'6. He had brown hair. wore a light blue jacket with 'California' on the back and blue and brown cord pants.
He is considered to be a victim of Bill Bonin. (I do not recommend you research Bonin if you haven't heard of him, because yikes) But Bill was not convicted of this murder because of a lack of conclusive evidence.
The Press-Courier - Google News Archive Search

It appears he was buried in an unmarked grave.
Photos of John Doe - Find a Grave Memorial

Anyway, it's odd how little attention his case has gotten compared to other SK victims. Ie Swimsuit Boy is a huge deal, Randy Kraft's unidentified victims are quite well known and they were in the same state. This young man didn't even get a reconstruction and has faded into the back of NamUs.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[iamshadow21]

This young man's complete remains were found in an empty reservoir, and were skeletal in nature. He either died earlier on in 1979, or in 1978.
He was between 5'1 and 5'6. He had brown hair. wore a light blue jacket with 'California' on the back and blue and brown cord pants.
He is considered to be a victim of Bill Bonin. (I do not recommend you research Bonin if you haven't heard of him, because yikes) But Bill was not convicted of this murder because of a lack of conclusive evidence.
The Press-Courier - Google News Archive Search

It appears he was buried in an unmarked grave.
Photos of John Doe - Find a Grave Memorial

Anyway, it's odd how little attention his case has gotten compared to other SK victims. Ie Swimsuit Boy is a huge deal, Randy Kraft's unidentified victims are quite well known and they were in the same state. This young man didn't even get a reconstruction and has faded into the back of NamUs.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

I have not heard of Bill Bonin. I may investigate him (but I thank you for the warning!) because I like having context for things, especially as regards the unidentified.

It doesn't surprise me that a serial offender would have victims he was never charged in connection with. They only officially got Bundy for his crimes in Florida, IIRC. Ridgway they did, because he confessed in exchange for life. And even so, every now and then they find or identify another of his victims and have to tack on another count.

Good to know this Doe probably got a burial. It means there's the potential of exhumation to take samples for DNA, if they don't have his profile already. Also, like you said, though a recon wasn't done, if the skull was buried with the body, then the potential for a recon exists.

 

[cheemsg]

I have not heard of Bill Bonin. I may investigate him (but I thank you for the warning!) because I like having context for things, especially as regards the unidentified.

It doesn't surprise me that a serial offender would have victims he was never charged in connection with. They only officially got Bundy for his crimes in Florida, IIRC. Ridgway they did, because he confessed in exchange for life. And even so, every now and then they find or identify another of his victims and have to tack on another count.

Good to know this Doe probably got a burial. It means there's the potential of exhumation to take samples for DNA, if they don't have his profile already. Also, like you said, though a recon wasn't done, if the skull was buried with the body, then the potential for a recon exists.

The things Bill Bonin did to those people almost made me throw me up, it's really bad and his wikipedia page itself is quite graphic about it. Plus his victims were young, the oldest was 18, and the youngest 12.

Most interestingly, Bill was active at the same time as Randy Kraft and at the same area, they both killed males but their victim profile was different, Kraft preferred troubled men in their early 20s. But obviously they pretty much killed them in the same way so everyone thought it was still the same killer. (sidenote: At his trial Kraft wrote to his sister something like "they think I'm as evil as Bonin" which I just find super interesting)

This guy could very well have been a Kraft victim who was lumped into the Bonin investigation.

 

[iamshadow21]

The things Bill Bonin did to those people almost made me throw me up, it's really bad and his wikipedia page itself is quite graphic about it. Plus his victims were young, the oldest was 18, and the youngest 12.

Most interestingly, Bill was active at the same time as Randy Kraft and at the same area, they both killed males but their victim profile was different, Kraft preferred troubled men in their early 20s. But obviously they pretty much killed them in the same way so everyone thought it was still the same killer. (sidenote: At his trial Kraft wrote to his sister something like "they think I'm as evil as Bonin" which I just find super interesting)

This guy could very well have been a Kraft victim who was lumped into the Bonin investigation.

Kraft is another one I'm less familiar with, that I will read up on at some point. I only fairly recently read more than cursorily about Gacy and Corll, after I watched a documentary on them. I still haven't read about Dahmer. I try to pick my moments for reading about individuals of deep depravity. I like having the context for things, but I can't live in that headspace. I find myself thinking from the perspective of the victims and upsetting myself. Having nightmares.

Knowing that someone is a likely victim of a serial, and knowing how that serial operated, how they targeted their victims, who they chose and why, can be really useful in identifying someone, when you're looking at records of the missing and if you know, say, that they were gay, that they were a runaway, that they wore their hair a certain way, that they were a certain race, that they had a certain kind of build. You can potentially look at their Charley page, for example, and say, they look like this perp's type, based on the data given, or, if you're lucky, a photograph. It's not foolproof, because serials often have a preference but will hunt outside of it if someone else is convenient or vulnerable, but it's better than nothing.

 

[CarlK90245]

I remember Bonin well. He was operating on the Los Angeles area around the late 1970s - the same time frame as Kearney and Kraft. Whenever a body of a young man or boy would be found alongside a freeway, it would lead the news hour. The murders were attributed to the "Freeway Killer", but as it turned out, the "Freeway Killer" murders were the work of at least three killers (or groups of killers) working independently. And that doesn't even include the numerous SKs who targeted females around that time (e.g., Bittaker/Norris (Toolbox Killers), Bianchi/Buono (Hillside Strangler), Douglas Clark/Carol Bundy (Sunset Strip Killer)).

He was one of the few serial killers in California who were actually executed after being given the death penalty. Buono, Bittaker, Norris, and Carol Bundy all died in prison of natural causes, and Bianchi, Kearney, Kraft, and Clark are all still rotting in prison, but will probably also eventually die of natural causes.

By the way, I would bet the 1979 "Bell Boy" John Doe is probably a victim of Bonin, given that the 710 Freeway was the exact area that he primarily operated.

 

[iamshadow21]

I remember Bonin well. He was operating on the Los Angeles area around the late 1970s - the same time frame as Kearney and Kraft. Whenever a body of a young man or boy would be found alongside a freeway, it would lead the news hour. The murders were attributed to the "Freeway Killer", but as it turned out, the "Freeway Killer" murders were the work of at least three killers (or groups of killers) working independently. And that doesn't even include the numerous SKs who targeted females around that time (e.g., Bittaker/Norris (Toolbox Killers), Bianchi/Buono (Hillside Strangler), Douglas Clark/Carol Bundy (Sunset Strip Killer)).

He was one of the few serial killers in California who were actually executed after being given the death penalty. Buono, Bittaker, Norris, and Carol Bundy all died in prison of natural causes, and Bianchi, Kearney, Kraft, and Clark are all still rotting in prison, but will probably also eventually die of natural causes.

By the way, I would bet the 1979 "Bell Boy" John Doe is probably a victim of Bonin, given that the 710 Freeway was the exact area that he primarily operated.

An interesting phenomenon of the recent age is the realisation that sometimes serials that people think are several people are one (Golden State Killer, Eastern Suburbs Rapist in Sydney) and that some that are thought to be the same killer are multiple folks operating in the same area. It shows the line where behavioural analysis and other tools of looking purely at MO are great, but jurisdictional blindness and a perp operating in different ways at different times (think Richard Ramirez in his home invasions versus his abductions/sexual assaults of young children) can make it hard to work out without confessions or DNA to conclusively prove who did what. I read Maggie Nelson's two books recently about the death of her aunt, who was, until the 2000s, lumped in with the rest of the series of Michigan murders of young women, until DNA revealed it was someone completely different who killed her.

I'm not dissing BA or other tools of analysis based on behaviour, they're great. I just think it's good we live in a time when we have BOTH analysis of behaviour and analysis through scientific testing of evidence. Makes the likelihood of putting away the right person better odds.

 

[PuzzlinEvidence]

I think William Bonin was very likely responsible. Bonin admitted that he & his accomplice, Vernon Butts, abducted and murdered this John Doe around November 1, 1979. He said the victim was 18 years old and about 5'6".

It seems like the charge just didn't stick because there was a lack of corroborating evidence. Vernon Butts had confessed to several of the murders too. I'm not sure whether he acknowledged this one or not, but he committed suicide in January 1981, months before Bonin's trial.

I had a look on Namus but couldn't find anyone particularly close. Probably the nearest one to a match was Ronald Kruska (749DMCA - Ronald David Kruska), although given he went missing a year earlier I would think it's unlikely.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

@Caring1 Hey could you post the current list of NamUs exclusions for this John Doe? I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Caring1]

@Caring1 Hey could you post the current list of NamUs exclusions for this John Doe? I would greatly appreciate it.

0 Missing Person Exclusions

 

[Beccalicious]

Bumping

 

[beavt]

I think William Bonin was very likely responsible. Bonin admitted that he & his accomplice, Vernon Butts, abducted and murdered this John Doe around November 1, 1979. He said the victim was 18 years old and about 5'6".

It seems like the charge just didn't stick because there was a lack of corroborating evidence. Vernon Butts had confessed to several of the murders too. I'm not sure whether he acknowledged this one or not, but he committed suicide in January 1981, months before Bonin's trial.

I had a look on Namus but couldn't find anyone particularly close. Probably the nearest one to a match was Ronald Kruska (749DMCA - Ronald David Kruska), although given he went missing a year earlier I would think it's unlikely.

I don’t feel this is a Bonin victim, as his method of disposing of bodies was rather quick, haphazard, and in the general area of where he picked up these young men, with no effort to hide/conceal decedent. Mostly dumped on the side of the freeway or industrial parks. BUT, having said that, I think this Doe *could* be Ronald David Kruska. He left his home in Saugus on 10/10/1978 and was dropped off near I-5 to hitchhike. Hypothetically, catches a ride on I-5 North. (I’ve not personally hitchhiked, but I imagine as the miles roll on you’d be chatting and building a little rapport). For whatever reason, the driver has ill intentions. After about 90 miles, the driver exits I-5 N in Bakersfield. Maybe they have a meal. And instead of getting back on the interstate, the driver decides to head east to victimize Ronald. Makes sure they’ll be well enough out of town and ends up at the reservoir in Taft after about 20 miles. Possible?
Ronald was aged 18 when he disappeared and had a height of 5’7” and weight of 165, listed as having blonde hair (looks more sandy blonde) and blue eyes. Also, the Ocean Pacific (OP) brand of pullover UID was found wearing was very popular amongst the demographic I imagine Ronald would fall under. He wasn’t reported missing until February 1979.