Identified! CA - Watsonville - Off Hwy 129 - Fem 13-17 - UP14233 - Skeletal -Brown/Red hair - Mar'95 - Laura Ann O’Malley

New Posts

Learn more about this case on DNASolves.

I really wasn't expecting her identity to be released because her NamUs was removed over a year ago, but I'm glad we finally know her name and she was.

Given what we know about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, she ran away from home initially. In the note she left her family, she said she would only come home if her stepfather wasn't in the house anymore. The newspaper said this was because they "didn't get along" with him, but I wonder how true that actually is.

However, she never came home, even after her mother separated from him in c. 1976. All of her other siblings did. Either she was too far gone to learn of this or, more likely, she had already met her fate.

Rest in peace, Laura.
 
She was so young. It's heartbreaking that she never knew that her mom had split from her stepfather. Things might have ended differently. Sigh. This is a reminder that when we look at UIDs, we shouldn't assume it's someone who's from the area. She was a long way from home. Probably with intention, since she was running from a difficult family situation.
 
HmmMysterious said:
I would still like to know who this girl was.
Click to expand...
And now I know who she is thanks to @othram. Rest in peace Laura. It's unbelievable that her body was found so far from home which makes me think Laura hitch-hiked from NYC all the way to California. I also think that a truck driver might be responsible for her murder, though there were serial killers lurking in that state during the 70's. It's so sad that Laura never got the news that her mother broke up from her stepfather just after running away. Social media would've worked wonders here. Though it's possible Laura just wanted to start over somewhere else; California did attract a lot of runaways. I hope justice comes soon.
 
HmmMysterious said:
And now I know who she is thanks to @othram. Rest in peace Laura. It's unbelievable that her body was found so far from home which makes me think Laura hitch-hiked from NYC all the way to California. I also think that a truck driver might be responsible for her murder, though there were serial killers lurking in that state during the 70's. It's so sad that Laura never got the news that her mother broke up from her stepfather just after running away. Social media would've worked wonders here. Though it's possible Laura just wanted to start over somewhere else; California did attract a lot of runaways. I hope justice comes soon.
Click to expand...
We are so happy we were able to share this announcement publicly. Another case funded through Project 525.
 
Why is everyone assuming she was murdered? There was a 20 year gap in between when she was last seen and when she was found and a cause/manner of death wasn't able to be determined due to the state of the remains. There's a million non-nefarious ways she could have ended up in that river.
 
The4TierBridge said:
Why is everyone assuming she was murdered?
Click to expand...

Because she disappeared at age 14, would have been very vulnerable to a predator, needed some kind of help to travel and survive, runaway teens were targetted by predators at the time, and she died as a teenager still. Of course it's possible something else happened.
 
The4TierBridge said:
Why is everyone assuming she was murdered? There was a 20 year gap in between when she was last seen and when she was found and a cause/manner of death wasn't able to be determined due to the state of the remains. There's a million non-nefarious ways she could have ended up in that river.
Click to expand...
It was a riverbed. I believe that indicates it was dried out.

It may have been a rural area back then.

Young women don't just randomly end up in a riverbed off of the highway
 
DS2021 said:
It was a riverbed. I believe that indicates it was dried out.

It may have been a rural area back then.

Young women don't just randomly end up in a riverbed off of the highway
Click to expand...
Watsonville and this surrounding area is very much fields. A lot of our fruits and vegetables are grown in the surrounding areas.

Edited to add I seen this flood thinking it was closer but it is not as close as I thought.. however... the storm may still have effected this area.
www.ksbw.com

Pajaro Valley Flood of 1995 described by KSBW 8's Jim Vanderzwaan

Pajaro Valley Flood of 1995 described by KSBW 8's Jim Vanderzwaan
www.ksbw.com www.ksbw.com
 
Last edited:
Santa_Cruz_Sentinel_1995_03_24_Page_4.webp


Hopefully I link it right this time...

Mar 24, 1995, page 4 - Santa Cruz Sentinel at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from Santa Cruz Sentinel dated Mar 24, 1995, page 4.
www.newspapers.com www.newspapers.com
 
DS2021 said:
Where do you read that this man killed Laura O’Malley?
Click to expand...

Not the killer of LOM. Not that far from where Laura O'Malley's remains found. This is another case where the teen disappeared in 1970's, 1979, remains eventually found in 1995 near Lexington Reservoir after the heavy rains. The killer confessed in 2007.

www.mercurynews.com

Killer admits to ’79 slaying of Cupertino woman

Killer admits to ’79 slaying of Cupertino woman
www.mercurynews.com www.mercurynews.com

Thursday, Santa Clara County authorities announced that they had their man, a 52-year-old prison inmate already serving two life sentences for brutally slaying two other women.

Snip

Childs was convicted in 1987 of fatally shooting 17-year-old Lois Sigala under a tree near Scotts Valley. After a three-day drug binge, Childs had accused the teen runaway, whom his girlfriend had befriended, of being a police informant when she told him her real name was not “Jeanine.”

Nine years later, Childs’ attorney at the time contacted authorities saying his client could “clear up” 11 homicides: two in Santa Clara County, three in Santa Cruz County, one in Reno, two in Seattle, one in San Diego and two in Tracy.

“When he says to me, ‘I killed 11 people,’ I utterly believe him,” Christopher G. Smith told the Mercury News in July 1997. “He’s one of the reasons state prisons were invented.”

en.m.wikipedia.org

Terry Childs (serial killer) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
 
Last edited:
Could this be her? If she was alive for awhile after running away, she could have had the terrible luck to bump into Alcala. The image is not great quality and the poor young woman is clearly very dazed/under the influence of something, etc And yes it IS a young woman--confirmed by LE. Also appears very petite--I cropped the partial nudity from the comp since she appears to be so young I find it especially disturbing.

At first glance, the two do not look THAT much alike, but the more I looked, I can see very similar features, The woman/girl in the Alcala image is laying down and her shoulders are shrugged up in a very weird way which schrunches her face.

B

Thread 'Short haired brunette against a blue background'

At first I thought this picture was of a little boy, but then I figured it was cut off at the chest so as not to show the breasts, so it must be of a young girl.
http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00532.jpg

I think this girl might be Christina White: "Christina was last seen at the Asotin County Fairgrounds on April 28, 1979. She was riding a 10-speed Schwinn bicycle that has also never been located." (Sounds also like Acala's MO, put the bike in the trunk, etc.)
She was 12 when she went missing. There are several different pictures of her at different ages at the...
Screen Shot 2025-06-03 at 8.12.39 PM.webp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
CA CA - Descanso, WhtMale 50-60, UP142654, skeletal remains found by 2 hikers in Cuyamaca State Park, Oct'91
Replies
0
Views
92
ProudSuggestion3528
P
P
CA CA - Willits, UncMale Pre40, UP122617, Partial remains found in a creek bed just off Hwy 101, Jan'04
Replies
0
Views
172
ProudSuggestion3528
P
Romulus
AR AR - Hope, WhtFem 45-85, UP5165, in a field off of Highway 67, upper denture plate, brown hair, clothes, Sep'82
Replies
2
Views
306
lightofmine99
lightofmine99
Romulus
CA CA - Jamul, WhtFem 30-40, UP61563, "Carroll's Music Center'' T-shirt, "Hesperia Wranglers" leather belt, size 7B brown woman's boot, Jun'85
Replies
3
Views
213
HopeRains
HopeRains
lightofmine99
AL AL - Birmingham, UnkFem, 18-99 (Adult), UP125027, red long sleeve shirt, one shoe, in wooded area, Mar'24
Replies
1
Views
163
lightofmine99
lightofmine99

Members online

... and 193 more.
Total: 744 (members: 194, guests: 550)

Online statistics

Members online
194
Guests online
550
Total visitors
744
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
625,600
Messages
18,506,838
Members
240,820
Latest member
patrod6622
Back
Top