The Abduction & Murder of Deborah Lee "Debbie" Shelton, January 1969

In early 1969 twelve-year-old Deborah Lee "Debbie" Shelton was living in Aptos, Santa Cruz County, CA with her mother Marcia, 28, and sisters Victoria, 11, and Melissa, 6. They had moved to the Rio del Mar area of the county from Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, CA about a year earlier. Her father, James Vern Shelton, was killed in a car accident at the age of 28 in 1966.

Aptos is an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz County, CA. According to Wikipedia, it consists of several different small villages, including Rio del Mar, where Debbie's family lived, and nearby Aptos Village. The villages that comprise Aptos presently have a combined population of 24,402, with Rio del Mar itself consisting of 9,128 of that number.

Debbie was born on July 25, 1956. She reportedly visited her paternal grandparents in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA often, and had made several friends her age in the Santa Rosa area. Debbie was a seventh grader at Aptos Junior High who was on winter break at the time of her death. 

Debbie Shelton. Photo courtesy of SCSO

Disappearance

At about 9:30am on Friday, January 3, 1969, Debbie left her home at 423 Palmer St to go mini-bike riding; one contemporary source, quoting Debbie's step-grandmother, stated that she was going to attend a mini-bike race. Debbie had told her mother that she was going to meet up with a male classmate named Sherman whom Marcia didn't know, as well as with Sherman's sister, near the Aptos railroad bridge. They were then going to bike down to the beach at Aptos.

Debbie was expected to be home at around 11:30am for a dentist appointment that she had at noon. In 2014, Marcia reflected, "I did not want her to go because I was worried about her getting on a mini bike. I finally relented and said OK."

According to her close friend, Loni Reeder, Debbie had been planning the ride for about a week. Loni had last seen her friend at church the previous December, right around Christmas time. At that time Debbie told Loni about an older guy that she was interested in named Sherman. She told Loni that she and Sherman were making a plan to go mini-bike riding. Debbie never described Sherman's appearance to her friend, "aside from him being really cute." In 2014, Loni stated, "Now, on reflection, I wonder if [Sherman] was even his real name." Furthermore, according to Debbie's mother Marcia, Debbie had "had numerous phone conversations with 'Sherman' during the vacation week preceding her disappearance."

Debbie was last seen alive on Rio Del Mar Blvd at about 11:00am according to contemporary clippings, which did not state who was the last to see her and whether there was anyone with her at the time. According to a case summary provided by the Santa Cruz District Attorney (DA) in 1974, however, Debbie was last seen at approximately 10:00am in front of the Farmer's Market on Soquel Drive in Aptos by Tom Silva and Roy Campbell, two white male juveniles.

 

When she was last seen, Debbie was wearing blue Levis, a light blue turtleneck, a purple jacket, and white shoes. She was twelve years old, 5'0, and about 85-90 lbs. She had blue eyes and long, straight blonde hair. 
 

Debbie didn't make it home for her dentist appointment, though Marcia seems to have brushed it off as her losing track of time. Marcia left to take her youngest daughter, Melissa, to take an appointment, and didn't arrive back home until sometime before 2:00pm.

 

At approximately 12:45pm, Debbie's 11-year-old sister, Victoria — who also went by the nickname Vickie — was home alone when the family's phone rang. Vickie picked up the phone and spoke with someone she didn't know. The caller, whose voice was described by Vickie as that of a young male, asked for Marcia. Vickie told the caller that her mother was out of the house at the time, and was expected back later in the afternoon.

 

At approximately 2:00pm, the family's phone rang again, and Marcia picked it up. The caller, who Marcia thought sounded like a teenaged boy, said, "We have your daughter. Bring $500, [drive] up Trout Gulch Road. Don't call the police or we'll kill her." 

 

[Note: Most accounts state that the caller said "We have your daughter." A 1974 case summary provided by the Santa Cruz DA, however, stated that the caller said, "We have Debbie."]

 

Marcia, not yet thinking that Debbie was missing, thought that it was just a prank call at the time, and so replied "Don't be ridiculous" before hanging up. The caller was never identified, and they never called back. Marcia later told investigators that "the youth sounded older than her daughter, about 14 or 15 years of age."

Marcia eventually grew concerned by Debbie's absence. She first searched for her daughter herself before calling the Sheriff's office at 3:30pm. An intensive search of several days followed, yet failed to uncover any clues. Detectives, having reportedly exhausted all other angles, eventually classified Debbie as a runaway.

Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 11, 1969

Discovery

At about 10:30am on Saturday, March 8, 1969, a nine-year-old boy named Henry Tong Jr. was out shooting his BB gun in a secluded wooded area when he stumbled upon a decomposed body lying beneath a tree near the railroad bridge in Aptos Village. 

 

The body was on a vine-covered slope approximately 50 ft below Aptos Creek Rd, about 20 or 30 ft above a parallel road leading to private residences — which may have been called Mill Rd at the time, and is now known as Village Creek Rd — and less than 0.25 mi north of Soquel Drive. According to one clipping, "the area is no more than 200 yd from the village of Aptos."

 

As of at least March 11, 1969, telephone company crews had "recently installed new pole and wire hookups" on the other side of Aptos Creek Rd from the slope. Horsemen also regularly used the road, but the body wasn't found until the boy, Henry, happened across it.

 

According to the 1974 case summary report, the scene, which was near the creek, was, "used during the day by motorcycle and mini-bike riders and at night as a sometimes lovers lane." Based on measurements taken on Google Maps, the body was found only about 0.18 mi from the Aptos Village County Park, which seems to have been created sometime after 1969. 

 

The body was in advanced stages of decomposition. Exposed portions were in stages of mummification. Soon, however, the body was identified as Debbie's through dental records.

 

Debbie was found lying face-up. Her mouth and neck were covered with her underpants, which were tied "in garrote fashion around [her] neck" and secured with 0.75 inch masking tape. The tape that had held her mouth shut prior to death had since slipped down to her neck due to decomposition. Her hands were bound together behind her back with the same kind of tape.

 

Debbie's clothes were disheveled yet present on her body when she was discovered. She was wearing a wool coat that was, "open in the front and pulled halfway down her back," and her Levi's jeans were pulled down to her knees. Her bra, t-shirt, and turtleneck sweater were pulled up, exposing her breasts. Her shoes and stockings were still on her feet. 

 
While the scene suggested the possibility of sexual assault, the coroner was unable to determine if any SA occurred due to the condition of the remains. Blood tests showed no poison, sedatives, narcotics, or alcohol in her system. The cause of death was strangulation with her underwear. 

 

Investigators believed that Debbie was abducted on the day of her disappearance and then killed by her kidnapper. It could not be determined whether or not she was killed where she was found. Debbie's killer had started to dig a grave next to where the body lay with a shovel, but had aborted the attempt, likely due to the condition of the ground. The medical examiner estimated that the remains had been at the scene for at least one month, and/or for several weeks.

There was soil on the clothing that investigators hoped could be used to determine whether Debbie was killed at the scene or elsewhere. There were also several strands of hair that didn't belong to her found on her clothing; however, it was considered possible that the hair came from the Shelton family's dog. The clothing was sent to the FBI for investigation into the soil and hair; the masking tape was also sent in the hopes that fingerprints could be lifted from it.

Despite this, the case quickly grew cold, and there have never been any arrests or official suspects. Furthermore, neither Sherman nor the ransom caller have ever been identified.

Later Developments

Debbie was buried in Saratoga, Santa Clara County alongside her father. Her mother, Marcia, is still alive as of at least 2017, as is Debbie's youngest sister, Melissa.

In December 2001, one of Debbie's younger sisters, Victoria Lee Specials, 44, disappeared in Clear Lake, CA. It is believed that Vickie was likely murdered by her ex-boyfriend, though her body has not been found. She is still officially missing.

In 1999 an FBI crime lab determined that the hairs on Debbie's clothing were in fact animal fibers. The case was reopened in 2004, when the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office sent DNA evidence to a state crime lab in an effort to find the killer. Detective Dave Deverell, who was in charge of the case at the time, expressed some reticence, stressing how DNA testing can take years. As of 2025, it seems that nothing has been concluded from the DNA investigation.

Theories and Online Discussion 

In 2014 one of Debbie's cousins, who was two years younger than her, set up the Facebook community "Find Justice for Deborah Lee Shelton." It seems that some of the posts on the page have since been taken down in between now (May 2025) and when I first discovered the page within the last six months.

On May 27, 2022, the cousin posted on the page, "There have been some recent developments and significant new information regarding Debbie’s case. The family’s attorney and law enforcement are actively working in this regard. Extremely encouraging. Please continue to keep good thoughts in finally bringing Debbie’s killer to Justice." It is uncertain what these developments were, as it seems that they were never elaborated on.

According to a Jan. 7, 2025 post regarding Debbie on the Pacific Northwest Cold Cases and Missing Persons Facebook page, Lance Voss, a suspect in the Lewis-Clark Valley / Snake River Killings, reportedly lived in Saratoga, Santa Clara County, CA — approximately 35mi from Aptos — and attended West Valley College in Campbell, Santa Clara County, CA at the time of Debbie's murder.

In late January 2025, Debbie's cousin replied to a comment on that same PNW Cold Cases & MPs post, stating, "Apparently there is a small amount of DNA but Santa Cruz sheriff department says there is not enough money to test again… it’s just horrible. I think they at least owe it to the family!"

In February 2022 user Terry [last name redacted for privacy] commented the following on the then-most recent post — which has since been deleted or made private — on the Facebook page dedicated to Debbie:

"I was 14 years old when Debbie was found murdered. I also attended Aptos Junior High School. I remember my parents discussing the murder with my grandmother and other family members. [...] [In 2016 my mother] told me a story about the death of Debbie. She said that her mother (my grandmother) knew a family that had a son named Sherman. After the death of Debbie he hardly ever left the house for weeks. My Grandmother was very suspicious of his behavior and confronted his parents who preceded to break off all contact with my Grandmother. Back in the day no one got involved with other families' problems so nothing else was ever said about the murder. This young man eventually joined the service and he soon thereafter took his own life."

According to Terry, after being told this story by her mother she called the Santa Cruz Police hotline number for Debbie's case and left a message stating that her mother had vital information. The investigators reportedly never returned Terry's call. Terry's mother passed away in 2018.

Another user replied to Terry's comment, saying, "I am a cousin of Debbie’s mom. I was there when it all happened. I remember my cousin saying Debbie was getting letters from a Sherman. Hang in there. Maybe we can solve this."

I could not find further information about Sherman or local rumors on the Facebook page. While further identifying information may be able to be gleaned and/or confirmed through research on Ancestry and Newspapers.com, I will note that it should not be posted here due to privacy concerns.

Conclusion

In 1974, various law enforcement agencies in California — as well as some in Oregon, Washington, and New Mexico — communicated regarding unsolved female homicides in their jurisdictions. This involved, among many other things, the sending of a report summary of Debbie Shelton's case from the Santa Cruz District Attorney to the Seattle PD, linked below.

All of this correspondence culminated in the publication of a report by the CA DOJ in February 1975 regarding cases that may have been linked to each other (available in the Files page of this site). Leading up to the publication, Debbie Shelton was included on one list shared between LE agencies; this can be found in the link titled Sonoma County SO files to Seattle PD below, or on the Files page of this blog. Despite her case being reviewed during the investigation, Debbie was ultimately not included in the 1975 CA DOJ Report.

Debbie's case has been brought up once before on a Zodiac forum, though it bears very little resemblance to any Z cases. Furthermore, while Debbie wasn't hitchhiking — her mother pressed that she would not have been — her murder, as well as her known connection to Santa Rosa, brings the 1972-1974 Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders to mind; she also bears a strong physical resemblance to, and was the same age range (12-13) as, confirmed victims Yvonne Weber, Maureen Sterling, and Lori Lee Kursa. 

Debbie's case has also been mentioned in a post from another amateur sleuth-run site that I use to find related cases: the Murder Incorp. blog, which compiles contemporary sources about crimes in CA from the 1960s and 70s that either have been recently confirmed to still be, or the blogger suspects to be, unsolved. Special focus is put on cases that bear resemblance and/or occurred somewhat in proximity to confirmed and possible EARONS and Zodiac crimes. The Count Every Mystery blog has also done a write-up on her.

Debbie's murder is still unsolved and present on the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office Unsolved Homicides page. Anyone with information regarding her case is asked to please call the Sheriff's Investigations at (831) 454-7620 or email them at shf236@co.santa-cruz.ca.us. The agency case number is 69-1574. 

Sources and References

FindAGrave

Santa Cruz County Unsolved Homicides

Santa Cruz Sentinel 1/12/69, 3/11/69 pt.s 1 & 2, 3/12/69, and 3/18/69

Santa Rosa Press Democrat 3/10/69

Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer 3/14/69

Santa Cruz Sentinel 1/10/71, 7/7/02 ***, and 7/11/04 pt.s 1, 2, & 3

KCSO Files from Santa Cruz DA, pg.s 1-4 *** 

ORIGINAL Inter-Agency CA List by SCSO, pg.s 1 & 4 ***

Pre-Report Double List by Dave Struve, pg. 5 ***

KCSO Full Interstate Victim List, pg. 3 ***

2014 HuffPost article 

ZK SH forum 

Murder Incorp. blog, with clippings

Count Every Mystery blog  

Find Justice for Deborah Lee Shelton Facebook page

Pacific Northwest Cold Cases & Missing Persons Facebook post

SC Ghost Hunters blog article [linked for the photos and clippings attached]

*** Also available in the Files section of this blog. 

Note: While this write-up was originally posted in June 2025, I often revisit cases, receive updates from contacts, and/or find new sources, and then edit my posts accordingly. When the edits are extensive I re-post the write-up with its most recent date; this was last done for this post on July 27, 2025. This write-up was last edited on September 26, 2025.