The Murder of La Habra Heights Jane Doe, September 1973

On the evening of Wednesday, September 5, 1973 — two days after Labor Day — a man who was either riding a horse or walking his dog discovered the fully-clothed remains of a teenage girl lying in an open grave in a hilly area near a fire road east of Skyline Drive in La Habra Heights, LA County, CA. The grave measured 12" deep, 69" long, and 27" wide. As the body was found in the evening, authorities waited until daybreak September 6th to remove it to preserve possible evidence.

Jane Doe's remains are listed as skeletal, however, due to some of the information provided, it seems that there was still some soft tissue remaining. It was determined that she was killed by a single gunshot to the head either 30-60 days (according to contemporary clippings) or 30-90 days (according to modern sources + the police bulletin) before discovery. This puts her death in June, July, or August 1973.

Jane Doe was a white female who was estimated to be 5'2-5'5 and 100-105 lbs, 5'2-5'3 and 100-110 lbs, or 5'2 and 102 lbs. Contemporary clippings list her as 14 to 17 or 18 years old, while modern sources state 14-20. A 2007 bulletin made by LASD lists her age as 14 to 19 years old. Her light brown hair was shoulder-length and/or 12 inches long. Her eye color is unknown. Her ears were pierced, and her fingernails were painted orange.

Jane Doe's earrings. Photo from NamUs.

She was wearing gold metal earrings with a peace symbol and a green or blue stone, photos of which are available. She was also wearing: a green or blue long-sleeved turtleneck sweater, size large; a blue/pink/yellow halter top; light blue Junior Bazaar, Sears & Robuck Company corduroy pants, size medium, with initials "S J" on the right rear pocket (a photo of the leather label is available, and NamUs states that the label stands for "Sears Junior"); and blue tennis shoes with white bottoms, size 6M. Contemporary clippings stated that her corduroy pants were brown, not blue.

Jane Doe's DNA and dentals are available for comparison. Her lower left first molar appeared to have been extracted about four months before death, and the lower right second molar appeared to have been extracted about six months before death. There is no evidence of any fillings having ever been placed or any dental work ever having been done except for those two extractions.

Jane Doe has two MP exclusions on NamUs: she is not Rose Cole or Sherry Pickle. Anyone with information should contact Betsy Magdaleno of the LA County Medical Examiner's Office at (323) 343-0512 or IDUnit@me.lacounty.gov. The agency case number is 1973-14553. According to NCMEC, individuals can also contact the LA County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

The NCMEC, NCIC, and NamUs case numbers are 1137973, U150017179, and #UP4463, respectively. Jane Doe's NamUs page was last updated on March 27, 2024.

Note: This write-up was originally posted on June 30, 2025. However, I regularly review cases and look for more information in case I somehow missed anything, and update the write-up according. This post was last updated on August 4, 2025.