The Murder of Orinda Jane Doe, August 1975

At about 4pm on Saturday, August 23, 1975, a hiker named Charles Jones discovered the body of a woman just inside the entrance to the Lake Anza area in Tilden Regional Park, about 20 ft from an auxiliary parking lot. The woman was lying on her side in the bushes along a pathway in the park in Orinda, Contra Costa County, CA. Charles Jones then notified the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) police of the discovery. Detectives arrived at the scene at about 4:30pm.

The young woman had been killed by blunt force injury to the head; she was beaten to death, with her skull being crushed. In 2006 Detective Sgt. Dale Davidson said of Jane Doe, "She was hit with something very hard." It was determined that she was murdered at another location than where she was found. Despite her injuries, Jane Doe's face was recognizable, and a reconstruction dated April 21, 1976 is available below.

Her death is estimated to have occurred about four to seven days before discovery, though NamUs simply states the estimated PMI is four days. Either way, the aforementioned range puts her date of death as occurring sometime between Saturday, August 16th and Tuesday, August 19, 1975, inclusive. 

Reconstruction from NamUs.

Modern sources state that Jane Doe was about 18 to 29 or 18 to 30 years old. Contemporary newspapers, however, varied widely, reporting her age as 20 to 25; 25 to 27; 22 to 28; or 21 to 28 years old.

Jane Doe measured in at 5'3 tall and 166 lbs. She had brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair that was "streaked and combed back." She was well-tanned, with a slightly rounded face and manicured nails. Her tan lines indicated that she had at some point worn a bikini. 

Jane Doe was nude below the waist when found. She was wearing a white Playtex Freespirit bra, underwire cut, size 36D; and a turquoise/blue t-shirt. The shirt had a silk-screen type painting on the front, depicting clouds and sun rays behind a vintage biplane. The shirt was manufactured by "International Key" of Miami, FL, which went out of business at the end of 1975. The shirt had the label name brand "Outrageous Devil"; 50,000 of these shirts were distributed solely in CA.

Jane Doe was also wearing a thin, "Indian-type"/"Native style" liquid silver necklace with four 5mm x 7mm turquoise stones around her neck, as well as a matching sterling silver channel work ring with four turquoise stones, size 8.5-9 on one of her fingers.

Jane Doe's dentals, fingerprints, and DNA are available for comparison. She has zero rule-outs on NamUs. Her NamUs page, case #UP12922, was created on September 18, 2014 and last updated on February 26, 2026, the first time since August 5, 2025. The Doe Network and NCIC case numbers are 2UFCA and U759829435, respectively.

If you have any information regarding this Jane Doe, please contact the Coroner Division of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office (CCCSO) at (925) 313-2850 or ccc-coroner@so.cccounty.us. The agency case number is 75-0804. Furthermore, tips can be submitting to the CCCSO's Investigations Division's Homicide Unit at (925) 313-2600 or tips@so.cccounty.us, or by leaving an anonymous voicemail at (866) 846-3592.

Anyone with information in Jane Doe's case can also contact the East Bay Regional Park District Police at (510) 881-1833, or by calling the EBRPD Police Investigations Unit Tip Line at (510) 690-6521. The EBRPD Police case number 75-4145.

Sources

NamUs

WebSleuths

Doe Network 

Unidentified wiki  

Article package, 1975 to 1977

Alameda Times-Star, Apr. 10, 2006

Note: While this write-up was originally published on June 30, 2025, I regularly revisit cases, fix any typos or formatting errors, check for updates, ensure that I have exhausted all sources, etc., and then make note of when I last did so, no matter how minor. When edits are extensive, I re-post the write-up entirely. This post was last updated on February 26, 2026.