The Murder of Castaic Jane Doe, September 1969
At about 2pm on Sunday, September 7, 1969, three brothers — Charles, Larry, and Phillip Law — were out with their wives and children, hiking, target shooting, and picnicking in the area of Whitaker Peak, approximately 16-19mi south of Gorman and 9-10mi north of Castaic, Los Angeles County, CA. There they found human remains in a shallow grave near Whitaker Peak/Summit, a short distance from the Ridge Route.
The area is within the Angeles National Forest, and the grave itself was about one mile off of the old Golden State Highway. The earliest newspaper clipping regarding the discovery noted that, "Deputies at the Newhall Sheriff's Substation said the body was unearthed near a truck trail that may be used to supply a US Forest Service lookout."
The brothers had been walking along the trail when they smelled an awful odor. Charles Law looked under the trees and saw what he first thought was a deer. When he got closer, he saw a leg sticking up and realized that it was human. The body had been unearthed from its shallow grave by animals.
The body was that of a white female, and was badly decomposed at the time of recovery. One or more limbs were not recovered. The remains were not recognizable, and are classified as being partial remains with soft tissues. A 2007 article published in the LA Daily News described the body as "mangled [and] unidentifiable." While COD was undetermined, a 2017 article from the same newspaper states that Jane Doe had possibly been shot.
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| Aerial view of the location where Jane Doe was found, as well as a description written by me of all known details used to pinpoint the location. Created by me using Google Maps, viewed through Google Earth. |
Estimates of Jane Doe's age vary across sources. Modern databases state that she was 19 to 26 years old, while a police bulletin published by the LA County Sheriff's Department in 2007 lists her age as 19 to 25 years old. Contemporary newspapers, meanwhile, stated that she was 18 to 25 or 20 to 25 years old.
Jane Doe died three to six months before being found, though one clipping stated 6-8 months instead. One of the Law brothers, Charles, told police that he used the area "practically every weekend for target shooting, and only two weeks ago had shot a bird not 20 feet from the shallow grave that he found Sunday." Charles did not see the body at that time; he said, "If it had been there then I should have seen it."
Due to the state of her remains, Jane Doe's weight and eye color could not be determined; however, one contemporary news article stated that she was estimated to have weighed 130 to 140 lbs. She was also estimated to be about 5'5 to 5'6, and according to NamUs she had brown hair. Newspapers from the time described Jane Doe's hair as being long and reddish-brown, and/or "shoulder-length, light brown with a reddish tint." The aforementioned 2007 LASD bulletin described her hair as long and light brown.
Doe Network notes that it does not appear that Jane Doe was from the Santa Clarita Valley, and that she may have been a hitchhiker who was drawn to the Hollywood scene.
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| Jane Doe's ring. Photo from NamUs. |
A size 9.25 white metal ring with a cross on top was also found in Jane Doe's grave. The inside of the ring contains a stamped insignia with three candles. The ring was manufactured by James Avery Jewelers, which has stores in TX, OK, GA, LA, and CO. The ring was most likely purchased in Texas, near the Kerrville, Austin, or Dallas areas. A 2017 article from the LA Daily News indicates that at the time of Jane Doe's death, James Avery was working out of his garage in Kerrville, and had yet to set up any retail stores or expand to other locations.
Jane Doe's dental records are available for comparison, while her DNA and fingerprints are not. She was reported to have had "perfect teeth," with the exception of "a small pinhole cavity with a silver filling."
She has zero MP rule-outs on NamUs. If you have any information regarding Jane Doe, please contact Betsy Magdaleno of the LA County Medical Examiner's Office at (323) 343-0512. The agency case number is 1969-09955.
Jane Doe's NamUs page, case number UP2996, was created and last updated on September 9, 2008 and February 19, 2024, respectively.
On March 8, 2025, I submitted Castaic Jane Doe as a possible match to Lynn Marjorie Bandringa on the Doe Network. That same day, Mary Bell of the Doe Network replied, "Thank you for the suggested match. I don't show any comparison of these having been done so I will have our panel look at it. If [it] is proven to be a positive match, I will contact you further."
On June 13, 2025, I asked Mary Bell for updates on all of the matches I had sent in in the past year. She told me that DN's panel had declined to send the match between Castaic Jane Doe and Lynn Bandringa to LE for the following reasons:
likely purchased in 'Kerrville, Austin, or Dallas Texas area." MP has
no connection to these areas."
This does not necessarily mean that the match has been officially excluded by law enforcement, but instead that DN's matchmaking panel decided not to forward it to LE for them to compare.
Note: This write-up was originally posted on July 11, 2025. However, I regularly revisit cases, look for more information and sources, fix any typos, etc. This post was last updated on August 22, 2025.
Sources
TX Unidentified Persons Clearinghouse
LA Evening Citizen News 9/8/69
Santa Clarita Signal 9/10/69 pt.s 1 & 2
2007 LASD bulletin, archived
LA Daily News articles from 2007 and 2017
Mary Bell, personal communication
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