The Murder of Castaic Jane Doe, September 1969

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. This area is within the Angeles National Forest, and about one mile off of the old Golden State Highway.

At about 2pm that day the brothers were walking along a trail near Whitaker Peak/Summit, a short distance from the Ridge Route, when they smelled a foul odor. Charles Law looked under the trees to the sides of the trail and saw what he first thought was a deer. When he got closer, he saw a leg sticking up and realized that he was looking at a human body. From there the Law brothers notified authorities as soon as they were able to do so.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) and Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office (LACME) responded to the scene. The Law brothers and their families reportedly spent the rest of the afternoon answering questions from sheriff's deputies and a LACME representative.

The body was determined to have been that of a white female. It had been unearthed from a shallow grave by animals. 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 body was badly decomposed at the time of recovery, and consisted of partial remains with soft tissues, and were therefore unrecognizable. An article published in the LA Daily News in 2007 described the body as "mangled [and] unidentifiable." 

One or more limbs were not recovered; due to the circumstances above, it can be determined that, of Jane Doe's limbs, at least one leg was recovered. In addition, according to the aforementioned LA Daily News article, Jane Doe's skull — or at least part of it — was not recovered either; however, this is the only source to indicate such. Furthermore, it is known that Jane Doe's dental chart or x-rays are in fact available for comparison, indicating that, of the bones above the shoulders, at least her mandible and/or maxilla was recovered. Some of Jane Doe's hair was also recovered, though sources do not indicate whether said hair was still attached to flesh/the head, or was instead separate yet still present in the grave.

While COD is officially undetermined, Jane Doe is believed to be the victim of a homicide. In two separate articles from 2007, LASD Cold Case Unit Investigator Richard Kennerly indicated that "it is possible [Jane Doe] was shot, but there wasn't much to the crime scene."

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 bulletin published by LASD in 2007 lists her age as 19 to 25. 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 six to eight months instead. With this in mind, it seems that LACME believes that Jane Doe died somewhere between approximately March to June 1969, though possibly as far back as January 1969.

One of the Law brothers, Charles, told sheriff's investigators that he was in the area "practically every weekend for target shooting, and only two weeks ago [he] 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.

Investigator Kennerly of LASD has noted to the press 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. Due to the ring found with her (see full explanation below), it is thought that Jane Doe may specifically be from the Kerrville, Kerr County, TX area.

Jane Doe's ring. Photo from NamUs.

Jane Doe was wearing a white or light beige blouse or mini-dress, a photo of which is available on both websites. The blouse/mini-dress had a dark brown check and floral pattern. The fabric was an eyelet-type weave and had a beige lining. The mini-dress or blouse measures 21 inches from collar to hemline. Investigator Kennerly described it as a "hippie-type dress."

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. 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 only exception being "a small pinhole cavity with a silver filling." She has zero MP rule-outs on her NamUs page.

The Doe Network and NCIC case numbers are 559UFCA and U410016070, respectively. Jane Doe's NamUs case, #UP2996, was created and last updated on September 9, 2008 and February 19, 2024, respectively.

Anyone with information regarding Jane Doe is urged to contact Investigator Betsy Magdaleno of LACME at (323) 343-0512 or IDUnit@me.lacounty.gov. The agency case number is 1969-09955. Individuals can also contact the LASD Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500, or by submitting a tip here. The agency case number is 069-02975-0680-496.

Any little piece of information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is appreciated, and may be the key to recovering Jane Doe's identity and solving her murder.  

Sources

NamUs 

WebSleuths

Doe Network 

Unidentified wiki 

TX Unidentified Persons Clearinghouse 

LA Evening Citizen News 9/8/69 

LA Times 9/9/69

The Valley Times 9/10/69

Santa Clarita Signal 9/10/69 pt.s 1 & 2 

Kerrville Daily Times, Jan. 29, 2007 ** 

LA Daily News, Feb. 2, 2007 **

LASD Special Bulletin, Oct. 4, 2007 **

Former Fire Lookout Sites Register 

Moments in Dirt and Ink blog  

** Also available in the Files section of this blog 

Note: While this write-up was originally published on July 11, 2025, I regularly revisit cases, 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 January 20, 2026.