The Abduction & Murder of Mona Jean Gallegos, June 1975

Mona Jean Gallegos was likely born in 1952 or 1953. She went by the nickname "Tuni" among family, and she had five siblings, two sisters and three brothers. Having previously lived in Colorado, the Gallegos family moved to southern CA in 1968; Mona attended Wilson High School in LA. In 1971 the family returned to CO, which is where Mona graduated from high school that same year.

The Gallegos family eventually moved back to southern CA, where they lived at 4944 Vincent Ave in Covina, LA County, CA. Mona briefly attended Mt San Antonio College, then decided to go to work full time; she was a seamstress for awhile, then got a job as a waitress. For the last six months before her disappearance, Mona had been a waitress at Coffee Dan's in West Covina. She had reportedly planned to enroll again at Mt SAC in the fall, "probably to prepare for a career in social work."

At the time of her disappearance Mona, 22, lived at 4944 Vincent Ave with her mother, Alice Gallegos, and two of her younger brothers, Tony, 17, and George, 16. She also had two married sisters, Martha, 24, and Virginia, 20, as well as another younger brother, Sonny, 19, though it seems that none of them lived with the rest of the family.

Photo from the LA Times, Aug. 10, 1975.

On the night of Wednesday, June 18, 1975, Mona and her mother were watching the news on TV shortly after 11pm, when Mona, "received a call from an auto salesman she had met while considering the purchase of a new car. She and the salesman had become friends and he asked if she would come over and see him. [Alice] said it was unlike [Mona] to leave the house that late at night and especially odd that she would want to drive to Alhambra to see a man she had met only recently. 'I didn't want her to go,' said [Alice]. 'I told her it was too late. But it was as if she had to go.'" Mona left in her car, a 1970 Pontiac.

She was last seen alive leaving the auto-salesman friend's residence in Alhambra, LA County to return to her family's home; according to Google Maps, the drive from Alhambra to 4944 Vincent Ave, Covina is about 31min long. While most sources state that Mona left the residence at about 1:00am on June 19th, one clipping said that, "The friend later told police [Mona] had left to return home about 12:15am on June 19th." This auto-salesman friend was cleared by police.

Shortly after 1:00am on Thursday, June 19th, Mona's car ran out of fuel. At 4:45am, her abandoned car was found by California Highway Patrol parked on the shoulder of the eastbound San Bernardino Freeway near the Santa Anita Ave offramp in El Monte, LA County. It was locked and still out of gas. According to one clipping, the car was found by CHP with its emergency flasher lights on. Another newspaper stated that the vehicle's front fender was damaged.

There was an emergency freeway call box just a few yards away from Mona's car, and multiple others near the spot. However, officials checked phone records and interviewed telephone operators, and it was determined that no calls were made about Mona's vehicle that night.

There was also an all-night gas station at the end of the off-ramp near Mona's car. The service station attendant there told police that he had not seen anyone matching Mona's description that night.

Mona was reported missing by her family on Friday, June 20, 1975. According to one of Mona's sisters, "My mother also told me that her phone rang once that night [she went missing] but when she answered it no one was on the other end."

Since very early on in the case the police have treated it as a possible kidnapping, though nearby locations were searched thoroughly as well. Investigators theorized that a motorist possibly offered Mona a ride to the service station, and then abducted her. Mona's parents stated that there was no reason for Mona to disappear of her own accord. According to investigators, "There was no evidence of foul play, no signs of a struggle. And there was no reason for her to run off."

Mona was last seen wearing a red and white pants suit, white shoes, and a gold watch and chain. She was 22 years old, 5'1, and 128 lbs with brown hair. She also had small scars on her throat and the back of her right hand. Police conducted multiple searches for her and investigated thoroughly. By July 3rd, "widespread publicity about the case ha[d] produced numerous calls from persons who claim to have seen Miss Gallegos, but none could be verified."

According to Mona's mother, Alice, Mona's long-time boyfriend, a recent college graduate, had been traveling in Canada at the time and as of July 3rd did not yet know that Mona was missing. I could not find anything else on this supposed boyfriend.

Discovery

On the evening of Friday, November 28, 1975, a skeleton was found by two teenage boys who were hiking in a remote Riverside ravine. Five days later, the skeletal remains were identified through dental charts as being Mona's. Her body was found in a remote, brush-covered, hilly area on the southern edge of the city of Riverside. 

Mona's COD couldn't be determined, and no injuries were evident, but police believe that she had been murdered. She had been dead for about six months. There were no clothes found on or near the body, though there was still jewelry found on/near the remains.

Mona's case is still unsolved, and hasn't been mentioned publicly by the police or the press since the 1970s, from what I could find. At that time, the press drew comparisons to the cases of Robin Graham and Rose Tashman, two young women who also went missing from highways in LA County after their vehicles became inoperable. Rose Tashman was found murdered within a few days, while Robin Graham is still missing.

Since then, there has been speculation made by others that the three cases above, as well as a few others with similar characteristics, are potentially linked. These cases are known by some online — and referred to on this blog — as the Bad Samaritan Murders.

Mona's murder has also been mentioned multiple times in various Zodiac forums and online spaces, often in conjunction with the other cases above. This is how I found out about her murder, hence the Connection tag on this event. 

One of Mona's sisters has been involved in the aforementioned online spaces, and is still searching for answers. 

Note: Mona went missing two days before the summer solstice. See the Holiday & Events Reference Page for an explanation as to why this is being mentioned. 

Sources

The Daily Breeze 6/23/75 

LA Times 6/30/75, 7/3/75, 8/10/75, 12/4/75, 6/8/77

The Long Beach Independent 6/30/75 

The San Bernardino County Sun 12/4/75

The Long Beach Press-Telegram 12/5/75 

The Bakersfield Californian 6/15/77 

Bad Samaritan Wikipedia 

2017 TrueCrimeGuy blog article on Bad Samaritan murders

Car-related abductions, The Zodiac-Manson Connection, archived  

User-made Bad Samaritan & SRHM map

Another Bundy Blog post on the Bad Samaritan, with clippings 

ZK Ciphers forum 

ZK Site forum

Truth on Tate / LaBianca Forums threads, archived

Blog post on Bad Samaritan and SRHM