The Murder of Patricia Anne Tigard, October 1976

Patricia Tigard was born in Sacramento, CA on February 15, 1958 to parents Mary Eleanor Bergman (nee Canon) and Beverley Finley Tigard. It was both of the parents' second marriages. Eleanor (who went by her middle name) and Beverley separated by 1961, when Patricia was three years old; that same year Beverley married a woman named Virginia Pirrone/Garcia. He also possibly remarried in 1968, then yet again to a woman named Bertie Frye in 1975.

In October 1970 Patricia's mother Eleanor died in a car crash in Medford, Jackson County, OR. After her mother's death, Patricia, 12, moved in with her maternal grandfather, William Canon, in Klamath, Del Norte County, CA. Patricia, who also went by the name Patti, eventually attended Del Norte High School in Crescent City, Del Norte County before reportedly transferring to the American Legion High School in Sacramento in 1975. She seems to have eventually returned to Del Norte County.

On May 1, 1976, Patti gave birth to a son named Jessie in Del Norte County, CA, when she was eighteen years old. Further information regarding Jessie's birth, including the identity of his father, could not be found.

From the c.Oct. 29, 1976 edition of The Del Norte Triplicate.

Patti was last seen alive on Friday, October 1, 1976. At about noon that day she was seen in front of the PARGAS office and the Totem Motel, located on Highway 101 North in Crescent City, Del Norte County. She is believed to have been hitchhiking at that time. Newspapers described her as living in either Fort Dick, Del Norte County, or the Crescent City area at the time.

She was wearing a hooded maroon sweater, blue short-sleeve pullover blouse, blue corduroy pants, and a pair of black sandals when she disappeared. Patti was described as being 18 years old, 5'4, and 120 lbs, with brown eyes and long, straight brown hair that was parted in the center.

Another newspaper stated that, "Sheriff's officers placed [Patti] in Gasquet but there the trail becomes unclear. The girl was also seen hitchhiking in the Crescent City area." 

It is unknown who reported Patti missing or when.

Discovery 

On the afternoon of Tuesday, October 12, 1976, construction workers employed by Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) were working in a construction zone when they discovered human remains. The body, which was that of a young woman, was found in some heavy brush on the side of US 199, approximately four miles east of Gasquet, Del Norte County. The body was initially unidentified, and was described as being either badly or semi-decomposed at the time of discovery.

An autopsy was performed on October 13th. Two days later, the body was identified through dental charts as being that of Patricia Tigard. There is no information publicly available regarding whether Patti was clothed at the time of discovery, whether any evidence was found at the scene, etc.

The only information regarding any evidence is from an article published in The Del Norte Triplicate in December 1976; however, parts of some words in the section of note are missing due to the way the article was cropped. Because of this, the sentence of note reads as, "other tests are [____ _]ade at the state crime [__ __]luding those of blood [____ _]ound on the dead girl's [_____]g." My reading of the sentence is as follows:

"other tests are being made at the state crime lab, including those of blood spots found on the dead girl's handbag."

The case very quickly grew cold. Results of the autopsy weren't made public until late December of that year. Patricia's cause of death is officially undetermined, though she is believed to have been murdered. By about October 22, 1976, "the Del Norte County Sheriff's Department ha[d] conducted an extensive investigation, and to date ha[d] interrogated approximately forty persons in an attempt to shed some light on the girl's death."

Patti seems to have been cremated, with a memorial taking place on October 20, 1976. 

Speculation

At the time of initial reporting, the press speculated that Patti's death could have been related to those of Janet Bowman, Karen Fischer, Vickie Schneider, and Sherry Smith, aka the Humboldt Four, as the latter four young women were found murdered in neighboring Humboldt County from 1975-1976. However, whether this is still believed by law enforcement is unknown. I plan on writing about the Humboldt Four on this blog.

According to Tom Darby, a blogger who claims to have known Patti growing up, "Shortly after [...] the memorial on Oct. 20, a rumor started circulating that she had been manually strangulated. I couldn't find anyone willing to confirm or deny this bit of speculation."

Patti is a semi-distant cousin of another murdered young woman, Tamara Lee Tigard aka "Lime Lady." Tamara was found murdered in Oklahoma in April 1980, and went unidentified until January 2020. Patricia's father and Tamara's grandfather are first cousins, i.e., Patti's paternal great-grandfather is Tamara's paternal great-great grandfather.

On October 6, 2019, the Lost Girl's Blog posted an article about Tamara Tigard. On April 16, 2021, Tom Darby commented on the Lost Girl's Blog article. He stated the following:

"I am researching this case as I know [Tamara's] second cousin. Oddly, her cousin and I have been researching another Tigard cold case. In 1976, Patricia Ann Tigard was found murdered along Hwy 199. I went to school with Patti and while I’m certain I know who her murderer is, I am not allowed to say legally."

The following day, Tom posted the following about Patti on his own blog:

"Patricia Ann Tigard, a woman I grew up with and who was found murdered in October 1976 and left like so much trash near the Smith River along Hwy 199, between Crescent City and Hiouchi, California. Her murder remains unsolved because her killer is widely believed to be already dead."

The validity of Tom's claims is unknown, as they seem to be based on rumors and speculation.

I found out about Patricia's case from a website dedicated to the amateur podcast Ghosts of the Lost Coast, which is about the possible crimes of suspected serial killer John Annibel. The website also features the cases of Susan Lori Dye, Deryl Coen, Debbie Sloan, Andrea LaDeRoute, and the Humboldt Four: Janet Bowman, Karen Fischer, Vicki Schneider, and Sherry Smith. Of all of the aforementioned murders, John Annibel has only been convicted of that of Debbie Sloan and officially named as a suspect in those of Andrea LaDeRoute and Sherry Lynn Smith.

It should be noted that the website, created by a man named Glen Webster, gets some basic things wrong about the cases featured on it: for example, Andrea LaDeRoute's surname is misspelled as DeLaRoute, and a photo of Debbie Sloan's daughter Rachel is used in place of a photo of Debbie. Furthermore, other than the short summaries of each case on the main page, the site doesn't actually host any articles, links to sources, audio files, or ways to listen to the podcast. I am not using the website as a source for any of these cases; I am simply linking it because it is how I found out about Patricia's murder.

Anyone with information in Patti's case is urged to please contact the Del Norte County Sheriff's Office by calling (707) 464-4191 or submitting a tip online. 

Sources

FindAGrave 

Eureka Times-Standard 10/13/76, 10/15/76, 12/24/76 

The Del Norte Triplicate, Oct. to Dec. 1976 

2019 Lost Girls Blog post, with comments 

Ghosts of the Lost Coast podcast website 

2021 Tom Darby Blog post