Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

Martin Burleson was born on October 9, 1950 in Sacramento County, CA to parents Edward Lee and Geraldine "Gerrie" Burleson (nee Khan). His mother, Gerrie, is half Indian — possibly specifically half Punjabi — through her father; on census records, she is listed as East Indian.  Martin seems to have been either the oldest or second oldest Burleson child, though this is uncertain due to not being able to find birth records for his (possibly older) sister Linda. He had eight siblings total, who — other than Linda — ranged between three and fifteen years younger than Martin. Among family he went by the nickname Marty. It seems that all of the children, including Martin, attended Rio Linda High School.  From what I could find, the Burleson family lived variously in Carmichael, Elverta, and Del Paso Heights (a neighborhood of Sacramento), all in Sacramento County, as well as eventually Live Oak, Sutter County, CA, up to at least 1978 as well as in the 90s. In 1968 and 1978  — t...

1970 graduation photo. Accessed from NamUs. On Friday, April 16, 1971, Michael Pickering, 20, told his family that he was hitchhiking to San Francisco, and that he would return in a few days. However, he never returned to his home in Victorville, San Bernardino County, CA. He has never been seen or heard from again. Few details are available in his case. Michael is a white male who also goes by the nickname "Zappa." At the time of his disappearance he was 6'0 to 6'1 and 130 to 140 lbs. He has blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair, which appears in photos to be wavy to curly in texture. His right ear is reportedly deformed. It is unknown what he was wearing when he was last seen. A photo of Michael as a child. Accessed from NamUs. Michael is classified on the Doe Network as Endangered Missing. His date of birth is December 14, 1950. If alive today he would be 74 years old. He seems to have graduated from high school in 1970. Michael's DNA is available for comparison...

On Saturday, October 4, 1975, the body of an unidentified man was discovered in the All-American Canal in Mecca, Riverside County, CA. He had been killed from a blow to the head before a rope connected to a piece of iron (used as a weight) was tied around his neck; his body was then placed in the canal. It is believed that he died three to seven days before he was found, meaning his estimated DOD is somewhere between Saturday, September 27th and Wednesday, October 1, 1975, inclusive. The canal is controlled with a series of gates, and the distance to the last gate was about 8mi into the rural community of Mecca. The body was found face-down in the canal at the last gate. While all parts were recovered, his remains were not recognizable due to decomposition. John Doe was an 18-25 year old white and/or Hispanic male. He had straight, medium-length dark brown hair, with no facial hair. His eye color is unknown. John Doe was measured as being 6'0 and about 185 lbs. He was wearing blue ...

Note: While this write-up was originally published on August 18, 2025, I regularly revisit cases, fix any typos or formatting errors, check for updates, hyperlink new posts, ensure that I have exhausted all sources, etc. When edits are extensive, I re-post the write-up. This post was last updated, even in a minor way, on October 14, 2025.     At about 11:00am on Monday, February 18, 1980, three tourists from Canada stopped at a mountain viewpoint on Highway 74 about four to six miles south of Palm Desert, Riverside County, CA. As the tourists peered over a guardrail, they spotted a body either at the bottom of a 20-30 ft gully, or about 35 ft down a ravine near a turn-out in the highway. The body was determined to be that of a young woman. All parts were recovered, and Jane Doe's face was recognizable. It is believed that she had died only one or two days before discovery, putting her death at about Saturday or Sunday, February 16 or 17, 1980. NamUs erroneously states tha...