Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

Steven Ericson was born on April 3, 1954 in Los Angeles County, CA. His mother's maiden name is Roeder. Very little could be found about him or his family. 1972 Woodrow Wilson High School senior yearbook photo. Steven attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, LA County, CA starting in at least 1970; he graduated in 1972. The high school yearbook lists him as "Steve Ericson." His junior and senior yearbook photos are available on this post, as well as on sites below; they were originally sourced from Ancestry.   Steven was last seen on Thursday, June 1, 1972 in Grass Valley, Nevada County, CA. It is unclear why he was in Northern California, as he was from Long Beach.  Very few details are available in Steven's case. He is listed among deceased alumni on his high school class's website, linked below. He is classified as Endangered Missing on the Doe Network, while the Charley Project simply lists him as Missing. Steven is a white male with blonde hair and ...

On Sunday, August 27, 1972, two hikers discovered human remains near a foot trail on the top of a hill in a forest area just inside unincorporated Jefferson County, CO. The skeleton was found on Forest Road 554, off Highway 285, about one mile east of the line between Park and Jefferson Counties. The site is near the Miller Gulch Trailhead, inside the Pike-San Isabel National Forest. The discovery was made southeast of Bailey, Park County, CO, which is the closest large community to the exact location.  The hikers promptly reported their discovery to the Park County Sheriff's Office; officers from that jurisdiction then notified authorities in Jefferson County. Responders to the scene named by the press were a Lieutenant Perkins, Investigator Piper, and Officer Robbins of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO), as well as Dr. John Hunt of the Coroner's Office. Captain Denny Boeka of the JCSO later responded to questions from the press.  At the scene the investigator...

Sixteen-year-old Christopher Wells was last seen in December 1972 in Seattle, King County, Washington. Sources differ as to when he went missing: the date provided by NamUs — as well as the Charley Project and the Doe Network, which use NamUs as a source — is Saturday, December 16, 1972, while, according to NCMEC and the Washington Missing Persons Database, Christopher was instead last seen three days earlier, on Wednesday, December 13, 1972. Photo of Christopher c.1972 from NamUs. According to NamUs, Christopher was reported missing on Saturday, December 16, 1972: this is either the day he was last seen, or three days after, depending on the source. The most likely explanation is that Christopher was last seen on Wednesday the 13th before being reported missing on the 16th, and that the reported date was mistakenly entered as the missing date on NamUs, then taken as fact by the Charley Project and the Doe Network. Along with the discrepancies regarding the date, there are very few det...

On Wednesday, November 15, 1972, two teenagers were chasing rabbits on a hillside when they discovered human skeletal remains in a shallow grave at the Baldwin Hills Reservoir in Los Angeles. The grave was about 125 yds east of Cloverdale Ave near the old Baldwin Hills Dam, and was believed to have been uncovered by recent rains, and/or the remains had been strewn about by animals. The skeleton was determined to be that of a woman of unknown/uncertain race. Jane Doe was a 17 to 30 year old female, though NamUs specifies that her estimated age group is "Adult - Pre-30." Furthermore, one contemporary newspaper article stated that she was estimated to have probably been, "between 20 and 25 years old, but [investigators] added the age could range anywhere between 17 and 34."  Jane Doe was about 5'1 tall in life. Her weight and eye color could not be determined due to the condition of the remains. While modern sources state that Jane Doe had reddish-brown hair, a con...

Sherry Pickle, who also went by the nickname Sonny, was born on September 14, 1956 in LA County, CA. Her mother, Jeanette Marie Pickle (nee Broeker), was 18 years old at the time of Sherry's birth. Sherry Pickle. Photo from NamUs. Sherry, 15, was last seen on Tuesday, May 16, 1972, though one source — CA DOJ — indicates that she went missing two days earlier, on May 14th. Sherry was last seen at Coronado Ave and Broadway in Long Beach, LA County, CA. She has never been seen or heard from since. Sherry is believed to have traveled to Borrego Springs, San Diego County, CA — 150 mi southeast of Long Beach — after that time. Because of this, some sources list her as missing from Borrego Springs. Sherry may have traveled to meet with a male companion, or hitchhiked to the Los Angeles area. NamUs lists her transportation as "none," i.e. she did not have a vehicle. On Wednesday, July 18, 1973, the Time Press Recorder in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County, CA, published a sho...

William Elroy Meyer was born on June 18, 1953; Charley Project erroneously states that he was born in 1933. He was last seen in San Francisco, CA on Sunday, May 7, 1972, when he was 18 years old. Very few details are available in his case. He is listed as Endangered Missing on the Doe Network, and simply Missing on the Charley Project. William Meyer. Photo from NamUs. William is a white male who was 18 years old, 5'10, and 160 lbs at the time of his disappearance. He has blue eyes and brown hair. The available photo of him has him wearing large, apparently clear-framed glasses, and his hair seems to be wavy and parted on the left. His dental x-rays are not available for comparison, and it is unknown if his fingerprints or DNA are available. He has zero rule-outs on NamUs page, #MP41492, which was created and last updated on December 26, 2017 and September 9, 2022, respectively. The Fond Du Lac County (Wisconsin) Sheriff's Department is investigating his case. The reason why WI ...

Linda Diane Uhlig was born on November 12, 1952, in Colby, Clark County, Wisconsin. She was one of seven living children at the time. Soon after graduating high school in 1970, Linda got a job at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. in San Francisco. At the time of her death she was living in an apartment at 528 29th Ave in San Francisco. One of her siblings also lived in CA, while the rest, along with their parents, still lived in WI. On the afternoon of Friday, March 24, 1972, Linda, 19, cashed her paycheck of about $180 [$1,408.59 today] in SF, and then was expected to arrive at her brother Wilbert's home in Millbrae, San Mateo County, CA that evening. Millbrae is about 10mi south of Linda's apartment. Linda didn't own a car, though her brother told authorities that she normally did not hitchhike. From this information it seems that she planned to take a bus or perhaps get a ride from a friend. She was last seen alive by friends in SF that afternoon or evening. Linda Uhli...