Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

Photo from CBI. Larry Gene Loucka was born on June 6, 1946. He first lived in Arizona starting in at least 1961; he may have been born there. He attended his freshman year of high school at Camelback High School in Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ in 1962. Larry then attended Norte Vista High School in Riverside, Riverside County, CA for his sophomore and junior years; it is unknown if he graduated. He then lived in Denver, Colorado for a period of time before moving back to Phoenix, AZ.  In early September 1974, Larry moved back to Denver from Phoenix. Larry was a 28-year-old white man who was known to his friends as "Smiles". His last known address according to one clipping was 1630 Humboldt St. According to his obituary, his address may have been 281 Sherman St. At 11:10pm on Sunday, September 8, 1974, Larry was walking on the sidewalk down the 400 block of E. 11th Avenue, holding a portable radio to his ear. An unknown man then ran up behind Larry and fired three shots, at le...

Deana and an older girl, Tonna, were adopted from an orphanage in Hong Kong by their (white) foster father Dean Hooper in 1966; because of this, Deana and Tonna regarded each other as sisters. Deana, her adoptive parents, her older sister, and a brother lived together in Sonoma. Eventually her sister became married and moved to Vallejo, Solano County, CA. Deana lived in Yountville at the time with her family. Photo from the March 13, 1975 edition of the  Vallejo Times-Herald . Edited by me for clarity.   At the time of her death, Deana, 18, was staying with her older sister, Mrs Tonna Albright, who lived at 901 Georgia St in Vallejo. According to the missing person's report filed by Tonna on July 15, 1974, on Monday, July 11th, she and Deana had attended a party at the Enlisted Men's Club on Mare Island, and when it came time to go home, Tonna couldn't find Deana. That was the last time she was seen. When Deana did not return home following the party, Tonna called their fat...

Tiffany Doyle, 26, was last seen on Friday, November 8, 1974 in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, CA. She may use the last name Felkey. Tiffany may have been hitchhiking when she was last seen leaving Santa Cruz. She has an unspecified, non-life-threatening medical condition that requires regular medication, which she didn't take with her. She was wearing a brown nylon jacket and a multicolored stocking cap, and was wearing a green nylon day pack or backpack. She has never been seen or heard from again. It is considered possible that she left of her own accord. Very few details are available in her case. Tiffany Doyle. Photo from NamUs. Tiffany is a white female with short brown hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was 26 years old, 5'6, and 100 lbs. Her date of birth is December 29, 1947. If alive today, she would be 77 years old. She was originally reported missing by her sister, but the original missing persons report was purged. She was reported missing a...

At about noon on Sunday, March 31, 1974, Kenneth Knock, a man from La Verne, CA, was driving in his four-wheel-drive vehicle through a remote desert area either southwest or southeast of Baker, San Bernardino County, CA, when he discovered a badly decomposed body. At 3:25pm that same day, Knock called police to report finding the body in the area of a mine off Kelbaker Rd. The location of the body, which was found lying face-down, has been variously described as a "remote desert rock formation"; "hidden among rocks"; and "in a cove area of a large rock formation." The body was found completely nude, and no possessions could be found near it. The case has been handled by homicide investigators from the onset. The remains were determined to be those of a 20 to 39 year old white man, who was estimated to be 5'5 to 5'7 and 140 to 150 lbs. He had long red-brown hair and a red-brown mustache and beard. His eye color could not be determined due to the con...

On Tuesday, July 16, 1974, a tourist couple stopped to stretch their legs in a rural desert area about 33 mi north of Wells, Elko County, Nevada, where the California Trail runs into US Highway 93. The area has also been described as either 8 or 11 mi north of Thousand Springs. There the couple discovered a human body in a dry wash full of sagebrush either 200 ft or approx. 120 yds off of US Highway 93, about 100 yds west of the old service station site at the turn-off to the Winecup Gamble Ranch. The body was determined to be that of a white female, about 16 to 25 years old. NamUs lists Jane Doe's age group as "Adult - Pre 30," while an official project on unsolved female homicides in rural Nevada states that Jane Doe was in her early 20s. She was estimated to have been 5'7 to 5'9 and 110 to 130 lbs. She had red/auburn hair. Her eye color could not be determined. Upon autopsy it was discovered that she had no adrenal glands. All parts of Jane Doe were recovered, ...

At the time of his death, 19-year-old Everett Lloyd Bradley, a young Black man, was a cook. At 7pm on Friday, February 1, 1974, Everett's wife Emma and her mother-in-law  — Everett's mother, Rosa  — returned to the couple's home at 80 West Point Rd in San Francisco. Emma had been in the hospital, and had not seen Everett since Wednesday, January 30. Upon returning home, Emma and Rosa discovered Everett's body sprawled behind a couch in the living room. He had been stabbed several times in the back. According to investigators, there was evidence of a violent struggle in the front room of the house. While newspapers don't state when he was last seen by anyone other than Emma, his death date is listed as February 1st on all records/clippings I could find, so it seems that he had been murdered on the same day that he was found. Little can be found about his case, but his murder was still unsolved by November 14, 1974, more than nine months after his death. His case is n...

Alan Wayne Soper was born on April 27, 1952, and is officially missing from Tulsa, Oklahoma. After graduating from college, Alan left home with the intention of traveling around the country. He told his parents that he was working for truck drivers — specifically loading and unloading cargo — in exchange for rides.  Alan, 22, last contacted his family on Friday, June 7, 1974, when he called and said that he was in Sacramento, California at the time. According to all databases, he was never heard from again after this phone call in Sacramento, however according to one later clipping, a truck driver told police that after Alan traveled to northern California, he (the driver) dropped him off in Needles, San Bernardino County, CA. Alan Soper. Photo from NamUs. Almost exactly three years later, on June 8, 1977, Alan's wallet and clothing were found in Needles by two young boys who were walking in the desert area west of Needles near Eagle Pass Wash. The wallet contained a substantial am...