Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

I am happy to say that Emigrant Gap Jane Doe 1977 has been officially identified through DNA as Melinda "Pip" Beardsley. I have been in contact with a member of Pip's family who had reached out to me, her niece Janet, throughout part of this process, but had been waiting for confirmation from law enforcement before following up on this here on my blog.  Melinda was born in Michigan in 1946, the youngest of six siblings. She was a 31-year-old mother of two at the time of her death; one of her children was adopted out of the family at birth, while the other was in the care of relatives when Melinda disappeared. Melinda was reported missing to the Reno Police Department in November 2025 by two of her nieces and a half-nephew after the latest confirmation of life that they could find was notification of a DUI charge in Reno in December 1976. She was last known to be living in Carson City, NV.  A fingerprint match was made between Melinda and the then-unidentified decedent so...

Note: While this write-up was originally published on August 5, 2025, I regularly revisit cases, check for updates, ensure that I have exhausted all sources, etc., and then make note of when I last did so, no matter how minor. When edits are extensive, I re-post the write-up entirely. This post was last updated on October 19, 2026.    From the Sept. 14, 1977 edition of the  Fremont Argus. Background   Kurt Theodore Kaikinger was born on November 18, 1948 in San Francisco, CA to parents Theodore Joseph Kaikinger and Elaine Barbara Botzer, who had married in April of that year. Theodore's parents were originally from France. Kurt was the oldest of three boys, with his younger brothers Karl and Christian being born in 1950 and 1956, respectively. By 1950 the family was living in Oakland, Alameda County, CA before moving to San Leandro in the same county. Kurt graduated from Pacific High School in San Leandro in 1966.  According to classmates of his, who posted on t...

Lynn Ruth Connes, 20, was from North Carolina. At some point seemingly after high school she left her mother and younger brother, Lee, to move to California, where she could foster her artistry. According to Lee, he always looked up to his older sister, who he described as loving, passionate, and naturally talented. At the time of her disappearance Lynn lived in an apartment at 2817 Regent St in Berkeley, Alameda County, CA and worked part-time as a telephone solicitor in Marin County. Lynn had recently advertised for employment as a photographer's model in the newspaper The Berkeley Barb , and a man who identified himself as "Jeff" called her, answering her ad. They agreed to meet at the Bateau Ivre Restaurant at 2629 Telegraph Ave, four blocks from Lynn's home. Photo from NamUs. On Thursday, May 20, 1976, Lynn was last seen at her residence, which she then left to meet with "Jeff." This is considered the last definitive sighting of Lynn. An unidentified wa...

Patricia Ann 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, and has been listed among decease...

At the time of her death, Ollie George, 19, was a student at American River College. Her father, Rev. C.D. George, was the minister of the Church of God in Christ. She had two younger sisters and an older brother.   Ollie left her home at 75 Butterworth Ave in North Sacramento at about 4:00pm on Monday, February 23, 1976 to buy some nylons at a shopping center in Sacramento. She was then seen by two clerks at the Safeway Store she had driven to.  Photo from FindAGrave. At about 5:30pm, Ollie called her mother to say that the car she borrowed from her brother wouldn't start. An employee at a nearby McDonald's reportedly saw Ollie some time after he started his shift at 5pm.  At about 6:00pm, Ollie's 17-year-old sister, Laurenda, and her brother's girlfriend, Beata, went to go help Ollie, but when they arrived she wasn't there. The car was unlocked and the keys were in the ignition. Inside the vehicle were grocery items, nylons, her purse, and a partially eaten M...

Photo of Steven Downes published in the Feb. 6, 1976 edition of the  San Francisco Examiner . Steven William Downes was last seen on the afternoon of Sunday, February 1, 1976, when he was seen swimming at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. According to friends, Steven was only wearing gray shorts when he was last seen. He lived on Greenview Court in San Francisco at the time. Very few details are available in his case. Steven was a 22-year-old white male who was 6'0 to 6'1 and 160 lbs. He has brown hair, green eyes, and freckles. A photo of him posted in the SF Examiner shortly after he went missing shows him with chin to shoulder length hair, as well as a beard and mustache. His facial hair is curly, and his head hair is wavy in texture. His date of birth is February 8, 1953; if alive today he would be 72 years old. A less recent photo of Steven. From NamUs. Steven's dental x-rays are not available for comparison, while the availability of other identifiers, such as his finger...

Gregory Hinz, 22, was last seen on Monday, November 15 or Friday, November 19, 1976, in Altadena, LA County, CA. He was reported missing on December 14th of that year; sources do not specify who he was reported missing by. On March 1, 1977, the LAPD located Gregory's vehicle and towed it away as abandoned. They eventually released it to his family. NamUs and Doe Network list his date of last contact as Monday, November 15, 1976, while CA DOJ and Charley Project state that Gregory went missing on Friday, November 19, 1976. Gregory is a white male with blonde hair and blue eyes. At the time of his disappearance he was 22 years old, 6'0, and 165 lbs. He had a mustache and short beard. His date of birth is April 17, 1954. If alive today he would be 71 years old. Gregory Hinz. Photo from NamUs. Gregory's case is being handled by the homicide bureau. He is classified as Endangered Missing on the Charley Project and Doe Network.  When his mother died, her obituary listed him as ha...

Reconstruction created by NCMEC. On Easter Sunday, April 11, 1976, remains of a human were found in a remote canyon area 90ft west of a paved portion of Lopez Canyon Rd in San Fernando, LA County, CA. While NamUs states that the remains consisted of a complete or near complete skeleton, Doe Network indicates that the condition of the remains was decomposed; this is supported by the fact that some things that would not be able to be determined if the body was fully skeletal, such as eye color, fingerprints, and scars, were noted. Furthermore, a photo of Jane Doe's intact feet with her shoes on is available on NamUs. It was determined that the body was that of a white female who was a victim of homicidal violence. Evidence at the scene indicated that Jane Doe was either shot or stabbed to death. It is estimated that she died two to seven days prior to discovery, putting her death as occurring sometime between Sunday, April 4th to Friday, April 9, 1976. The unidentified body became kn...

Donna Marie Larrabee is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. She is not missing from, nor was her primary residence on, tribal land. According to her nephew, Randall Larrabee, Donna was born on June 7, 1960. At the time of writing, she would be 65 years old. Donna Larrabee. Photo from NamUs. Donna, 16, was living in Rapid City, Pennington County, South Dakota with her mother and other family members. On Wednesday, November 17, 1976, she left home to take a Greyhound bus to Sacramento, CA to visit her father. However, it is unknown if she ever arrived. She has never been seen or heard from again. According to Doe Network, "the bus route traveled through South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California." Donna is an Indigenous female with black hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance she was 16 years old, 5'6, and 120 lbs. She wears glasses. It is unknown what clothing she was wearing when she disappeared. Few details are available in Donna's cas...

Sherry Elizabeth Roach was born on February 4, 1959 in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA. Her parents are Daniel David Roach (b.1939) and Suzanne Elizabeth "Sue" Herron (b.1940), who married in Santa Rosa in October 1957. She has a younger brother, Jerry, who is still looking for her. Their parents, Dan and Sue, divorced in either 1968 or 1971. Sue eventually formed a relationship with a man named James Stevenson. According to his Jan. 6, 2010 obituary, James "lived with his partner Suzanne Roach in Santa Rosa for 43 years"; based on this account, James and Sue had been together since about 1967. Sherry Roach. Photo from NamUs. According to Sherry's younger brother Jerry, the two siblings were very close. They grew up in Santa Rosa in a violent household, according to Jerry. As a result, Sherry ran away from home often, and every time she did she would "call [Jerry] and let [him] know where she was at, what was going on." Sherry bounced around different fo...