Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

On the night of Sunday, September 8, 1968, a fire erupted at the home of the Walker family at 1042 Panadero Way/Court in Clayton, Contra Costa County, CA. The parents, Richard and Jean, were at a hospital fundraising event at the time. A neighbor, James Hanson, noticed the fire when his dog began to bark at the sparks; he called the fire department. Earlier that evening, the son of a neighbor, a Contra Costa County municipal court judge, had been visiting to play with the children, though he left after dinner. Another neighbor, Dale Ross, rushed to the scene, where he saw two of the children, Carolyn, 6, and Carlton, 9, banging on a window. Ross broke the window and pulled the children out of the house. However, Carlton stated that he needed to go rescue his 6mo baby sister, so Carlton ran back into the house. Ross was unable to follow after him due to the intense heat. Neighbors reported hearing numerous small explosions during the fire, followed by a final "big blast." Flam...

Early in the morning on Sunday, July 31, 1982, Patricia Schneider, 25, who also went by the nickname Patti, completed her shift as a cocktail waitress at an Indian Hills Golf Course restaurant and nightclub. At 3:45am, after getting off of work, Patricia made a call from the Circle K market on Limonite in Pedley, Riverside County, CA, reporting her car had broken down. Her car was a brown & white 1974 Toyota Celica with the CA license plate 018POF. Patricia has never been seen or heard from again. Patricia Schneider. Photo from NamUs. A clerk at the Circle K stated that he saw two white males with sandy hair in the parking lot while Patricia made calls from the phone. It's unclear if these individuals had anything to do with her disappearance. Between 5am and 6am that same morning, a Riverside County sheriff found Patricia's car on fire in a field near the intersection of Van Buren Blvd and Doolittle Ave. It was determined that the vehicle was burning due to arson. The area...