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...

At about 4pm on Saturday, August 23, 1975, a hiker named Charles Jones discovered the body of a woman just inside the entrance to the Lake Anza area in Tilden Regional Park, about 20 ft from an auxiliary parking lot. The woman was lying on her side in the bushes along a pathway in the park in Orinda, Contra Costa County, CA. Charles Jones then notified the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) police of the discovery. Detectives arrived at the scene at about 4:30pm. The young woman had been killed by blunt force injury to the head; she was beaten to death, with her skull being crushed. In 2006 Detective Sgt. Dale Davidson said of Jane Doe, "She was hit with something very hard." It was determined that she was murdered at another location than where she was found. Despite her injuries, Jane Doe's face was recognizable, and a reconstruction dated April 21, 1976 is available below. Her death is estimated to have occurred about four to seven days before discovery, though N...

At about 3pm on Saturday, December 3, 1977, two hikers who were searching for antique bottles discovered a body just south (or west) of Canyon, Contra Costa County, CA. The body was found either about 150 ft, approximately 180 ft, or nearly 100 yds down an embankment that drops away from Pinehurst Road, 0.2 to 0.4 miles west of Canyon Road. A contemporary newspaper clipping stated that the embankment was, "near the Pinehurst and Canyon Road intersection just west of Oakland." The hikers called East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) rangers, as the body was found on EBMUD land. By 3:30pm that day EBMUD rangers verified the report and called sheriff’s deputies. Homicide investigators arrived to inspect the area after night had fallen, so a reserve officer from the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office was stationed on the road overnight to guard the remains. At the time, the body was thought to be that of a white woman. The body’s legs had been tied 10 inches above the ankle with ...