Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

  Very little information is available online about Sean Kenneth Phelan. He was born on February 2, 1960, possibly in a state other than California, as I could not locate him in the CA Birth Index.  For his freshman (1974-1975) and junior years (1976-1977), Sean attended Newport Christian High School in Newport Beach, Orange County, CA. The 1975 yearbook misspelled his first name as "Sian." The 1975-1976 yearbook is not available on Ancestry, but it seems likely that Sean attended the same school his sophomore year. He is not present among seniors in the school's 1977-1978 yearbook; from this it seems that he likely either transferred to another school for that year, or dropped out entirely. According to Ancestry, at an unknown time Sean lived at 22 Lewis in Irvine, Orange County, CA. Other sources also indicate that Sean was recently divorced at the time of his disappearance. I could not find any further information related to his marriage or divorce.  One of the photos ...

Note: While this write-up was originally published on July 29, 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 updates are extensive or significant, I re-post the write-up entirely. This post was last edited on February 4, 2026.   On Sunday, October 21, 1979, a motorist named Tony Trudnich became stranded in a rural area of Clark County, NV, somewhat near Las Vegas. He noticed a foul odor and began looking around for the source. There he discovered human remains "wrapped and bound in a sheet," lying partially in a culvert pipe on I-15 near mile marker 61, and/or north of mile marker 60 (according to her 2016 NamUs page), near Apex (a neighborhood of North Las Vegas). The victim's legs were extending outside of the pipe.  The decedent's torso, as well as one or more limbs and one or more hands were not recovered. The remains were not recognizable...

On Saturday, September 20, 1980, a dog discovered a human leg bone in the area of Littlerock, LA County, CA. Investigators were notified, and they soon found a shallow grave on or near Pearblossom Highway.  The Doe Network describes the location of the grave as "on Pearblossom Highway, ½ mile East of Avenue V" in Littlerock. This description, however, is confusing for a few reasons: a) there is no roadway specifically named just "Avenue V" in Littlerock, b) there  is  E Ave V (i.e., East Avenue V), as well as E Ave V-8, E Ave V-9, etc. up to E Ave V-14, and c) all of the E Ave V's run east-to-west, parallel to Pearblossom Highway, so there are no locations where the highway is east  of  any of the avenues. Because of this, I believe the intended meaning of "East of Avenue V" could instead be simply "E Ave V," however which one is intended — as well as its relation to the gravesite — is uncertain on my part. Regarding the shallow grave, the ar...

On Wednesday, October 13, 1982, maintenance workers were clearing a roadside drainage ditch at Mt Baldy Rd mile marker 5.34 in LA County when they discovered the skeletal remains of a human underneath some bushes. The exact location is very close to the border with San Bernardino County, and is  just  inside the Angeles National Forest. The sex of the decedent is undetermined. Because of this, I will be using the singular  they  to refer them. Furthermore, instead of the usual "John/Jane Doe," I have chosen to occasionally refer to them as  Jean Doe , as Jean is a unisex name, and I do not want to simply refer to them as "Doe" or "Unknown Doe," as I find that to be dehumanizing.  Google Street View of what I strongly believe is the drainage ditch in which LA County Doe 1982 was found, viewed through Google Earth. The body was unrecognizable due to consisting of partial remains with soft tissues. One or more limbs, as well as one or both hands, were n...

Note: While this write-up was originally published on August 16, 2025, I regularly revisit cases, fix any typos or formatting errors, check for updates, hyperlink new posts, 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 November 4, 2025.  From March to May 1979, three sets of remains belonging to young white men were discovered in a five mile radius of each other in San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties. All three were reported on together at the time. Some sources — including NCMEC and the Doe Network  —  incorrectly indicate that the two sets of remains found in LA County belonged to the same individual, and other users online have repeated this error. For these reasons I am writing about all three sets of remains in one post. Map of the locations of all three sets of remains. Created by me using Google Maps, viewed ...

Martin Burleson was born on October 9, 1950 in Sacramento County, CA to parents Edward Lee and Geraldine "Gerrie" Burleson (nee Khan). His mother, Gerrie, is half Indian — possibly specifically half Punjabi — through her father; on census records, she is listed as East Indian.  Martin seems to have been either the oldest or second oldest Burleson child, though this is uncertain due to not being able to find birth records for his (possibly older) sister Linda. He had eight siblings total, who — other than Linda — ranged between three and fifteen years younger than Martin. Among family he went by the nickname Marty. It seems that all of the children, including Martin, attended Rio Linda High School.  From what I could find, the Burleson family lived variously in Carmichael, Elverta, and Del Paso Heights (a neighborhood of Sacramento), all in Sacramento County, as well as eventually Live Oak, Sutter County, CA, up to at least 1978 as well as in the 90s. In 1968 and 1978  — t...

1970 graduation photo. Accessed from NamUs. On Friday, April 16, 1971, Michael Pickering, 20, told his family that he was hitchhiking to San Francisco, and that he would return in a few days. However, he never returned to his home in Victorville, San Bernardino County, CA. He has never been seen or heard from again. Few details are available in his case. Michael is a white male who also goes by the nickname "Zappa." At the time of his disappearance he was 6'0 to 6'1 and 130 to 140 lbs. He has blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair, which appears in photos to be wavy to curly in texture. His right ear is reportedly deformed. It is unknown what he was wearing when he was last seen. A photo of Michael as a child. Accessed from NamUs. Michael is classified on the Doe Network as Endangered Missing. His date of birth is December 14, 1950. If alive today he would be 74 years old. He seems to have graduated from high school in 1970. Michael's DNA is available for comparison...

At 2:13pm on Saturday, October 4, 1975, the body of an unidentified man was discovered in the All-American Canal in Mecca, Riverside County, CA. He had been killed from a blow to the head before a rope connected to a piece of iron (used as a weight) was tied around his neck; his body was then placed in the canal. It is believed that he died three to seven days before he was found, meaning his estimated DOD is somewhere between Saturday, September 27th and Wednesday, October 1, 1975, inclusive. The canal is controlled with a series of gates, and the distance to the last gate was about 8mi into the rural community of Mecca. The body was found face-down in the canal at the last gate. While all parts were recovered, his remains were not recognizable due to decomposition. John Doe was an 18 to 25 year old white and/or Hispanic male, with his estimated age group on NamUs being "Adult - Pre 30." He had straight, medium-length dark brown hair, with no facial hair. His eye color is un...

UPDATE: On April 3, 2026  it was announced that Jane Doe has been identified as Victoria Jean Hargrove.  For more details, a full update can be found here . This post was originally published on Aug. 18, 2025. Aside from this update (in bold), I have not edited the contents in any way since Feb. 16, 2026. This post will remain standing as it is, containing all information about the victim prior to her identification that was known as of Feb. 16, 2026. Furthermore, due  to her identification, some of the links may no longer work or have since been edited to reflect the recent developments. At about 11:00am on Monday, February 18, 1980, three tourists from Canada stopped at a mountain viewpoint on Highway 74 about four to six miles south of Palm Desert, Riverside County, CA. As the tourists peered over a guardrail, they spotted a body either at the bottom of a 20 to 30 ft gully, or about 35 ft down a ravine near a turn-out in the highway. The body was determined to be that ...

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 ...