Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

Yvonne Quilantang was born on July 11, 1957 in San Francisco to parents Terezo Vincent Quilantang and Evelyn Marie Quilantang (nee Leroy). Yvonne and her siblings were biracial, half white, half Asian: their father, Terezo, was an immigrant from the Philippines. Some sources from the 1970s mistakenly list Yvonne as Black. However, thorough research on Ancestry indicates that she was not Black, but instead Filipina. She was baptized Catholic. She was the youngest of six children: her older siblings are Sharon, Vincente, Michael, Linda, and Thomas; the latter was only two years older than her. Yvonne's father was a seaman. Her mother eventually grew unable to care for her, so Yvonne was "taken into a foster home, where she had lived almost since she could remember." She seemed to still be in contact with her birth family. From the June 24, 1973 edition of the  San Francisco Examiner   In early June 1973, Yvonne was 15 years old and attending Opportunity II High School. She ...

Peter Bonick and Richard Lamson are two friends who are believed to have gone missing together on Sunday, February 22, 1970. Despite this, accounts of each boy's disappearance differ both between boys and across sources. Because of this, I will be discussing the circumstances of each one separately. Richard Lamson Photo of Richard Lamson from NamUs. Richard Lamson, 18, was last seen at home in San Mateo, CA on Sunday, February 22, 1970. His friend Peter Bonick disappeared at the same time; authorities believe they left together. Neither of them have ever been seen or heard from again. Very few details are available in his case. According to Ancestry and the City of San Mateo directories from 1969 and 1971, Richard was living with his parents Richard Charles Lamson and Lorraine Lamson (nee Zell) and his older sister Constance, who was a student. Richard's father, Richard Sr, was a field supervisor at San Francisco Naval Shipyard, which has since been renamed Hunters Point Naval ...

Jacqueline Gasperian, 34, often went by "Lin" or "Lynn" and sometimes used her maiden name, Brandon. She was staying with a friend, Laurie Daniels, in LA on Overland Ave at the time she disappeared. She was last seen in Redondo Beach, LA County, CA in July 1970 and/or sometime in the summer or early autumn months of 1970 (though the majority of sources state July). Photo from NamUs. Jacqueline was reportedly driving Laurie's vehicle when it was then found abandoned on the Santa Monica Freeway. All of Lin's possessions were inside the abandoned car. She has never been seen or heard from since. Lin was born on July 1, 1936. She grew up in foster care, and as an adult she married and had two sons. She and her husband divorced in 1962, when she was 25-6 years old. In January 1970, while she was living in Phoenix, AZ, Lin sent her sons to live with their father in Los Angeles, as she was having trouble finding/maintaining a job. She has ties to Wisconsin, Arizona...

Adam and his twin brother Marc were born in Palm Springs, Riverside County, CA on May 18, 1964. They have a sister named Terri who is one year older than them. Their father Arthur was killed in a plane crash in March 1968, and afterward their mother Martha struggled to care for her three young children alone. The brothers, "grew up surfing and skateboarding in the beachside community of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, near San Diego." Adam was a good-natured person who "knew how to relate to other people." He had a good sense of humor and was athletic and musical.  By the time they were teenagers, both twins began to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana. Adam is said to have had anger issues, and would become violent during fights with his siblings. Adam Ashley. Photo from the City of San Diego Cold Cases page. In fall 1978 the twins began their freshman year at San Dieguito High School, and the family attended counseling. However, Adam still needed additional support, and his mot...

Sherry 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 foster and g...