Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

Patricia 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. On May 1, 1976, Patti gave birth to ...

On Friday, December 20, 1968, David, 17, drove his mother's station wagon to Betty Lou's, 16, house at 8:00pm. They left in the car at 8:30pm for the house of one of Jensen's friends. Sometime after 9:00pm they then drove to the outskirts of Vallejo, Solano County, CA and parked at a gravel parking area — a lovers' lane — along remote Lake Herman Rd. This is near/at the entrance to the city of Benicia, Solano County. A passing motorist noticed the couple between 10:15-10:30pm, parked on the side of Lake Herman Rd, on a gravel runoff near the gate to a Benicia water pumping station. They were spotted again at 11:00pm. David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen. Photo from Wikipedia. Sometime between 11:05 and 11:10pm, an unknown assailant pulled his car up next to David's, about 10 ft away from the passenger's side of the vehicle. The unidentified man left his vehicle and approached the couple's car, firing several shots inside. The bullets hit various parts of the c...

Sandra JoAnn Rushing was born on August 27, 1960 in Denver, CO to parents Joe Bailey Rushing Jr and Shirley Joan Rushing (nee Otey). Sandra's mom's side of the family was from Denver, while her father's side was from Abilene, TX. Sandra had two older siblings, sister Brenda Kay Tate (nee Rushing) and brother Terry Joe Rushing. Brenda was a little less than four years older than Sandra, as she  was born in late 1956 . Terry was born in late September 1959, making him eleven months older than Sandra; despite this, the two of them were in the same grade in high school. This is likely because Sandra's birth date was on the cusp of the cut off; she was only seventeen years old when she graduated. Sandra's 1978 Lakewood High School senior yearbook photo. The Rushings lived in Denver proper up to at least 1969, though by 1973 they were living in Lakewood, Jefferson County, CO, a suburb of Denver. All three Rushing children went to Lakewood High School. Both Sandra and Terr...

Lynn Mueller, 21, was found dead in her bedroom by her husband Mike, 27, at their house at 880 E Main St in Ventura, Ventura County, CA on Friday, May 30, 1975. That day Mike had taken Lynn to the dentist because she had a toothache. Once they got back to their home, Mike made Lynn some soup, then left for his job on the night shift at an oil refinery "off the Rincon." Photo from the City of Ventura Cold Case Investigations page. Lynn, who was devoutly religious, went next door to a service at a Pentecostal church on Kalorama and Main St that evening. Other churchgoers stated that they last saw her at church  at 9:30pm . After returning home, Lynn called Mike at work and chatted with him for about 15min. A neighbor then reported seeing Lynn speaking with a man on her porch at approximately 10:00pm. The man was described as light haired and wearing a short jacket, perhaps a uniform jacket. The witness description matched that of a man who had argued with Lynn regarding religio...

In early 1969 12-year-old Deborah Lee "Debbie" Shelton was living in Aptos, Santa Cruz County, CA with her mother Marcia, 28, and sisters Victoria, 11, and Melissa, 6. They had moved to the Rio del Mar area of the county from Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, CA about a year earlier. Her father, James Vern Shelton, was killed in a car accident at the age of 28 in 1966. Aptos is an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz County, CA. According to Wikipedia, it consists of several different small villages, including Rio del Mar, where Debbie's family lived, and nearby Aptos Village. The villages that comprise Aptos presently have a combined population of 24,402, with Rio del Mar itself consisting of 9,128 of that number. Debbie was born on July 25, 1956. She  reportedly visited her paternal grandparents in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA often, and had made several friends her age in the Santa Rosa area. Debbie was a seventh grader at Aptos Junior High who was on winter break at the...

Connie Minchaca, 17, was last seen either at her home in Napa, CA, or in the late afternoon on Friday, June 9, 1978 after a family friend drove her to a western clothing store where she was supposed to meet a friend. She planned to attend a party the night she disappeared, though friends claim that she never arrived to the party. All of her personal belongings were left behind at the home she shared with her father. Her father, Wesley R Faulk, is listed as living at 2280 Brown St, Apt 9, in Napa, CA in the city directories for 1977, 1978, and 1979. Photo from NamUs. At the time of her disappearance, Connie was "dating" a 25-year-old man, and her family did not approve of the situation. She was having problems with her family as a result. She would often sneak out of her bedroom window at night to meet with the man. Every time that her room was discovered empty, her family would call the police, and officers would pick Connie up while en route to her boyfriend's house. Con...

On Sunday, March 16, 1980, the decomposed body of a man was located on the shoulder of Avenue 50 between Polk & Tyler St.s in Coachella, Riverside County, CA. He had multiple gunshot wounds, and had been dead for one to two days, putting his death somewhere between March 14-15, 1980. He was fully dressed, but did not have any identification or personal belongings on him. His page on the Riverside County Sheriff's cold case website specifies that, "It is unknown where death occurred." John Doe was a white man with possible Hispanic ancestry who stood 5'9 tall and weighed 160 lbs. While NamUs and Doe Network put his possible age range at 20 to 30 years old, The Desert Sun  and the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner puts him at 20 to 25 years old. John Doe had light to medium brown hair, medium in length; hazel eyes; a reddish-brown mustache; and a thin reddish-brown goatee. No scars, tattoos, or disfigurements were found. John Doe was wearing brown pants of an unknown...

Tiffany Doyle, 26, was last seen on Friday, November 8, 1974 in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, CA. She may use the last name Felkey. Tiffany may have been hitchhiking when she was last seen leaving Santa Cruz. She has an unspecified, non-life-threatening medical condition that requires regular medication, which she didn't take with her. She was wearing a brown nylon jacket and a multicolored stocking cap, and was wearing a green nylon day pack or backpack. She has never been seen or heard from again. It is considered possible that she left of her own accord. Very few details are available in her case. Tiffany Doyle. Photo from NamUs. Tiffany is a white female with short brown hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was 26 years old, 5'6, and 100 lbs. Her date of birth is December 29, 1947. If alive today, she would be 77 years old. She was originally reported missing by her sister, but the original missing persons report was purged. She was reported missing a...

At 12:30pm on Friday, February 25, 1977,  a rock collector discovered a badly decomposed body near the Cactus City pumping station/rest stop, and promptly called authorities. While contemporary newspaper articles state that the area of discovery was located about 20 mi east of Indio, Riverside County, CA, modern sources differ: NamUs states that the body was, "found on a dirt frontage road 19 miles east of Indio." Meanwhile, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s site, the body was found in, "open desert north of [the] I-10 freeway and east of the Cactus City rest stop area, concealed under brush that had been set [on] fire. This area is about 25 miles east of Indio, CA." Investigators were initially unable to determine the sex due to the advanced decomposition, though by February 28th — three days after discovery — it was determined that the body was that of a female. All sources differ on the PMI. According to a contemporary newspaper clipping, it was initial...

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. On March 1, 1977, the LAPD located Gregory's vehicle and towed it away as abandoned. They eventually released it to Gregory's 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 having predeceased her. Very few details are av...

At the time of his death, 19-year-old Everett Lloyd Bradley, a young Black man, was a cook. At 7pm on Friday, February 1, 1974, Everett's wife Emma and her mother-in-law  — Everett's mother, Rosa  — returned to the couple's home at 80 West Point Rd in San Francisco. Emma had been in the hospital, and had not seen Everett since Wednesday, January 30. Upon returning home, Emma and Rosa discovered Everett's body sprawled behind a couch in the living room. He had been stabbed several times in the back. According to investigators, there was evidence of a violent struggle in the front room of the house. While newspapers don't state when he was last seen by anyone other than Emma, his death date is listed as February 1st on all records/clippings I could find, so it seems that he had been murdered on the same day that he was found. Little can be found about his case, but his murder was still unsolved by November 14, 1974, more than nine months after his death. His case is n...

Reet Jurvetson was born on September 23, 1950 in Sweden. She was  a Canadian citizen  of Estonian descent. In the late summer of 1969 she left her home in Montreal to visit a man named either "John" or "Jean" in California. Reet Jurvetson. Photo from  People  magazine. She had become acquainted with John/Jean while working at a Toronto post office several months before her murder. According to family and detectives, Reet had been "absolutely smitten" by John/Jean, and saved her earnings so she could travel to meet up with John/Jean after he had relocated to CA. According to a witness, John/Jean had been a medical student with a slight French accent. On Friday, October 31, 1969, Reet wrote a postcard in Estonian to her family, describing her "general satisfaction" with life in LA and encouraging her parents to maintain correspondence with her. She also sent a postcard to her closest friend; these were the final contacts she had with friends or fam...