Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

On Sunday, August 27, 1972, two hikers discovered human remains near a foot trail on the top of a hill in a forest area just inside unincorporated Jefferson County, CO. The skeleton was found on Forest Road 554, off Highway 285, about one mile east of the line between Park and Jefferson Counties. The site is near the Miller Gulch Trailhead, inside the Pike-San Isabel National Forest. The discovery was made southeast of Bailey, Park County, CO, which is the closest large community to the exact location.  The hikers promptly reported their discovery to the Park County Sheriff's Office; officers from that jurisdiction then notified authorities in Jefferson County. Responders to the scene named by the press were a Lieutenant Perkins, Investigator Piper, and Officer Robbins of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO), as well as Dr. John Hunt of the Coroner's Office. Captain Denny Boeka of the JCSO later responded to questions from the press.  At the scene the investigator...

Mona Jean Gallegos was likely born in 1952 or 1953. She went by the nickname "Tuni" among family, and she had five siblings, two sisters and three brothers. Having previously lived in Colorado, the Gallegos family moved to southern CA in 1968; Mona attended Wilson High School in LA. In 1971 the family returned to CO, which is where Mona graduated from high school that same year. The Gallegos family eventually moved back to southern CA, where they lived at 4944 Vincent Ave in Covina, LA County, CA. Mona briefly attended Mt San Antonio College, then decided to go to work full time; she was a seamstress for awhile, then got a job as a waitress. For the last six months before her disappearance, Mona had been a waitress at Coffee Dan's in West Covina. She had reportedly planned to enroll again at Mt SAC in the fall, "probably to prepare for a career in social work." At the time of her disappearance Mona, 22, lived at 4944 Vincent Ave with her mother, Alice Gallegos, ...

UPDATE: On July 28, 2026, it was announced that Jane Doe has been identified as Michelle Louise Collier. For more details, a full update can be found here . Michelle’s murder is still unsolved. This post was originally published on July 16, 2025. Prior to this update (in bold), I had not edited this post since June 17, 2026; it will remain standing as is, containing all information about the victim prior to her identification that was known at that time. Furthermore, as a result of her identification, some of the links below may no longer work or have since been edited to reflect the recent developments. On Wednesday, June 21, 1978, the partial skeletal remains of a young female were discovered in Arvin, CA in southern Kern County. The body was discovered in a shallow grave in a grape vineyard after cultivation of the fruit. The condition of the remains was partial skeletal parts only. One or more limbs, as well as one or both hands, were not recovered. It has been estimated that J...

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...