Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

Photo from CBI. Larry Gene Loucka was born on June 6, 1946. He first lived in Arizona starting in at least 1961; he may have been born there. He attended his freshman year of high school at Camelback High School in Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ in 1962. Larry then attended Norte Vista High School in Riverside, Riverside County, CA for his sophomore and junior years; it is unknown if he graduated. He then lived in Denver, Colorado for a period of time before moving back to Phoenix, AZ.  In early September 1974, Larry moved back to Denver from Phoenix. Larry was a 28-year-old white man who was known to his friends as "Smiles". His last known address according to one clipping was 1630 Humboldt St. According to his obituary, his address may have been 281 Sherman St. At 11:10pm on Sunday, September 8, 1974, Larry was walking on the sidewalk down the 400 block of E. 11th Avenue, holding a portable radio to his ear. An unknown man then ran up behind Larry and fired three shots, at le...

Fred Werm Comstock was 19 years old when he went missing in the fall of 1975. His date of disappearance varies across sources: NamUs states Monday, September 1st, WebSleuths states Tuesday, November 11th, and the National Park Service states Sunday, November 30th. According to WebSleuths, Fred was actually reported missing on November 30th; if this is true, this could explain why the NPS used that as his date of last contact, and would likely mean that he either went missing that day or on November 11th. NamUs, however, lists October 11, 1975 under "Date Reported"; it is possible that November 11, 1975 was intended instead, though this is just my speculation. Photo of Fred from NamUs. All three of these dates do make sense given the time frames, i.e., as possible days to go for a hike: November 30th was a Sunday, and September 1st and November 11th, while weekdays — Monday and Tuesday, respectively — were both federal holidays (Labor Day and Veterans Day, respectively). On th...

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 7:00pm on Wednesday, September 5, 1973 — two days after Labor Day  —  a man on horseback was out with his dog  near a fire road east of Skyline Drive in La Habra Heights, LA County, CA when he discovered human remains in a hilly area. The fully-clothed body was that of a teenage girl lying in an open grave that measured  12" deep, 69" long, and 27" wide.  As the body was found in the evening, authorities waited until daybreak September 6th to remove it to preserve possible evidence. Jane Doe's remains are listed as skeletal, however, due to some of the information provided, it seems that there was still some soft tissue remaining. A newspaper article from 2010 indicated that the remains were decomposing at the time of discovery.  Jane Doe had been killed by a single gunshot to the head either 30 to 60 days (according to contemporary clippings) or 30 to 90 days (according to modern sources as well as the police bulletin) before discovery. This ...

At 4:17pm on Sunday, September 5, 1965 — the day before Labor Day  — 16-year-old Humberto Cepeda was riding his new motorcycle down a hill at 22nd and Noe St.s in San Francisco when he was suddenly shot from behind. Humberto managed to bring his motorcycle to a stop on the side of the curb and get off. He then slumped to the pavement onto his back. Several witnesses heard the gunshot, and the police were called. Humberto was taken to Mission Emergency Hospital, where medical staff found the bullet caught in his clothing.  The .25 caliber bullet had entered high up in his back, then emerged through his upper right chest.  He was reported to be in good condition the following day. Two witnesses told police that they saw a light-colored station wagon with a rooftop luggage rack coming down the hill behind Humberto, but nobody actually saw the shooting occur. The owner of the station wagon was being sought for questioning; it's unclear if anything ever came of it. Humberto wa...

Scott Howard Allison grew up in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, before he and his family moved to Bakersfield, Kern County, CA for his senior year of high school. He was a varsity wrestler at West High, and finished third in the league. His former coach stated that Scott was "extremely strong, wrestling at 154 pounds." He graduated from high school in 1974. Scott Allison. Photo from FindAGrave By September 1977, Scott, 21, was an active-duty Army soldier stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. At the time of his death he was on 30-day leave before departing for his new post in Ft Richardson, Alaska. On Thursday, September 1, 1977, Scott set out on a cross-country trip to visit his family at their residence at 1805 Esther Drive in Bakersfield. Scott's family heard from him for the last time on the afternoon of  Sunday, September 4, 1977 , when he called his mother from Prescott, Yavapai County, AZ and told her that he would be home in about 10 hours. According to Google Maps, the dr...