Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

In early 1969 twelve-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...

Rosa Maria Vasquez was born on August 14, 1952 in Texas. According to one contemporary source, she may have grown up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  By 1973, Rosa, a 20-year-old Latina woman, was living at 834 Bush St in San Francisco, California along with at least one female roommate. She was working as a keypunch operator at the Letterman General Hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco. Rosa was white and Hispanic. According to one source, at the time of her death she was 4'9 and 106 lbs, with brown eyes, medium-length black hair, and pierced ears. It is unknown what she was wearing when she was last seen alive. Rosa was last seen by her roommate, Frances Almazan, when she left their residence on Saturday, May 26, 1973 for the Memorial Day weekend. One source — an SFPD bulletin published in August of that year — indicated that Rosa was last seen alive on May 28th. Photo from the 1975 CA DOJ report. On the morning of Tuesday, May 29, 1973, the nude body of a young woman was f...

At 2:10pm on Sunday, March 9, 1980, the body of a young white female was discovered on a mountain side/hillside in the West Los Angeles area. The body was found about 150ft below a turnout on Topanga Canyon Blvd in Los Angeles, CA, approximately 3mi north of the Pacific Coast Highway. It was determined the cause of death was strangulation by ligature, and the manner homicide. The victim is estimated to have been dead for approximately 3-4 weeks prior to discovery, putting her death at about February 10-17, 1980. However, she is generally thought to have died as early as 1979. All parts of Jane Doe were recovered, though due to decomposition, her face was not recognizable. However, a drawing of Jane Doe is available on NamUs and Doe Network. 1980 artist rendering posted to NamUs. Jane Doe is estimated to have been 17 to 23 years old, though NamUs puts her estimated age group as Adult - Pre 20. The May 8, 1980 LAPD police bulletin available on NamUs estimated Jane Doe to be 18 to 22 year...

On Wednesday, March 1, 1978, Delta-Mendota Canal personnel discovered the remains of a young female lying face-down on the side of Mountain House Rd, near mile marker 3.40, in Livermore, Alameda County, CA,  near the San Joaquin County line. Her lower torso, still clothed, was mummified, while her skull, collarbone, and some ribs were skeletal. Her arms and hands were not present, having been carried away by animals. Jane Doe had been shot in the head with what was believed to be a .357 caliber magnum slug. A towel still wrapped around her neck indicated that she had also been strangled. She was the victim of a homicide, and had died some months prior to being found, sometime in 1977 or 1978. One contemporary clipping specified that she had been dead for two to three months, putting her death at approximately December 1977 to January 1978. Based on the angle of the bullet's trajectory, which traveled from right to left, it is believed that Jane Doe was sitting up when shot. Investi...

Rose Tashman was born in Israel; she and her parents — Mr & Mrs Charles Tashman — moved to the US in 1962. Rose graduated from Fairfax High School in June 1967. By 1969, she and her parents lived at 448 N Formosa Ave in Hollywood, and she was a student at San Fernando Valley State College. She planned to enroll in the fall at UCLA. Rose had dark hair and dark eyes. Rose Tashman's 1967 Fairfax High School senior yearbook photo. On the evening/night of Sunday, May 18, 1969, Rose, 19, left her home at 448 N Formosa Ave in Hollywood to study for final exams with a friend who lived in Van Nuys or possibly Panorama City, depending on the source. She eventually departed late in the night, driving home. At 6pm on Monday, May 19, Sgt Eugene Thompson was on patrol in the area when he spotted a nude female body in the bushes near Mulholland Drive and Coldwater Canyon Rd in the Hollywood Hills. The body was found in a brushy ravine near Beverly Drive, only 0.5mi from where Marina Habe was ...