Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

At 12:30pm on Friday, February 25, 1977,  a rock collector discovered a badly decomposed body near the Cactus City water 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 Office (RCSO)'s website, 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 of the decedent 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 ...

Despite growing up in Rhode Island, throughout her life 14-year-old Claire Penelope Hough would often travel to California to visit her grandparents, who lived just a few blocks from Torrey Pines Beach. This was just the case in the summer of 1984, when Claire, her brother, and Claire's best friend Kim Jamer went to visit Claire's grandparents in California. Claire Hough. Photo from FindAGrave. On August 21st or 22nd, the night before Kim was set to head home to Rhode Island, Claire convinced her to sneak out of her grandparents' house and go to the beach after dark. However, once they got there and settled near their favorite spot by the bridge, Kim had a panic attack, so they went back home. Kim made Claire promise not to sneak out by herself again. The next day, Kim went home to Rhode Island while Claire and her brother stayed in California with her grandparents, as planned. On Friday, August 24, 1984, Claire's body was found by a beachcomber named Wallace Wheeler ne...

Barbara Nantais. Photo from FindAGrave. On the weekend of Saturday, August 12, 1978, Barbara Jane Nantais's parents Ralph and Judy left San Diego to visit friends. A family friend was looking after Barbara and her three siblings. Practically as soon as Ralph and Judy left, Barbara, 15, and her boyfriend Jim, 17, as well as friend Rick Selga and his girlfriend, got together and drove to Torrey Pines State Beach, where they all hung out together. The Perseid meteor shower was visible in San Diego after dusk. Around 9:30pm the friends called it a night. Rick and his girlfriend decided to sleep in the station wagon that they had driven, while Jim and Barbara went down to the beach for some privacy. They zipped their sleeping bags together, crawled in them, had sex, and then went to sleep. Barbara was lying in Jim's arms when they fell asleep. The next morning, Jim woke up cold and alone, covered in blood. Blinded by blood and disoriented, he had to feel his way along a fence up the...