Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

On Sunday, September 3, 1978, a jogger discovered human remains while running in the Santa Monica Mountains in Calabasas Highlands in Calabasas, LA County, CA. The body was found down a hillside and covered with plastic trash bags. The remains were found within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which was established two months after the discovery of the body. The unidentified person, who was determined to be a woman, was originally listed as being found in Thousand Oaks by NamUs, and is therefore often called Thousand Oaks Jane Doe 1978 online. However, Thousand Oaks is located in Ventura County, CA, but it has been known since the beginning that Jane Doe was actually found in Los Angeles County. In about 2019 her NamUs page was updated, with the location of her remains now being the community of Calabasas Highlands in Calabasas, LA County, CA. Her case is being investigated by the LA County Medical Examiner's Office (LACME). All parts of the remains were recover...

On Wednesday, October 13, 1982, maintenance workers were clearing a roadside drainage ditch at Mt Baldy Rd mile marker 5.34 in LA County when they discovered the skeletal remains of a human underneath some bushes. The exact location is very close to the border with San Bernardino County, and is  just  inside the Angeles National Forest. The sex of the decedent is undetermined. Because of this, I will be using the singular  they  to refer them. Furthermore, instead of the usual "John/Jane Doe," I have chosen to occasionally refer to them as  Jean Doe , as Jean is a unisex name, and I do not want to simply refer to them as "Doe" or "Unknown Doe," as I find that to be dehumanizing.  Google Street View of what I strongly believe is the drainage ditch in which LA County Doe 1982 was found, viewed through Google Earth. The body was unrecognizable due to consisting of partial remains with soft tissues. One or more limbs, as well as one or both hands, were n...

Note: While this write-up was originally published on August 16, 2025, I regularly revisit cases, fix any typos or formatting errors, check for updates, hyperlink new posts, ensure that I have exhausted all sources, etc., and then make note of when I last did so, no matter how minor. When edits are extensive, I re-post the write-up entirely. This post was last updated on November 4, 2025.  From March to May 1979, three sets of remains belonging to young white men were discovered in a five mile radius of each other in San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties. All three were reported on together at the time. Some sources — including NCMEC and the Doe Network  —  incorrectly indicate that the two sets of remains found in LA County belonged to the same individual, and other users online have repeated this error. For these reasons I am writing about all three sets of remains in one post. Map of the locations of all three sets of remains. Created by me using Google Maps, viewed ...

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...

On Sunday, September 7, 1969, three brothers — Charles, Larry, and Phillip Law — were out with their wives and children, hiking, target shooting, and picnicking in the area of Whitaker Peak, approximately 16-19mi south of Gorman and 9-10mi north of Castaic, Los Angeles County, CA. This area is within the Angeles National Forest, and  about one mile off of the old Golden State Highway . At about 2pm that day the brothers were walking along a trail near Whitaker Peak/Summit, a short distance from the Ridge Route, when they smelled a foul odor.  Charles Law looked under the trees to the sides of the trail and saw what he first thought was a deer. When he got closer, he saw a leg sticking up and realized that he was looking at a human body. From there the Law brothers notified authorities as soon as they were able to do so. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) and Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office (LACME) responded to the scene. The Law brothers and...

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 Sunday, July 11, 1971, the skeletal remains of a female were discovered 40 to 50 ft down an embankment from the north side of the Angeles Crest Highway, 0.25mi west of the Red Box Canyon Ranger Station in Montrose, LA County, CA. She was found on the ground about 40 ft north of what was possibly a shallow grave site in the Angeles National Forest. Aerial photo of the general Red Box area in the Angeles National Forest from Google Maps. Jane Doe's COD is unknown, though she is estimated to have died up to one year before being discovered. Her death is being investigated as a homicide. Due to the state of her remains, investigators were unable to determine some things about Jane Doe, including her race, weight, and eye color. Jane Doe is estimated to have been 15 to 25 years old when she died, though the estimated age group on NamUs is "Adult - Pre 20." While NamUs states that Jane Doe was measured to be 5'3, NCMEC and the Doe Network list her height as 5'3 to 5...