Cold Cases of the Golden Coast

On Friday, December 20, 1968, David, 17, drove his mother's station wagon to Betty Lou's, 16, house at 8:00pm. They left in the car at 8:30pm for the house of one of Jensen's friends. Sometime after 9:00pm they then drove to the outskirts of Vallejo, Solano County, CA and parked at a gravel parking area — a lovers' lane — along remote Lake Herman Rd. This is near/at the entrance to the city of Benicia, Solano County. A passing motorist noticed the couple between 10:15-10:30pm, parked on the side of Lake Herman Rd, on a gravel runoff near the gate to a Benicia water pumping station. They were spotted again at 11:00pm. David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen. Photo from Wikipedia. Sometime between 11:05 and 11:10pm, an unknown assailant pulled his car up next to David's, about 10 ft away from the passenger's side of the vehicle. The unidentified man left his vehicle and approached the couple's car, firing several shots inside. The bullets hit various parts of the c...

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 ...

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...