CA CA - Mack Ray Edwards, Dead, But Victims Still Missing

Carl W. Goss

New Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
25
Reaction score
5
The LA Times had a story the other day on Mack Ray Edwards, a 51 year old man who told police that he killed six kids over a twenty-year period in and around LA County. This was in 1970. Edwards died in prison in 1972 but not before claiming that he actually killed 18 kids.

"In the last six months, police have uncovered a letter Edwards wrote seemingly confessing to the killing of a Redondo Beach boy, and have used ground-penetrating radar to check for bodies buried at his former home in Sylmar. They plan to send corpse-sniffing dogs to a half-mile stretch of a Thousand Oaks freeway looking for the remains of another possible victim."

The case involves several PDs in Los Angeles County. PDs in the area are trying to follow Edwards movements from about the 1950s to the 1970s to try to find out where he was living and connect him to missing kids.

"Police say their interest was sparked by the efforts of Pasadena author Weston DeWalt, who was researching the 1957 disappearance of 8-year-old Tommy Bowman in the Arroyo Seco.

"His work has allowed us to go back in time and open up a lot of windows," said Det. Vivian Flores of the LAPD's cold case unit. "There's a lot of families who do not know what happened to their children."

But detectives say they are far from solving Tommy's case and starting to clear up three others:

• Bruce Kremen, who disappeared in July 1960 from a YMCA camp in the Angeles National Forest and was never found.

• Two 11-year-old Torrance girls, Karen Lynn Tompkins and Dorothy Gale Brown, who vanished within a year of each other. Tompkins was never seen again, but Brown's strangled body was found by recreational divers July 4, 1962, off Marina del Rey.


Apparently Edwards, a construction worker who contracted with Caltrans and other agencies during the freeway building boom of the 1950s and '60s used his knowledge of the freeway system to dispose of bodies.

Building on DeWalt's research, police traced Edwards to at least 10 residences around Los Angeles, the South Bay and the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys.

Unfortunately files kept on missing children during that era were destroyed after the children's 18th birthdays, meaning detectives had to build information about most of the cases from scratch.


Edwards confessed to killing Donald Allen Todd, another neighborhood boy who was found shot and sexually abused in May 1969.

If anybody knows anything about a missing child in the Los Angeles county area or know anyone with photographs or records of missing children from that era, who lived in and around the areas mentioned should contact the LAPD's cold case unit.

I'm going to try to get more information about exactly where Edwards lived between 1953 and 1970. Physical addresses and so forth.

If I get anything I'll post it here.
 
I got an e-mail from author Weston De Walt who is working on a book about Edwards. Seems the LAPD has a list of Edward's residences and of course his criminal record, but will not release it because of the on-going investigation. Weston De Walt has been exploring the case of Tommy Bowman who disappeared from the Arroyo Seco hillside area in Pasasdena California in 1957. Tommy Bowman's body has never been found by the LAPD and Pasadena PD thinks that Edwards killed Bowman. Tommy Bowman disappeared on a Saturday afternnoon, some people think that Edwards killed Tommy Bowman and possible hid the body along the Arroyo, came back the next day or night, and buried him along a freeway somewhere in Southern California. Edwards was a Caltrans contractor at the time and people are trying to connect him with a freeway project he may have been working on at the time. I'm thinking there's got to be someone who worked with Edwards at the time and might remember what stretch of the freeway Edwards was working on. Edwards tended to kill around his home area and I think he wouild have buried the bodies in areas he had some knowledge or control over.

I'm going to see if I can find someone who might have worked for Caltrans at the time and might have known Edwards. After all, it takes a lot of workers to build a freeway and he could not have worked all alone.
 
Wow! This is tragic and very creepy to me. I almost feel like I dodged a bullet.

When I was under 10 yo, my parents used to take us to visit friends who's backyard was fenced off from the brand new I 10 San Bernardino Freeway they were building in San Gabriel. I remember climbing over their fence and playing on the smoothed over soil before they layed the asphalt. We'd get up there and dance and throw rocks.

There were no workers there when we did it because it was on the weekend. But never the less, to think this guy was somewhere near is very scary. Now, if I ever drive any of the older freeways, I'll always wonder if there's a child buried near by. Sad.........:(

I would bet the best thing to do would be go to the local libraries and look up newspaper stories. There was the L.A. Times but there were also other local ones that have since gone out of business. They're probably on microfilm. This was so long ago that I would venture to say there aren't that many people left alive that worked alongside this guy. Local news would be the best bet, IMO.

Years ago, when a child went missing, they didn't make as big of a deal of it as they do now. It didn't always get much attention except within the local communities. From time to time there was a missing child, so we were told not to talk to strangers. I don't remember any specific cases, but it looks like there were more than I ever recall. Of course when I was a child, I don't believe the word 'serial killer' had been used yet..............I'm going to watch this case with interest to see what develops.

JMHO
fran



http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/bittaker_norris/1.html

....................snip.........................

Southern California is Psycho Central. The region has earned its grim reputation the hard way, producing a full ten percent of the world’s identified serial killers between 1950 and 2000. Predictably, the killers are now celebrities, with nicknames tailor-made for the tabloids, and their inferior cousin, television.

The Night Stalker. The I-5 Killer. The Skid Row Slasher. The Hillside Strangler. The Freeway Killer. The Koreatown Slasher. The Candlelight Killer. The Southside Slayer. The Trash Bag Killer. The Sunset Slayer. The Orange Coast Killer.
 
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_5484014

..............................snip.......................
Caltrans spokesman Dave White said he was unfamiliar with the investigation, but that Caltrans might have old records from the companies that were contracted to do the work.

Edwards worked for the now defunct Kirst Construction Co. of Los Angeles.

.............................snip..................

Since this newspaper published a story Monday about Edwards being linked to Tommy's disappearance by author Weston DeWalt, police said they have received a host of new leads to pursue.

Among those, Flores said she was contacted by someone claiming to be a former neighbor of Edwards, who described considerable and unexplained digging by the killer at his home.
 
I attempted to get some information on Edwards and the Kirst Construction Co (whom Edwards worked for) from the Caltrans HQ historical library in Sacramento but all I got was the run-around and a
request to talk to Caltrans public information officer. I left a message for him but today he hasn't called back and I don't think he will.

Seems to me this information is part of a public record and should be available for anyone to see.

Stay tuned....
 
I finally got an e-mail from Matt Rocco public records officer for Caltrans. He said he'd get back to me and my request for records on Kirst Construction and Mack Ray Edwards and whether or not they were working nearby on a Caltrans project in 1957.

My suspicion is that Tommy Bowman is buried somewhere near the extension
of the 210 freeway where it passes next to Devil's Gate Reservoir.

If Edwards was working at that site, then it's possible someone may posses photographs of the contractors and subcontractors there at the time of Bowman's disappearance. Edwards might have simply kidnapped The Bowman boy and buried him using the contractors equipment which could mean that the Borman boy is buried close to the contractor's equipment parking site.

I'm trying to find someone who might have taken site photographs of Caltrans Work at that time and might still have them. Also theLA Public Library has a collection of aerial photographs as well.
 
You might want to take a look at this and link out to this painters page he has many photos ......can you post a photo of this guy that confessed........


Citizen involvement



In 2001, Richard Ankrom, a local artist, who got lost trying to get onto Interstate 5 North from the northbound 110 Freeway because there was no clear official signage labeling access to the 5 North, solved his frustration by covertly modifying one of the overhead signs on the freeway just before the tunnels. Using official government sign specifications, Ankrom fabricated two sign pieces, one being an Interstate marker shield with the number '5' on it, and one with the word "NORTH", and affixed them to the left side of the sign. He performed his modifications in broad daylight, disguised as a CalTrans worker. In that district Caltrans has 3 sign crews, each thinking one of the other two crews did the installation. After nine months, at Ankrom's request, the Los Angeles Downtown News broke the story.
Prior to Ankrom's work, the only signage directing motorists to the 5 North off-ramp came at a quarter-mile before the exit, thus forcing many to merge across multiple lanes in a very short distance. The unofficial modifications remain on the sign to this day, after having been inspected by CalTrans to ensure they would not fall off onto the road below. CalTrans is gradually upgrading all California freeway signs to a newer, more reflective form; when this happens on the 110, Ankrom's work may be lost, but the new sign will include "5 North" icons.
Ankrom was never charged, despite statements from officials that his actions were illegal.
It should be noted that an additional "5 North" sign has since been installed over the left lane of the northbound Pasadena Freeway at the entrance to the Figueroa Street Tunnels.
See http://www.ankrom.org/freeway_signs.html for a picture of Ankrom's work.
 
Karen's School is at 21514 Halldale ave.
Home at 21110 Dalton Ave.
Dorothy Brown 's Home at 213th St and Border Ave.
the Freeway Cross over at 110/405 and streets
Torrance Blvd. and West Carson Street
That area of the Freeway was a locals joke since it started I thought 1940s its in the later times ...as these freeways link to Hollywood and china town,San Diego It seems that they were always under construction

 


[


Mack Ray Edwards (1918-1971) was an American serial killer. He murdered at least six children in Los Angeles County between 1953 and 1970.
Contents

[hide]Mack Ray Edwards



Mack Ray Edwards (1918-1971) was an American serial killer. He murdered at least six children in Los Angeles County between 1953 and 1970.





Mack Ray Edwards (1918-1971) was an American serial killer. He murdered at least six children in Los Angeles County between 1953 and 1970.
Contents

[hide]Biography

Mack Ray Edwards was born in Arkansas. He moved to Los Angeles County in 1941. As a heavy equipment operator contracted by Caltrans, he worked on freeways. The body of one of his victims was found underneath the Santa Ana Freeway, and he claimed to have disposed another of his victims under the Ventura Freeway. [1]
Edwards killed three children from 1953 to 1956, and three more in 1968 and 1969. In 1970, Edwards and a teenage male accomplice kidnapped three girls from their home in Sylmar. When the girls escaped, Edwards surrendered to police and confessed to molesting and murdering six children. [2] After three bodies were recovered, Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and was sentenced to death.[3]
On October 30, 1971, following two unsuccessful attempts, Edwards committed suicide by hanging himself with a television cord in his cell in San Quentin.[4]
Victims


Known Victims

Edwards was convicted of the murders of three children:Edwards confessed to three additional killings. Because the bodies of the victims were not recovered, he was never officially charged with these murders:
  • Don Baker, 13, and Brenda Howell, age 11, of Azusa, who disappeared August 6, 1956. Howell was Edwards' sister-in-law.
  • Roger Madison, 16, of Sylmar, disappeared December 16, 1968.[5]
Possible Victims

Edwards may have committed other murders, but his own account was inconsistent: while in prison he claimed to have killed 18 children, [6] but in an interview with the Los Angeles Times he said the number was only six.[7] The 12-year span between Baker's and Howell's disappearances and Rochet's shooting has led investigators to suspect Edwards may have claimed more victims in between. [8]
As of March 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the possibility of Edwards' involvement in the disappearance of Tommy Bowman, 8, of Redondo Beach, who disappeared in Pasadena on March 23, 1957. Author Weston DeWalt was researching the Bowman disappearance when he noticed the similarity between a photo of Edwards and a sketch of Bowman's abductor. DeWalt was later shown a letter from Edwards to his wife in which Edwards states that he "left out" Tommy Bowman from his confession to police.[9]
Edwards is also considered a suspect in the disappearances of Bruce Kremen of Granada Hills and Karen Lynn Tompkins and Dorothy Gale Brown of Torrance. Kremen, 6, disappeared from a YMCA camp in Angeles National Forest on July 12, 1960.[10] Tompkins, 11, disappeared on August 18, 1961. Brown, also 11, disappeared on July 3, 1962. She had been molested and drowned. Her body was recovered from the ocean off of Marina Del Rey.[11]
  1. ^ Ruiz, Kenneth T. "Police back theory on missing boy" Whittier Daily News. Accessed 28 March, 2007.
  2. ^ Kistler, Robert. "Police Say Man May Have Slain 6 Youths." Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 1970.
  3. ^ Haynes, Roy. "Death Penalty Voted for Slayer of Six Children." Los Angeles Times, 23 May 1970.
  4. ^ Stingley, Jim. "Slayer of Six Children Hangs Himself in Cell." Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 1971.
  5. ^ Stingley, Jim. "Slayer of Six Children Hangs Himself in Cell." Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 1971.
  6. ^ Blankstein, Andrew. "Killer's dead, but they're still on his trail." Los Angeles Times, 17 March 2007. Accessed 21 March 2007.
  7. ^ Haynes, Roy. "Death Penalty Voted for Slayer of Six Children." Los Angeles Times, 23 May 1970.
  8. ^ Ruiz, Kenneth T. "Police back theory on missing boy" Whittier Daily News. Accessed 28 March, 2007.
  9. ^ Blankstein, Andrew. "Killer's dead, but they're still on his trail." Los Angeles Times, 17 March 2007. Accessed 21 March 2007.
  10. ^ The Charley Project: Bruce Kremen Accessed 29 March, 2007.
  11. ^ The Charley Project: Karen Lynn Tompkins
 
The following is a list of suggested routes to the Redondo Beach Pier and King Harbor. The Redondo Beach Pier is located at the western terminus of Torrance Boulevard ("Where Torrance Boulevard meets the sea."). King Harbor is located to the west of North Harbor Drive, north of the Redondo Beach Pier and south of Herondo Street (Redondo Beach border with Hermosa Beach on the north).

To the Redondo Beach Pier and International Boardwalk:

  • [*] From the Harbor Freeway (Route 110), exit Torrance Blvd. and head west to the Redondo Beach Pier.
    [*] From the San Diego Freeway (Route 405), exit Hawthorne Blvd. south to Torrance Blvd. and proceed west on Torrance Blvd. (three miles) to the Redondo Beach Pier.
The entire Santa Ana Freeway began construction in 1947 and completed in 1956


.http://www.scvresources.com/highways/east_los_angeles_interchange.htm
  • this is for Maps of what was under construction and runs by both Brown and Tompkins Home


  • This guy always goes for the Water as in finding Dorothy gale Brown and as these routes run right by both area that Karen Lynn Tompkins lived and Dorothy Brown as Little Tommy Bowman was near water too....
 
Status Victim Date Went Missing/Killed Day of Week
Confessed Stella Nolan 6-20-53 Tu
Confessed Don Baker, Brenda Howell 8-6-56 Mon
Suspect Tommy Bowman 3-23-57 Sat.
Suspect Bruce Kremen 7-12-60 Thurs
Suspect Karen Tompkins 8-18-61 Friday
Suspect Dorothy Brown 7-3-62 Tu.
Confessed Roger Madison 12-16-68 Mon
Confessed Donald Allan Todd 5-16-69 Friday

Most of these killings/disapperances take place between Friday and Monday, which means that the perpetrator probably had a day job, off on weekends.
 
Karen Lynn Tompkins and Dorothy Gale Brown's disappearances have always thought to have been connected. But are they?

I did some research and here's what I found:

Dorothy Gale Brown was last seen alive at 7 PM Tuesday at her trailer park home at 1820 Torrance Blvd. Torrance, California. Her nude body was found the next day just south of Corona Del Mar at Cameo Shore. The area is home to super-rich now, but at the time it was known as 'tin can beach.' Her bicycle was found at at 213rd Street, west of Bow Street, which was near the trailer park.

At that time, Dorothy’s dress and headband were found stuffed in a rusty beer can. It was thought at the time, that the killer knew Dorothy, that he had transported Dorothy to the ocean, dumped her body in the sea and stuffed her dress and headband in the beer can. Certain items of Dorothy's were missing from the beer can. Clothing missing were brassiere and panties. Also missing was a white metal ring with three clear white stones.

An autopsy was done and apparently Dorothy had been molested but not raped. There were only superficial bruises and scratches on her body, according to news reports.

Here’s an interesting note. News reports claim that long blond strands of hair were found in the room of a suspect who then simply disappeared.
If the strands are still in the Torrance PD's files ,they should be tested against the DNA from Dorothy, if possible. Also, the files do not indicate if the beer cans had any fingerprints on them. If they exist they should be put through the fingerprint data bases.

Are the Tompkins and Brown cases related? I'm beginning to think they are not. I think Dorothy was killed by someone she knew from the trailer park. The killer took off Dorothy's ring. Why? Could it be that the ring would somehow connect her to him. And where did she get that ring? From somebody in the trailer park?

Also Dorothy attended Torrance elementary school and Karen attended Halldale Avenue school.

Mack Ray Edwards is till good in my book for Karen Lynn Tompkins disappearnce, but not Dorothy's.

I hope the Torrance PD is going through their old files and looking at what
evidence they collected at the time.
 
Of the pro-quest there is a story of a boyfriend or had a crush on ,someone that worked at or lived close to the service station that she would visit this person was a suspect in Brown case or was able to give some information....?
I am not sure I sent all to you sorry I set down on that If you still want I loaded into a zip folder Let me know ?
 
No, I wasn't aware that Dorothy Brown had some sort of crush on anyone. But if she did, the guy would certainly have been a suspect. Seems to me the family would have known something.
 
I will see if i can find that clipping as it did indicate that,seems some notes passed in class was found in her note book....I am sure that they did question anyone that was connected in some way! It was just a thought.
 
Please do. I think the fact that the Brown girl was missing her ring might have had something to do with whoever killed her.
 
Bones were found by an Orange County California freeway according to the LA Times. See http://www.latimes.com/ Apparently it was an adult, but I wonder if there is a connection to Mack Ray Edwards.
 
Bones were found by an Orange County California freeway according to the LA Times. See http://www.latimes.com/ Apparently it was an adult, but I wonder if there is a connection to Mack Ray Edwards.

They showed this on our local news last night. This is the first thing I thought of.

JMHO
fran

PS...Here's a mapquest of the 91 fwy. There are many smaller cities along that route that aren't listed on the map.

http://www.mapquest.com/directions/...=&2v=&2n=&2pn=&2a=&2c=santa+ana&2s=ca&2z=&r=f
 
I just saw the news at noon and i thought the same thing re:Edwards,and since Carl said he had a feeling about finding Brown I got really nerves over that news the map that fran posted ends at about the freeways that cross over and that is where both Tompkins and Brown were taken from.
thank you fran ! and Carl
i have not had a chance to work on those news clippings I am not all that good at transferring formates or not the right program I have been working on a video formate as needed to transfer a video capture to the web .I have not forgotten I will send it soon sorry for the delay.
 
Tuffy101

Thank you for your contribution to this thread. Don't worry about any delay in transferring anything, LOL, the only thing I know how to do is get online and "cut and paste."

I do think it's a strong possibility this may have been one of his victims. The time-line of how 'old' they think the victim is leads me to this conclusion.

Of course, it honestly seems possible there are many 'bodies' strewn along the California Highways. Good grief! What a more 'convenient' place to quickly dispose of a body than a California freeway. Think of the miles and miles of unattended or infrequently visited killing ground freeway roadsides than California, compared to the population.

This body was in a 'shallow grave,' which means there was forethought in this case. Oh, and it appears it was more than probable it was 'murder' seeing as how it was found in a "shallow grave."

JMHO
fran
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
179
Guests online
2,347
Total visitors
2,526

Forum statistics

Threads
589,969
Messages
17,928,514
Members
228,026
Latest member
CSIFLGIRL46
Back
Top