Deceased/Not Found CA - Lucinda Schaefer, 17, Redondo Beach, 24 June 1979 *Bittaker & Norris guilty*

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Lucinda Lynn Schaefer

schaefer_lucinda.jpg



Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: June 24, 1979 from Torrance, California
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: July 9, 1962
Age: 17 years old
Height and Weight: 5'4, 115 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Schaefer's nickname is Cindy.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: Dark blue jeans and a white blouse with black Mexican-style embroidery.

Details of Disappearance
Schaefer was abducted from Torrance, California, on June 24, 1979. She was last seen walking back to her grandmother's house from a Christian youth meeting at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Torrance. When she was missed and people searched for her, they only found one of her shoes alongside the road. Later in 1979, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris were arrested and eventually convicted of murdering Schaefer and several other young women, including Andrea Hall. Photographs of the two men are posted below this case summary. Norris and Bittaker had driven around California in their silver 1977 GMC cargo van, which they nicknamed "Murder Mac," and abducted, raped and killed a large number of women. Norris and Bittaker admitted to kidnapping and raping Schaefer and to dumping her body in a remote gorge, but each man blamed the other one for strangling her. She was their first known victim. Norris testified against Bittaker in exchange for a life sentence; Bittaker was sentenced to death. He is awaiting execution. Schaefer and Hall's remains have never been found.

Bittaker:
schaefer_bittaker.jpg


Norris:
schaefer_norris.jpg

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
California Department of Justice
Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit
916-227-3290

http://charleyproject.org/cases/s/schaefer_lucinda.html
 
Today, June 24, 2007, marks the twenty-eighth anniversary of Lucinda's disappearance. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. If you have any information on the disappearance of Lucinda Schaefer, please call the California Department of Justice Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit at 916-227-3290 or your local police department (you can remain annonymous).
 
Has anyone heard of any developments or updates? Any 30 year anniversary stories?
 
I was talking with a friend and his wife a couple of weeks ago, and his wife said that she was from Redondo Union High School, class of 1979. I asked her if she remembered Lucinda Schaefer, and she replied that she did. She said that Lucinda was a couple of years younger than she was, but she remembered her as being very nice to everyone, and was involved in school activities. She said that shortly after her disappearance, signs were posted on the high school campus in her memory.

Today, I decided to stop by the Redondo Union High School library to see if I could find her photo in the 1978 or 1979 yearbooks (Classmates.com doesn't have those two books). I was hoping to find a better photo of her than the one that is shown in DoeNet and Charley Project. But surprisingly, I couldn't find her photo in either book. All I could find was two boys with the surname Schaefer, and one of them was blonde haired like Lucinda was.
 
I noticed this thread on NamUs/Doe Network that sounded like the UID, who was found on January 26, 1980 could possibly be Lucinda. The unidentified young woman is estimated to be between 17 and 35 with long blonde hair. The Doe Network gives a bit more information, estimating her height at 5'5" and describing the circumstances of her discovery as --
The victim was located in Los Angeles County, California on January 26, 1980 at approx. 13.00 in a river bed, north of Magic Mountain Parkway west of the Old Road.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/4388
http://doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase1458.html
 
Not a lot to go on, but I noticed this UID and thought that this could be Lucinda because I think (I could be wrong about that because I have not read about them as much as some of the other serial killers of that time and location) Norris and Bittiker dumped some of their other victims near the area where this UID was found (a mountain side @ Pacific Coast Highway & Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Los Angeles)?

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/4383
 
Not a lot to go on, but I noticed this UID and thought that this could be Lucinda because I think (I could be wrong about that because I have not read about them as much as some of the other serial killers of that time and location) Norris and Bittiker dumped some of their other victims near the area where this UID was found (a mountain side @ Pacific Coast Highway & Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Los Angeles)?

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)


The Harley Davidson earrings would seem quite inconsistent with the image that I get from Lucinda. She was a very modest schoolgirl who was involved with school activities and with her church.

My understanding is that Lucinda (In addition to Jackie Gilliam and Leah Lamp) were taken to the San Gabriel mountains in the vicinity of Angeles Crest Highway. Lynette Ledford was also taken there, but after murdering her, they drove to Sunland/Tujunga and dumped her body on the front lawn of a randomly selected home.

From what I understand, Andrea Hall may have been dumped in a different location from where they took Schaffer, Gilliam, Lamp, and Ledford. She also fits the description, and is the right height (5'7"), and from what you can see of her front teeth, they appear to fit the "tapered" description. But I have no way of knowing if she was into the biker scene (to correspond to the UID's Harley Davidson earrings).

hall_andrea.jpg


http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hall_andrea.html
 
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The Harley Davidson earrings would seem quite inconsistent with the image that I get from Lucinda. She was a very modest schoolgirl who was involved with school activities and with her church.

My understanding is that Lucinda (In addition to Jackie Gilliam and Leah Lamp) were taken to the San Gabriel mountains in the vicinity of Angeles Crest Highway. Lynette Ledford was also taken there, but after murdering her, they drove to Hermosa Beach and dumped her body on the front lawn of a randomly selected home.

From what I understand, Andrea Hall may have been dumped in a different location from where they took Schaffer, Gilliam, Lamp, and Ledford. She also fits the description, and is the right height (5'7"), and from what you can see of her front teeth, they appear to fit the "tapered" description. But I have no way of knowing if she was into the biker scene (to correspond to the UID's Harley Davidson earrings).

hall_andrea.jpg


http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hall_andrea.html

I went back through the listing for NamUs UP #4383 and can't find a reference to Harley Davidson earrings (there isn't very much information available except about her teeth). I didn't realize that she was also listed on the Doe Network when I first posted this with more information (about the earring, brown hair, and a possible shoe size (8-9)) http://doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase1456.html :facepalm:

She does sound more consistent with Andrea Hall, though, except for the part about the brown hair.
 
Hi all, I'm from Torrance and my mom went to the same youth group as Lucinda at the same church (St. Andrew's is actually the church my parents were married at). Lucinda and my mom were about two or three years apart based on my mom's memory, and both went to Redondo Union High School. Their youth pastor was also the Geography teacher at Redondo and was called to testify at trial according to my mom. My mom's memory of the case, as well as her Geography teacher's, was that Lucinda was sitting on a bench waiting for her mother to pick her up and was taken from there. St. Andrew's is actually in Redondo Beach, not Torrance which is the city right next to Redondo Beach. This has always stuck with my mom. Growing up she didn't let my brother and I out alone until we were both in high school, and only if we were together, and she never let me wait for her to pick me up outside, not did she let any of my friends wait outside alone. As far as I know no one from home talks about this much. St. Andrew's certainly doesn't, I went to the youth group there as well, and one of my good friends works there and had never heard of this case.
 
Thanks for joining, tummyache. In addition to the friend mentioned above, I have a second friend whose sister was also a classmate and good friend of Lucinda, and he says he saw her only a week before her disappearance. Ironically, this friend also knew Linda Sobek, the Raiders cheerleader and model who was murdered up near Angeles Crest by a photographer who took her up there for a photo shoot.

You are right about St. Andrews actually being in Redondo Beach, not Torrance. The city boundaries in that area are very confusing. But I still think of Lucinda every time I drive up Diamond Street past Redondo Union HS, and when I pass St. Andrews on Pacific Coast Hwy and Avenue D.

That is an interesting bit of info about her waiting on a bench. Everything that I had heard up to now was that she was walking home on a side-street. PCH is a very busy highway, so it is very curious that nobody noticed her being forcibly taken into the van.
 
The bench must've been on the side street near the parking lot (which isn't connected to the church). It's super hard to pull over and park on PCH, and then to kidnap someone and get back out onto the highway, that doesn't seem plausible. I think the parking lot is on Ave E? I'm not positive, the streets in Redondo are a nightmare, but it leads up to a residential area right behind the church.
 
This case has bothered me for sometime. I grew up just below the San Gabriel mountain that they were taking the victims to. Is there a specific posting somewhere here about the case? I'm new here and learning my way around.
 
This case has bothered me for sometime. I grew up just below the San Gabriel mountain that they were taking the victims to. Is there a specific posting somewhere here about the case? I'm new here and learning my way around.

This video summarizes it pretty well.

[video=youtube;X6QPJGf7ARg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6QPJGf7ARg[/video]
 
This case has bothered me for sometime. I grew up just below the San Gabriel mountain that they were taking the victims to. Is there a specific posting somewhere here about the case? I'm new here and learning my way around.

There are a couple of other Websleuths threads on Bittaker/Norris, but they don't have much activity.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?107750-Anyone-up-on-Lawrence-Bittaker-and-Roy-Norris

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ence-Bittaker-and-Roy-Norris-Summer-Fall-1979
 
I've also noticed the exact location of where Jackie Gilliam was found has always been vague. Sometimes they say San Dimas Canyon and other sources say Glendora Mountain Rd. Also no mile marker has ever been cited.
 

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