Elaine Louise Davis
Missing since 1 December 1969 from Walnut Creek, CA
Age 17
Her name appears in the Book "Zodiac" by Robert Graysmith, as a POSSIBLE victim of the Zodiac killer. The book stated (in 1986) that she was still missing and gave no further details as to how or why she was considered one of his victims.
She remained "missing" until a Jane Doe was identifed as being her in 2001. Here is the story...
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Article from the San Francisco Chronicle:
Wednesday, May 16, 2001
Body of girl missing since '69 identified:
Disappearance from Walnut Creek home
By Charlie Goodyear, Chronicle Staff Writer
A girl presumed murdered in 1969 -- and who was buried as a Jane Doe in a Santa Cruz cemetery --has been identified thanks to persistent investigators and advances in forensics.
Last week, authorities exhumed the body of Elaine Louise Davis, 17, and confirmed her identity through dental records. Davis disappeared on Dec. 1, 1969, while baby-sitting her 3-year-old sister at the family's Walnut Creek home.
Police found no evidence of a struggle at the scene. In a field behind her house they did recover a button Davis had been planning to sew onto her coat. Two days later, a motorist discovered the coat on Highway 17 near Santa Cruz.
On Dec. 19, 1969, authorities found the body of a female floating off Light House Point. Investigators mistakenly estimated the age of the victim as 20 to 25 years old. As a result, Walnut Creek police never believed that the victim was Davis.
Last year, Walnut Creek Police Detective Lew Doty was reviewing Davis' case as part of the department's regular examination of old unsolved cases. Doty noticed in the case file a reference to the body found in Santa Cruz as well as a dental X-ray belonging to Davis. He checked with criminalist Paul Holes of the Contra Costa crime lab, who told the detective that methods for estimating the age of a victim were less precise in 1969.
Because Davis' body had been buried in a cemetery for unidentified or impoverished persons, authorities weren't sure they could locate her grave. But with the help of the Santa Cruz coroner's office and a forensic anthropologist, investigators were able to find the correct site last week and exhume the corpse.
"There was a lot of damage to the body," Holes said yesterday. "There is no definitive cause of death and determining that now will be basically an impossibility." But modern forensics may yield additional clues, and police are reviewing the case for leads to follow up.
"Maybe something will get jogged," said Walnut Creek Police Lt. Loren Cattolico. "Does someone know something? In 75 percent of homicides, the victim knows the killer. The house doesn't show any signs of ransacking. The kid she was baby-sitting didn't hear anyone at the door. I think she walked outside with someone willingly and didn't come back."
Police said Davis' body showed some signs of cartilage damage in her neck, indicating that she might have been strangled.
Missing since 1 December 1969 from Walnut Creek, CA
Age 17
Her name appears in the Book "Zodiac" by Robert Graysmith, as a POSSIBLE victim of the Zodiac killer. The book stated (in 1986) that she was still missing and gave no further details as to how or why she was considered one of his victims.
She remained "missing" until a Jane Doe was identifed as being her in 2001. Here is the story...
----------------------------------------------
Article from the San Francisco Chronicle:
Wednesday, May 16, 2001
Body of girl missing since '69 identified:
Disappearance from Walnut Creek home
By Charlie Goodyear, Chronicle Staff Writer
A girl presumed murdered in 1969 -- and who was buried as a Jane Doe in a Santa Cruz cemetery --has been identified thanks to persistent investigators and advances in forensics.
Last week, authorities exhumed the body of Elaine Louise Davis, 17, and confirmed her identity through dental records. Davis disappeared on Dec. 1, 1969, while baby-sitting her 3-year-old sister at the family's Walnut Creek home.
Police found no evidence of a struggle at the scene. In a field behind her house they did recover a button Davis had been planning to sew onto her coat. Two days later, a motorist discovered the coat on Highway 17 near Santa Cruz.
On Dec. 19, 1969, authorities found the body of a female floating off Light House Point. Investigators mistakenly estimated the age of the victim as 20 to 25 years old. As a result, Walnut Creek police never believed that the victim was Davis.
Last year, Walnut Creek Police Detective Lew Doty was reviewing Davis' case as part of the department's regular examination of old unsolved cases. Doty noticed in the case file a reference to the body found in Santa Cruz as well as a dental X-ray belonging to Davis. He checked with criminalist Paul Holes of the Contra Costa crime lab, who told the detective that methods for estimating the age of a victim were less precise in 1969.
Because Davis' body had been buried in a cemetery for unidentified or impoverished persons, authorities weren't sure they could locate her grave. But with the help of the Santa Cruz coroner's office and a forensic anthropologist, investigators were able to find the correct site last week and exhume the corpse.
"There was a lot of damage to the body," Holes said yesterday. "There is no definitive cause of death and determining that now will be basically an impossibility." But modern forensics may yield additional clues, and police are reviewing the case for leads to follow up.
"Maybe something will get jogged," said Walnut Creek Police Lt. Loren Cattolico. "Does someone know something? In 75 percent of homicides, the victim knows the killer. The house doesn't show any signs of ransacking. The kid she was baby-sitting didn't hear anyone at the door. I think she walked outside with someone willingly and didn't come back."
Police said Davis' body showed some signs of cartilage damage in her neck, indicating that she might have been strangled.
