CA CA - Russell Goudy, 14, Huntington Beach, 17 July 1977

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Russell Goudy Jr. was a 14 year old student at Los Altos high school in Hacienda Heights, California. He was seen by various friends hitch hiking to Huntington Beach on July 16, 1977. He was later seen trying to get a ride home, but never arrived. His parents reported him missing and three days later on July 19, his body was found in Glendora, Ca. along with another 13 yr old. He was nude and had cigarette burns to his body.

The only thing I have been able to find was
  1. ABOLISH Archives, 1 March, 2004 to Present: NEWS:-TEXAS, C
    ... the killings of 14-year-old Russell Goudy Jr. of Hacienda Heights and 13-year ...
    venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/oct04/2341.html - 29k
The site is no longer accessible. I contacted Glendora police but they said they didn't handle the case. I contacted LA police but never heard back from them. Any suggestions?
 
wow!Is it because the case is so old glendora police are not handling the case or what?
 
They said that they had never heard of the case and my emails to Los Angeles PD have went unanswered. I didn't see a PD for Hacienda Heights alone. A friend of this boys is going to email me a picture of him to post.
 
I think he may have been a victim of the "freeway killer" William Bonin. I found out that he was convicted of murdering Thomas Lundgren, the other boy who was found around the same time as Russell. Here is a cached version of the article I poste above. They thought he might have been a victim of this guy, but then dismissed it.


CALIFORNIA:

Murder suspect's 3rd trial set for November----Previous convictions
overturned on appeal


Robin Samsoe never arrived for her ballet lesson that June day, 25 years
ago.

Nearly 2 weeks later, the 12- year-old Huntington Beach girl's remains
were found in a ravine in the foothills above Sierra Madre.

Now a Monterey Park man convicted and sentenced to death twice for her
killing will be tried a 3rd time by Orange County prosecutors. Rodney
James Alcala's previous convictions were overturned on appeal.

"We've been going through this for years. There's no light at the end of
the tunnel,' said Samsoe's mother, 61-year-old Marianne Connelly of Norco.
"I've lived in this hellish nightmare for 25 years.'

Los Angeles County prosecutors await their turn with Alcala. They'v e
charged him with the Dec. 16, 1977, rape and slaying of a woman in Malibu.
And detectives consider him a suspect in several Southland killings in the
1970s.

It was DNA evidence that tied Alcala to the 1977 death of Georgia Wixted.
27-year-old Wixted was attacked and killed in her Malibu home.

Alcala is also a suspect in the deaths of 3 to 4 other women in the
Southland between June 1977 and July 1979, according to Detective Cheryl
Comstock of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau.

They are waiting to see if there's a DNA match on the other cases, she
said. She declined to discuss details of the other killings.

Alcala remains at the Men's Central Jail in Santa Ana. Although his case
is set for a Nov. 1 trial, officials said it may be next year before the
trial starts. His defense attorney recently died and he needs to be
assigned another.

"We have every confidence this time that justice will be done,' said
Orange County Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy.

The June 20, 1979, killing of Samsoe sent Alcala to Death Row twice but
both times the courts overturned the convictions. The California Supreme
Court reversed his 1st conviction and death sentence because prosecutors
told the jury about Alcala's prior sex offenses.

After the 2nd conviction, a federal judge said Alcala's defense attorney
in the second trial was ineffective in presenting his alibi by excluding
several witnesses.

The defense argued Alcala couldn't have been at Huntington Beach on the
day Samsoe was last seen because he was at Knott's Berry Farm looking for
work as a photographer. But a worker who said Alcala might have been there
wasn't called to testify.

The U.S. 9 th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the judge last summer.
The appeals court also ruled Alcala wasn't helped by the defense not
investigating the crime scene.

Now the former freelance photographer and composing room typist for a Los
Angeles news paper faces a 3rd trial. When she heard, Connelly couldn't
believe that it was true. She plans to attend as she did for the previous
trials.

"The reason I'm there is because I'm representing Robin. She's not just a
number or a caseload,' she said.

It's not the 1st time Alcala has been considered a suspect in other
Southland murder cases.

Because of the Samsoe case, detectives in 1979 looked at Alcala as a
possible suspect in the killings of 14-year-old Russell Goudy Jr. of
Hacienda Heights and 13-year-old Thomas Lundgren of Reseda.

Goudy was last seen preparing to hitchhike from Huntington Beach to
Hacienda Heights on July 17, 1977. His nude body turned up 2 days later
above Glendora.

Lundgren went missing May 28, 1977. His stabbed body was discovered in the
mountains above Malibu.

Their ages were close to Samsoe and they were also dumped in remote
mountain areas. Plus, like Samsoe, Lundgren was approached by someone who
wanted to take his picture. But detectives dropped Alcala as a suspect
because of the lack of evidence.

Connelly hasn't slept right in months.

"I have nightmares when I see her die, see him chop her up and I wake up
in a cold sweat,' she said. "I'm scared to go to sleep because I don't
want to dream any more.'
(source: Pasadena Star-News)
 
Maybe try the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
 
I think he may have been a victim of the "freeway killer" William Bonin. I found out that he was convicted of murdering Thomas Lundgren, the other boy who was found around the same time as Russell. Here is a cached version of the article I poste above. They thought he might have been a victim of this guy, but then dismissed it.

I think William Bonin was in custody (either in Atascadero or Orange County) William Bonin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia when Russell Goudy was murdered. Someone on a local news website for Glendora thought that he might have been a victim of Randy Kraft (which was how this got my attention, because I had read a lot about Kraft and not heard about Russell until now).
 
Its been 34 years since Russell's murder. I noticed that he was last seen in Huntington Beach, CA (for some reason, I had thought that he was last seen in Glendora, where his body was later found). At least two of Randy Kraft's known victims were originally picked up/last seen alive in Huntington Beach -- Joseph Fancher (his first known and only surviving victim, who was coincidentally about the same age as Russell Goudy Jr) and Robert Wyatt Loggins Jr. Randy Kraft also smoked cigarettes during the time he was active as a serial killer and many of his victims were burned with cigarette lighters (I'm not sure about actual cigarettes).
 
I definitely think Randy Kraft should be looked at for this murder. Timeline, age of victim, and MO fit. One of Kraft's victims had burns from a vehicle cigarette lighter on his body, and Kraft was known to abuse and mutilate his victims in any number of crazy ways, so cigarette burns don't seem farfetched at all.

It says he was hitchhiking and that his body was found with another young man, so they could be the No. 31 "2 in 1 hitch" pair on Kraft's scorecard. Any thoughts on this?

How tall was Russell? Could he be represented by No. 43 on Kraft's scorecard "MC dump HB short"? He previously used HB as shorthand for Huntington Beach, and I have always assumed that the "short" referred to the victims short stature. I read an article (http://thoughtcatalog.com/jay-roberts/2013/10/i-met-a-convicted-serial-killer/) that says based on most of his victims statistics, his "preferred" victim was around 5'10", so I would say anything around 5'7" or lower would be what Kraft considered "short".
 
I definitely think Randy Kraft should be looked at for this murder. Timeline, age of victim, and MO fit. One of Kraft's victims had burns from a vehicle cigarette lighter on his body, and Kraft was known to abuse and mutilate his victims in any number of crazy ways, so cigarette burns don't seem farfetched at all.

It says he was hitchhiking and that his body was found with another young man, so they could be the No. 31 "2 in 1 hitch" pair on Kraft's scorecard. Any thoughts on this?

How tall was Russell? Could he be represented by No. 43 on Kraft's scorecard "MC dump HB short"? He previously used HB as shorthand for Huntington Beach, and I have always assumed that the "short" referred to the victims short stature. I read an article (http://thoughtcatalog.com/jay-roberts/2013/10/i-met-a-convicted-serial-killer/) that says based on most of his victims statistics, his "preferred" victim was around 5'10", so I would say anything around 5'7" or lower would be what Kraft considered "short".

According to the news reports at the time, Russell was quite short -- about 5 feet tall, so I guess that's possible. I thought he might be "Van Driveway" because he was wearing Van tennis shoes when he was last seen. This is a link to LA Times Article about Randy Kraft's list -- http://articles.latimes.com/1988-10-02/local/me-4891_1_kraft-case-randy

I found an article from the Pasadena Star from August 3, 1977 about Russell Goudy's murder (I thought I had already posted it here, but at the time, I had a lot going on and I was mistaken) -- rgoudypasadena8_3_77.jpg It is also available at this link -- http://s1353.photobucket.com/user/amberbluecat/media/rgoudypasadena8_3_77_zpsfdcb782b.jpg.html

I think that at least one of Randy Kraft's known victims (Rodger DeVaul Jr. and possibly others) were found in the same area that Russell Goudy was found.
 
First of all, I'm so happy I found this site and to see recent posts as I keep coming up short handed when searching his tragic end. This is a case that has bothered me for practically my entire life. I went to school with Russell from '75 to '77 but knew him long before school started from our neighbor. We lived within the same mile and I saw him all the time. We weren't close so to speak but as we were both the "short kids" in school we often ended up together. He was a sweet a kid, he a smart *advertiser censored* (in the best way) but he never lacked that good energy. All my adolescent memories aside, here's why I'm posting here and looking to get my information to where it needs to be as it always seemed an injustice no one ever listened to what I had to say about his last sighting:

So far, the reports I've read say that he was last seen July 17th around 5pm near Huntington beach and main st. I believe - However the last time I visually saw Russell was indeed on the 17th of July but much later than previously reported. Here is exactly what I remember after all this time (hoping and praying this helps is SOME way as its weighed heavy on my mind) July 17th 1977, a few days after my birthday, My 2 sisters and I left the house around noon headed to Huntington Beach for the day, we had snuck out of the house because my sister was pregnant at that time and wasn't allowed out to avoid embarrassment of my mother/family since she was a young mother and our mom was strict. We spent the whole day there but I never visually saw Russy at the beach that day. My sisters and I lost track of time and realized it was much later than we thought, our mother was going to get home from work and notice that the 3 of us were gone, so we hustled on home as fast as we could. We were driving home in my sisters old beat-up car, I was in the backseat it was around (ATLEAST) 7:45pm to 8:45pm I KNOW it was late because it was getting very dark. Unsure of the exact time but it was summer in L.A. so I believe it to be between those times if not later.

We were making a right hand turn on the corner of Beach & Valley (I'm pretty sure those are the streets I just haven't been to L.A. in a long time since I moved right after this happened) I know there is a popular carwash on that corner and an ice skating rink I used to take lessons at which I'm pretty sure that's all long gone by now. Anyways, As my sister made the right hand turn heading home, I saw Russell. Clear as day... He was hitchhiking with his right thumb up and his boogie board up leaned against his left leg to his knee. Now I've discovered that he had his skateboard with him that I originally thought was his boogieboard at the time. He was wearing one of those white and blue striped shirts that had a pocket on it with the 2 footprints that were trendy at the time , but I don't think he was wearing the cords like they said in the paper. I distinctly recall he was wearing his pukka shell necklace that he always wore as well. Anyways, I said to my sisters as we turned the corned "there's my friend Russell ! lets stop and give him a ride" but at that point we were already around that corner and too far, not to mention incredibly late and most definitely is BIG trouble with our mom. It was a race against time for us but little did I know that one choice to not go back would end up bothering me my whole life. I wish so badly I would've stopped and given him that ride. Last I saw of him were headlights illuminating his outline and seeing him put his thumb down. I remember thinking "Oh, someone must've stopped for him" .

additionally; I have no idea if anyone else told the police or the news this but Russell BRAGGED about someone approaching him and another boy, a man saying he was going to pay him big this summer for "surfing pictures" for a surfing magazine. He told me the guy was rich and was going to pay him major money of pictures of him surfing, I remember kind of laughed it off since Russell was a short kid and not exactly the magazine surfer type, he responded by saying "You'll see! I'm gonna make alotta money this summer, you're gonna see, you're gonna see! its gonna be big!" - He was excited about it. He said the male photographer approached him at "the beach" which I assume is the beach we all went to, Huntington beach.

No one ever questioned me at the time and the whole situation seemed to get swept under the rug so fast, no one wanted to talk or hear about it. I've tried countless times to tell the police, investigators and who ever else will listen what I saw and heard with very little luck. To make it worse is I moved away right after all this happened. But I am 100% certain of the date and I've narrowed down the time. I know it was the 17th of July because it was right after my birthday, my sister was pregnant and close to giving birth to her first child and I also noted it our year book. I tried again recently to talk to Glendora police but the guy on the other end just gave me lip service and never called me back.

I just need to get this off my chest so someone, somewhere will know when he was really last seen and where. Its small things like that that help with the time frame and helps to exclude others that they are trying to pin it on. I have so many fond memories of Russell, he really was a good kid and a good friend. I've made sure to keep his name present in my family all these years since. I don't want him to be forgotten.

If anyone can help me get this info to where it needs to be let me know I need all the help I can get. Thank you!
 
Thanks for sharing, projme, and welcome to Websleuths! After reading the few newspaper articles I have been able to locate about Russell, it sounds like the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department handled the case at the time. Their website is http://www.Homicide.lasd.org and they can be reached at 323-890-5500, hopefully they will be more receptive than the Glendora Police.

I know those shirts with the footprints – they are made by a company called Hang Ten. I think that they have been popular with surfers for a very long time.

At the beginning of the page, there is an article saying that Rodney Alcala might be a suspect. I know that he used photography as a tool to get closer to some of his victims. I wonder if someone else heard Russell talking about being approached about the surfing photos (or it could just be that he and Robin Samsoe were last seen alive in Huntington Beach, I guess).

In the mid to late 1980s, I used to go to the beach in Huntington Beach (near PCH and Huntington St) with some friends from Long Beach. That area has built up since 1985; I would guess that it would have been a lot less developed/populated in 1977?

I feel sort of hesitant to bring this up, but at the time of Russell’s murder, Randy Kraft’s parents still lived in a house on [Huntington] Beach Blvd. in Midway City. I don’t think that they moved from the property until after his arrest.
 
When I was 14, I spent the day with my grandfather, a retired detective from the Montebello PD. He told me the story of a family friend whose son was hitchhiking back from the beach when he was picked up and later found murdered in the hills near San Dimas and Glendora. Being a friend of the family and knowing the boy's appearance, my grandpa was asked to identify the body. He said he recognized him immediately by his distinctive blonde hair. I think he told me the story as a warning, as I was the same age as the victim at the time and used it as a means to illuminate me to the fact that the world can be a horrible place, which I would begin to recognize leaving childhood. Being the same age as the boy, I remember being quite disturbed and fearful from the story.

Fast forward to almost a year ago, and I read a story about Gregory Miley, an accomplice of William Bonin, being beat to death in prison. So as I began to research Bonin, the nature of his crimes reminded me of the story my grandpa had told me almost ten years earlier. I hadn't thought about it since that day so long ago. I asked my dad, who knew the story well, and he gave me the name Russell Goudy to put to the boy. We later called my grandpa to ask him his thoughts. He remembered it well, and you could hear the pain in his voice when he described identifying Russell. Almost 40 years later and you could tell the image was still vivid in his mind, making his voice tremble for a moment. He always suspected that his murder was the work of Bonin. I don't have anything to add to aid in solving this mystery, but find it interesting to read postings today about a murder that I know of because of my grandpa's connection to it.
 
We were driving home in my sisters old beat-up car, I was in the backseat it was around (ATLEAST) 7:45pm to 8:45pm I KNOW it was late because it was getting very dark. Unsure of the exact time but it was summer in L.A. so I believe it to be between those times if not later.

Google says sunset that day was at 8:02 pm, in case it helps!
 
Hi there. Russell was my Ex-Wife’s Uncle. When I first met and got to know her and her family, I was deeply saddened upon hearing what happened to him and it to this day is extremely upsetting that no one has ever been brought to justice for his murder. Her family had initially been told that William Bonin was likely responsible for the murder and they accepted it and tried their best to move on with their lives and remember the good times with Russell.

For whatever reason, they weren’t informed at the time that Bonin was incarcerated in San Luis Obispo from 12/31/75 until 10/11/78, making it impossible for him to have committed the crime. Bonin did have accomplices at times (Vernon Butts and Gregory Miley) but he did not meet them until after he was released from prison.

Another possible suspect was thought to be Randy Kraft, though his M.O. didn’t necessarily fit what happened to Russell. Kraft did target young boys and men of course, but he also isn’t known to have committed any murders between December of 1976 and April of 1978. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that he couldn’t have killed Russell during that time, but I will give the nod to LE on this one, as they know tons more about Kraft than I possibly do.

I also looked into Patrick Kearney but he had surrendered to Riverside County Police on July 1st, 1977… just weeks before Russell was abducted, so he’s obviously out.

Which leads us to Rodney J. Alcala.

Alcala committed six known murders in 1977 alone, all of which were females. In fact, Alcala is/was known to prey on women but it’s also been mentioned in multiple articles that the cache of photos found in his storage unit contained many sexually explicit photos of teenage boys. If what is being said on here is true (that Russell had mentioned that a man approached him and another boy about taking their photos for a surfing magazine), then Alcala would certainly come to mind as a possible suspect. However, one would have to think that LE investigated Alcala in Russell’s case but it’s anyone’s guess at this point.

It should be said, and has been mentioned on other online forums that the family is still very sad over what happened to Russell, particularly his parents (who are both still with us). The pain and horror they and Russell’s sisters incurred is a pain that will never heal even if the killer is identified someday and I can’t even imagine the loss they feel on a daily basis. My Ex and remain friendly and still would like to see Russell's killer brought to justice.

We are going to do our best to find out who carried out this horrible crime and I will post any pertinent updates here. If you have any information about Russell that you think may be helpful, please email me at fletchzky@icloud.com.

As it happens, my Brother is a Homicide Detective with Newport Beach Police and he and his partner recently solved the 44-year old murder of Linda O’ Keefe and personally arrested her killer (James Neal) in Colorado. This gave me hope that if a case that old can be solved, anything is possible. Our next step is to get in touch with the LASD cold case unit to see where Russell’s case stands and what information is available/what evidence was preserved. Fingers crossed!
 
Last edited:
[QUOTE="Our next step is to get in touch with the LASD cold case unit to see where Russell’s case stands and what information is available/what evidence was preserved. Fingers crossed![/QUOTE]

Was there any follow up information on Russell's case from LASD? The cigarette burn is a textbook trademark of Randy Kraft, and jjohnston0827's thoughts echo my own that they may be a reference to 2 IN 1 HITCH on his scorecard due to his hitchhiking and the presence of another body found near Russell's.

Alcala was convicted of murdering Ellen Jane Hoover in New York in July 1977, around the time that Russell disappeared. It's possible he was still in the Los Angeles area around that time, but he would have had to have traveled to or from New York pretty recently. Russell doesn't really fit the victim profile of Alcala either way. And Bonin and Kearney can be safely excluded as they were both in custody.
 
Hi there. Russell was my Ex-Wife’s Uncle. When I first met and got to know her and her family, I was deeply saddened upon hearing what happened to him and it to this day is extremely upsetting that no one has ever been brought to justice for his murder. Her family had initially been told that William Bonin was likely responsible for the murder and they accepted it and tried their best to move on with their lives and remember the good times with Russell.

For whatever reason, they weren’t informed at the time that Bonin was incarcerated in San Luis Obispo from 12/31/75 until 10/11/78, making it impossible for him to have committed the crime. Bonin did have accomplices at times (Vernon Butts and Gregory Miley) but he did not meet them until after he was released from prison.

Another possible suspect was thought to be Randy Kraft, though his M.O. didn’t necessarily fit what happened to Russell. Kraft did target young boys and men of course, but he also isn’t known to have committed any murders between December of 1976 and April of 1978. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that he couldn’t have killed Russell during that time, but I will give the nod to LE on this one, as they know tons more about Kraft than I possibly do.

I also looked into Patrick Kearney but he had surrendered to Riverside County Police on July 1st, 1977… just weeks before Russell was abducted, so he’s obviously out.

Which leads us to Rodney J. Alcala.

Alcala committed six known murders in 1977 alone, all of which were females. In fact, Alcala is/was known to prey on women but it’s also been mentioned in multiple articles that the cache of photos found in his storage unit contained many sexually explicit photos of teenage boys. If what is being said on here is true (that Russell had mentioned that a man approached him and another boy about taking their photos for a surfing magazine), then Alcala would certainly come to mind as a possible suspect. However, one would have to think that LE investigated Alcala in Russell’s case but it’s anyone’s guess at this point.

It should be said, and has been mentioned on other online forums that the family is still very sad over what happened to Russell, particularly his parents (who are both still with us). The pain and horror they and Russell’s sisters incurred is a pain that will never heal even if the killer is identified someday and I can’t even imagine the loss they feel on a daily basis. My Ex and remain friendly and still would like to see Russell's killer brought to justice.

We are going to do our best to find out who carried out this horrible crime and I will post any pertinent updates here. If you have any information about Russell that you think may be helpful, please email me at fletchzky@icloud.com.

As it happens, my Brother is a Homicide Detective with Newport Beach Police and he and his partner recently solved the 44-year old murder of Linda O’ Keefe and personally arrested her killer (James Neal) in Colorado. This gave me hope that if a case that old can be solved, anything is possible. Our next step is to get in touch with the LASD cold case unit to see where Russell’s case stands and what information is available/what evidence was preserved. Fingers crossed!


I am almost certain I was the last one to see Russell. It was such a long time ago I don't remember the exact day but it was late afternoon. Jeanne from her apartment in HB drove Tom (her younger brother), Danny, Russell, me to Main and Beach. We were all attempting to hitch hike back to Hacienda Heights before dark. First a car stopped and Tom and Danny jumped in first, which left Russell and me still at the curb. Russell thought it would be better if we split up, so he moved north and within five minutes I hitched a ride and that was the last time I saw Russell.

I believe Tom and Danny were questioned, afterword Tom told me what had happened. I can assure everyone that Randy Kraft was Russell's killer. MC DUMP AND HB SHORT #43 is Kraft’s notation for Russell and the other victim.

I had two other encounters with Kraft and his accomplice on separate occasions. Once that year and about two years later in San Clemente, I now feel very lucky to have lived through it. I looked up his accomplice about five years ago and he at the time was married to the owner of a bar in Long Beach. For what it's worth, I hope this helps.


P.S. As I recall, Russell did not have a boogie board with him.
 

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