CA CA - Cindy Mellin, 19, Ventura, 20 Jan 1970

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Cindy Lee Mellin
Missing since January 20, 1970 from Ventura, Ventura County, California.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: December 3, 1950
Age at Time of Disappearance: 19 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'6" (168 cm.); 105 lbs. (48 kg.)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; blue eyes. Mellin wears contact lenses.
Clothing/Jewelry: She was last seen wearing a navy blue dress with red buttons, a brown corduroy coat and blue shoes with gold buckles. She was also wearing a gold ring with a single pearl.
Dentals: Not available

Circumstances of Disappearance

Mellin was employed by the Broadway Department Store in the Buenaventura Shopping Center. She left work shortly after closing on the night of January 20, 1970. She was last seen standing next to her car in the shopping center parking lot while an unidentified male changed her tire.

When she failed to return home that night, her father went to the shopping center looking for her and found her car still up on a jack with the flat tire still attached.

The disappearance of Cindy Lee Mellin is a case with possible ties to the infamous Zodiac killer. But Ventura cold case detectives say the evidence points to another killer.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Ventura Police Department
805-339-4400

Agency Case Number: CR50785

NCIC Number: M-654977212
Please refer to these numbers when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
California Department of Justice
Ventura Police Department
The Doe Network: Case File 869DFCA

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/869dfca.html
 
The Press Courier
Thursday, January 22, 1970

VC COED FEARED KIDNAPPED

Ventura Police today intensified their investigation into the mysterious disappearance of a pretty Ventura coed who may have been forcibly from a parking lot at San Buenaventura shopping center.

Cindy Lee Mellin,19, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Mellin 258 N. Linda Vista Ave., Ventura, vanished Tuesday night after she left her part-time job at the Broadway Department Store where she worked as a salesgirl.

"It is still too early to speculate what happened to the teen-ager, but evidence indicates the girl was apparently kidnapped," Detective Sgt. Ken Cozzins said, "But," he added, "We are thoroughly investigating every angle possible."

Sgt. Cozzins said Cindy had no problems at home and has never run away before. She was described as a "studious girl" who dated only occasionally.

Mellin, a draftsman for an offshore oil company, reported his daughter missing Tuesday after finding her automobile sitting alone in the parking lot of the department store.

He said the tire of the vehicle was flat and it was up on a bumper jack. He said the spare tire was laying nearby and the doors and trunk, along with the glove compartment, were open.

Mellin said he examined the flat tire and it appeared to have been deliberately punctured with a knife, "There was a large slit in one side" he said.

"She usually calls me when she has trouble with her car," Mellin said, in noting that his daughter was unable to operate a jack and did not know how to change a tire.

Police said an investigation revealed that two of Cindy's co-workers had been picked up by their husbands and drove by Cindy's car about 10:30 p.m.

The co-workers said they saw Cindy standing by the car with a tall, slim man, between the ages of 35 and 40, jacking up her automobile.

After having a cup of coffee at a nearby restaurant, they drove by Cindy's car again and no one was in sight "We didn't think anything about it because we thought the man was Cindy's father and that she was just taken home," the co-workers said.

Mellin said that when he awoke at 4:45 a.m., he didn't see his daughter's car parked in the driveway and rushed to her room to find that she had not been home. He then drove to the parking lot and then notified police.

Mellin said he definitely suspects foul play because Cindy would not go away willingly with anyone.

Cindy is 5 foot 6 with blue eyes and brown hair and weighs 105 pounds. She was last wearing a navy blue dress with red buttons, blue shoes and a brown corduroy coat.

Anyone seeing the girl or knowing her whereabouts are urged to call the police station.
 
Another article says tht Stanley Mellin (uncle) believed she may have been in the Fresno area, held captive under the influence of drugs. Fresno Bee, Feb 26 1970.
 
This girl's abductor could have been anybody. The "disable the girl's car, then wait for her to find it and show up and offer to help" ruse is so old that they actually talked about it in my Driver's Education class seven years ago. Female driving students were warned not to leave their vehicle and ask or accept a stranger's help unless they were in dire circumstances, but to call a friend or relative and wait for them to arrive instead.
 
On January 20th, it will be 40 years since Cindy went missing.
 
This is a case that I have always hoped would be solved
 
My MySpace blog post Jan. 18 2010

What happened to Cindy Mellin?.. January 20 1970- Ventura, California.. A life interrupted.

http://myspace.com/maelstrom5 - First post

By the time Led Zeppelin first preformed this song in the early spring of 1971 Cindy Mellin had already been missing for over a year- 40 years later- she still is.
 
I wonder if it was someone that she met at the department store. Wow 40 years is a long time to not have answers.
 
I am curious, the name EDWARD NELSON COLE comes up as a suspect in Cindy's case. Also, details that he worked at a nearby gas station, and also that he vanished after police questioned him. Anyone have anymore info on him? Photos, other details?
 
I am curious, the name EDWARD NELSON COLE comes up as a suspect in Cindy's case. Also, details that he worked at a nearby gas station, and also that he vanished after police questioned him. Anyone have anymore info on him? Photos, other details?
This new article states gas station workers were questioned but not enough information for a conviction. Also leads about Mack Ray Edwards hit dead ends.

http://www.keyt.com/news/local/Ventura-Police-Never-Forget-A-Cold-Case-124393819.html
 
45 years since Cindy Lee Mellin vanished. I was doing a google search for more information and I came across a similar case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Disappearance_of_Robin_Graham&oldid=581430536

Robin Graham was last seen by California Highway Patrol officers at approximately 2:00 a.m. on November 15, 1970, beside her car on the shoulder of the southbound Hollywood Freeway near the Santa Monica offramp; she was in the presence of a dark-haired white man estimated to be in his mid-twenties who drove a late 1950s model Chevrolet Corvette C1, pale blue or green with primer. Graham used a call box to ask that a CHP emergency operator let her parents know she had run out of gas
 
This is one of my pet cases that I truly want solved. I wonder if her killer had been stalking Cindy for weeks. I also wonder if she is his only victim.
 
Was there ever anyone the community suspected, or any rumors around at the time about who may have taken her?
 
Gretchen, you knew Cindy-but is her name spelled Mellin or Mellon? Can you give us any info on the case we might not know?
 

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