CA CA - Alan Soper, 22, Sacramento, 7 June 1974

Side-by-side of Ben and Alan Soper
 

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I am taking the liberty to resurrect this meager thread with some more meat:

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Some details: Soper contacted his famly on June 7, 1974. He said he was in Sacramento, California at the time.
Following his college graduation, he had been travelling around the country with truck drivers. He has never been heard from again.
On June 8, 1977, three years later, Soper's clothing and wallet were found in Needles, California. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/soper_alan.html

Suspicious. It would be interesting to know exactly where, if in nature or at some other place, his items were found.
One cannot help but to wonder if one of those truck drivers he used to hitchhike with had anything to do with his disappearance. :/
 

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I would like to know how often he typically contacted his family. If he contacted them weekly, for instance, then it is likely that he died on or very soon after June 7, 1974.
 
Whenever I read about a young man disappearing in CA around this time, I think of Randy Kraft, but I guess there were other serial killers in the area during that time that also targeted young men.
 
Whenever I read about a young man disappearing in CA around this time, I think of Randy Kraft, but I guess there were other serial killers in the area during that time that also targeted young men.
Patrick Kearney is another possibility.
 
Yes, he was one I was referring to, as well as Bonin.
 
Yes, he was one I was referring to, as well as Bonin.

According to Wikipedia, Bonin's earliest known victims dated to '79. I'm sure investigators have attempted to match Soper to Kraft's score card. Out of those three suspects, I'd rank Kearney as the most likely perp, but it may well have been choice D, none of the above.
 
Note: One of the entries on Kraft's scorecard says "2 in 1 MV to PL," and Soper's belongings were found in Needles, which is in the Mojave Valley. That's the only entry I could see that could suggest a connection to Soper, although some of the entries are so vague that they could refer to anybody.

Pine Lake, AZ, is about 86 miles east of Needles, not too far from I-40, and wouldn't be far from Soper's route if he were heading back to Oklahoma.

I realize the connection is an extreme long shot. MV to PL could refer to just about anything (Mission Viejo to Portland, for instance).
 
Note: One of the entries on Kraft's scorecard says "2 in 1 MV to PL," and Soper's belongings were found in Needles, which is in the Mojave Valley. That's the only entry I could see that could suggest a connection to Soper, although some of the entries are so vague that they could refer to anybody.

Pine Lake, AZ, is about 86 miles east of Needles, not too far from I-40, and wouldn't be far from Soper's route if he were heading back to Oklahoma.

I realize the connection is an extreme long shot. MV to PL could refer to just about anything (Mission Viejo to Portland, for instance).

Great find! Excellent work!:clap:
"MV to PL" could indeed be code for having "done" two victims in the rout between Mojave Valley to Pine Lake.
We of course don't know that, but it could well fit.
 
Isn't Kraft still alive? If so, have they asked him to interpret his scorecard? It's not like he's ever going to get out, anyway.
I'm hardly an expert on his whereabouts but 1974 was supposedly dormant for him. Was he in jail or do they think they just haven't found any victims during that time?
 
Isn't Kraft still alive? If so, have they asked him to interpret his scorecard? It's not like he's ever going to get out, anyway.
I'm hardly an expert on his whereabouts but 1974 was supposedly dormant for him. Was he in jail or do they think they just haven't found any victims during that time?
He is believed to have had several (known) victims in '74. He was only tried for a fraction of the killings that LE is pretty sure he committed.
 
He is believed to have had several (known) victims in '74. He was only tried for a fraction of the killings that LE is pretty sure he committed.
Yikes! I totally misread his wiki then.
I was looking for a timeline or a chronological list of his victims, more of a list type thing than an article. Does anyone know where I can find one?
 
Yikes! I totally misread his wiki then.
I was looking for a timeline or a chronological list of his victims, more of a list type thing than an article. Does anyone know where I can find one?

The following is list of his confirmed victims: http://serialkillers.briancombs.net/2999/victims-of-randy-steven-kraft/
Although as Ozoner said, he is suspected for a lot more.

And this is a partial list of his "scoreboard" from the ongoing trial 1988: http://articles.latimes.com/1988-10-02/local/me-4891_1_kraft-case-randy

As for whether he was active around 1974, it is described on Wikipedia that 5 victims, which I interpret as having been "fresh" from that year, were found by November 1974 in Southern California, and by January 1975 a total of 14 victims, so he do appear to have been active around that time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Steven_Kraft#Murders
 
The following is list of his confirmed victims: http://serialkillers.briancombs.net/2999/victims-of-randy-steven-kraft/
Although as Ozoner said, he is suspected for a lot more. And this is a partial list of his "scoreboard" from the ongoing trial 1988: http://articles.latimes.com/1988-10-02/local/me-4891_1_kraft-case-randy
As for whether he was active around 1974, it is described on Wikipedia that 5 victims, which I interpret as having been "fresh" from that year, were found by November 1974 in Southern California, and by January 1975 a total of 14 victims, so he do appear to have been active around that time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Steven_Kraft#Murders

Thanks Picachu
 

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