CA CA - Paula Pope, 18, Fresh Pond, 3 Sept. 1972

[Richard]

Paula Ann Pope

Pope, circa 1972

• Missing Since 09/03/1972
• Missing From Fresh Pond, California
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 09/14/1953 (67)
• Age 18 years old
• Height and Weight 4'10 - 4'11, 85 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A short-sleeved white blouse and faded blue jeans.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Pope may use the name Judith Paula Ann Pile. She has a small mole on her chest and her ears are pierced. She wears hard contact lenses.

Details of Disappearance

Pope was last seen in Fresh Pond, California on September 3, 1972. She was camping with her husband and some friends at the Cripple Creek Campground.

Pope and her husband got into an argument because she wanted to go to a rock concert in Carson City, Nevada and he couldn't go. Pope left their camper angrily. A female friend went with her, but came back for her coat. When her friend left the trailer again, Pope had vanished.

She apparently hitchhiked to the rock concert and then hitchhiked back with two people from Sacramento, where she lived. She decided to return to the campsite, although her companions wanted her to go to Sacramento with them. They last saw her talking to "motorcycle types."

Pope has never been heard from again. Few details are available in her case.

Investigating Agency

• El Dorado County Sheriff's Office 530-642-4710

Source Information

• NamUs
• The Mountain Democrat
• Websleuths
• California Attorney General's Office
• Paula Ann Pope – The Charley Project

 

[Lindar88]

I often wonder about my friend Paula, and how she just vanished. I have always been suspicious of her disappearance, too. I hope something turns up about her one of these days.

Starlite11, please message me! Paula was my big sister.

 

[Luckyzmom]

@Lindar88 Welcome to WS glad to have you here, I am terribly sorry for what happened to your sister.
Please share any updates you have with us. We need anything that can help us find her , do you have anything you can share to help ??
Thanks in advance. Always happy to have family and friends of missing people lots of important info gets overlooked.

 

[burblestein]

Welcome aboard, Lindar88. Getting information from a family member instead of having that info filtered through that info gathered by LE and dispensed through media is going to screen out the sort of error that arises in this game of "telephone". You can be a great asset to the investigation.

You may have better luck contacting Starlite11 through this site's internal email system.

 

[Lindar88]

Thank you for the warm welcomes! I will do the best I can, however, I was only 6 when she disappeared. So I was hoping to find answers or at least understand what really happened. Starlite11 stated she knew Paula and was in her wedding, so was I...I was Paula's flower girl.

 

[theshadow45]

There's now a composite for Calistoga Jane Doe from her Doe Network page, side-by-sides of Paula Pope and CJD (center):

. I resubmitted Paula as a possibility now that a DNA profile for CJD has been developed.

 

[Lindar88]

View attachment 61355

I found the article on this website Zodiackillersite.com • View topic - Paula Ann Pope - Sacramento 1972 . The person that posted the article remembered talk about a biker angle at the time and thought that was the most probable.

 

[Lindar88]

I don't think I've ever see that article before...

 

[MadMcGoo]

2 Nov 1972, 23 - The Sacramento Bee at Newspapers.com


Would someone mind checking her exclusions? I wonder what became of this possible match.

 

[MadMcGoo]

1 Oct 1972, 23 - The Sacramento Bee at Newspapers.com

 

[Lindar88]

Interesting that someone has had her declared legally dead at some point I guess? So no thoughts from her family that she left of her own accord.

And I am guessing this is the right marriage record, in which case she had only been married a very short time when she disappeared. Not saying that's relevant, just one more piece of info to note. Presume the 'alias' listed on Namus of Judith Paula Ann Pile is her birth name.

The above is correct

 

[Lindar88]

Today marks 49 years since Paula disappearance.

 

[Starlite11]

Today marks 49 years since Paula disappearance.

I know...it's still really hard to grasp. I think of her all the time.

 

[Lindar88]

Today is Paula's 68th birthday

 

[Beekarina]

Today is Paula's 68th birthday

<3

 

[Beekarina]

This may be a stretch, but has Paula ever been compared to

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)



The young woman's remains were found in Florida in 1974. Believed to have been around 5 ft tall and 100 pounds. Age between 14-25.

I'm not sure what story would have Paula traveling from California to Florida, but if the "biker guys" siting has any merit, it would be possible?

 

[Diane Redfern]

I would like to know more details, because there are some big holes in this story:
- Steven L. Pope, her husband: What do we know about him? How was their relation? Were they a happy couple? Why was Steve on parole? Did LE ever question him?
- Carol Cooper and Terry Laber: When did they speak to LE? Did they know for sure the woman they gave a ride was Paula or they just believe it was her?
- April: Did she stay the whole weekend? I mean, let's imagine that Paula made it back, was just her husband there or were there other friends in the campsite?
- Paula Pope: Did she usually hitchhike? Did she have any physical characteristic that doesn't appear on the articles (previous fractures...)?

 

[Diane Redfern]

2 Nov 1972, 23 - The Sacramento Bee at Newspapers.com
View attachment 293162

Would someone mind checking her exclusions? I wonder what became of this possible match.

Eventually this lady was identified as Patricia Ann Mcnight, she was a 25 year-old woman from Texas.

3 Hell's Angels Charged in California Slayings (Published 1972)

https://newspaperarchive.com/ukiah-daily-journal-apr-09-1973-p-1/

 

[Beekarina]

This case just popped up in my notifications, and the biker angle reminded me of Paula.

67UFFL


Again, I have no firm theory on how or why Paula would be in Florida, but certainly possible.

In favor: the timeline, hair color, general appearance, estimated age of UID. Chemical isotope testing suggested she was born in the Pacific Northwest or Western United States.

Height is a bit off, but remains were skeletal.

Questions for Paula's friend's and relatives: The UID was found with a ring. Do you remember, or have any info about Paula's wedding ring(s) or other jewelry?

 

[Lindar88]

This case just popped up in my notifications, and the biker angle reminded me of Paula.

67UFFL
View attachment 330477 View attachment 330478 View attachment 330479 View attachment 330480

Again, I have no firm theory on how or why Paula would be in Florida, but certainly possible.

In favor: the timeline, hair color, general appearance, estimated age of UID. Chemical isotope testing suggested she was born in the Pacific Northwest or Western United States.

Height is a bit off, but remains were skeletal.

Questions for Paula's friend's and relatives: The UID was found with a ring. Do you remember, or have any info about Paula's wedding ring(s) or other jewelry?