CA CA - Jeannette Kamahele, 20, Santa Rosa, 25 April 1972

[Lavender Moon]

After looking at her more closely, I wonder if she's of mixed race, too. She reminds me of my cousins who are half Japanese.

 

[Lavender Moon]

I have put considerable effort into these cases.
The sole reason Jeannette is counted as a SRHHM victim is because LE said so. No reason given, at least that I could find--just the repeated listings of her among the murder victims. And I find little reason to regard Kim Allen as one of that series, given that one of her college instructors became obsessed with her before dying in a vehicle wreck. However, let me share a wild surmise.
If Professor M could become obsessed with one young woman, why not two? Jeannette vanished while lugging around a colorful small empty soy sauce barrel. Who more fitted to cozen an impressionable young woman with a line of jive about the barrel than an arts instructor? And he has just years enough and experience enough on her to exert some authority.

Actually, it was Kim Wendy Allen who was carrying the empty soy barrel, not Jeannette.

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping for Jeannette, today is her birthday.

 

[theshadow45]

Jeannette has been missing for 48 years today.

 

[Richard]

Jeannette Kamahele

• 
• 

Kamahele, circa 1972

• Missing Since 04/25/1972
• Missing From Santa Rosa, California
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Pacific Islander
• Date of Birth 02/10/1952 (68)
• Age 20 years old
• Height and Weight 5'5, 120 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A dark brown blouse or sweater, Levi's jeans, sandals and gold post-type earrings. Carrying a leather purse, colored its natural brown with the dye pattern visible.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Pacific Islander female. Black hair, brown eyes. Kamahele is of Hawaiian descent. She wears a dental bridge and she has a large birthmark beneath her right breast.

Details of Disappearance

Kamahele was last seen hitchhiking on the Cotati onramp off Highway 101 in Santa Rosa, California on April 25, 1972. A friend of hers was going to stop and pick her up, but before the friend could do this, another vehicle pulled over. Kamahele was picked up by a 20- to 30-year-old Caucasian male with an Afro-type hairstyle, driving a faded brown 1970 - 1972 Chevrolet pickup truck. She has never been heard from again.

Around the time of Kamahele's disappearance, seven females disappeared and were later found murdered. They were all between 12 and 23 years old and all of them were habitual hitchhikers. Kamahele is the only one who was never located. Police believed a serial killer was operating in the area.

The serial killer Ted Bundy was considered a possible suspect in Kamahele's case at one time, but he was cleared. Others suspect she may have been a victim of the Zodiac Killer, a still-unidentified a serial killer who terrorized California in the late 1970s. Robin Graham, who went missing in 1970, is considered to be a possible Zodiac victim. Donna Lass, who vanished in 1971, was a suspected victim, but police no longer believe the Zodiac Killer was involved in her case.

The body of a young woman was found in a ravine near Calistoga Road in 1979. Authorities initially thought she might be Kamahele, but her dental records did not match the murder victim's.

Kamahele graduated from Yokohama American High School in Japan in 1970. She was a student at Santa Rosa Junior college at the time of her disappearance, and lived with a roommate in the 900 block of Sierra Avenue. She is described as a conscientious student and it's uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning.

Kamahele's case remains unsolved. Her parents and brother are now deceased, but she has a sister who's still looking for her.
Investigating Agency

• Sonoma County Sheriff's Office 707-565-2185

Source Information

• Have You Seen Me: Jeannette Kamahele
• Serial Killers A - Z
• Officer.com
• Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders
• NamUs
• The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat
• Jeannette Kamahele – The Charley Project

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping for Jeannette.

 

[UncoolNegated]

I am surprised that more people aren't interested in ruling out Jeanette as the Swamp Mountain Jane Doe. I mean they tested the doe for Georgeann Hawkins...

 

[Beekarina]

I am surprised that more people aren't interested in ruling out Jeanette as the Swamp Mountain Jane Doe. I mean they tested the doe for Georgeann Hawkins...

The Levis, the sandals.....and the physical stats are certainly within range. I agree it seems odd? Seems the dental bridge is the reason....

Edited to add Carl's renditions I found online & Jeanette to compare.

 

[UncoolNegated]

Also, the dates are within range. Also, the Jane Doe was found north of where Jeannette was hitchhiking and she was hitchhiking in a norther direction I think. Maybe I don't understand what a dental bridge is exactly and how significant it is.

Maybe the girl from the photo isn't Jeannette but is the Swamp Mountain Jane Doe. That would be mixed up.

 

[burblestein]

Keep going, folks. You're on a roll. Keep in mind that Namus, etc. collect the errors along with the facts.

 

[UncoolNegated]

Keep going, folks. You're on a roll. Keep in mind that Namus, etc. collect the errors along with the facts.

Yes, over the years I have noticed numerous errors.

 

[Beekarina]

My understanding is dental bridge=false teeth, or even a tooth, but usually like 3 teeth in small row? If you have ever known anyone who has a few teeth knocked out, and they can "pop" the fix in and out as a trick to freak people out? i.e. not full dentures....

I'm not sure what would have been most common when Jeanette went missing? I'm assuming we would be looking for remains with missing teeth/possibly the matching piece.

 

[UncoolNegated]

My understanding is dental bridge=false teeth, or even a tooth, but usually like 3 teeth in small row? If you have ever known anyone who has a few teeth knocked out, and they can "pop" the fix in and out as a trick to freak people out? i.e. not full dentures....

I'm not sure what would have been most common when Jeanette went missing? I'm assuming we would be looking for remains with missing teeth/possibly the matching piece.

If there was a source saying this Jane Doe did not have that and Jeanette did then that would be a rule out. However, them not including the information isn't a rule out.

 

[Beekarina]

It is noted there are dentals available for Swamp Mountain Doe. Let me see if I can find more detailed info about them. Have you already looked?

Edited: they may also be ruling out based on the healed fracture to nasal bone. I would hope they would leave something like that as a possibility, at least, as people could go missing, be injured and have it heal prior to death.

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping for Jeannette, today is her birthday.

 

[Sillybilly]

Hey folks, we can't just be naming and linking to random people just because they have the same reasonably common name. Either use initials and a link, or do that sleuthing behind the scenes via PM but not on the public board.

These families don't need their names showing up in a google search, on a crime sleuthing site as possibly being related to a rapist or a killer of the same name.

Make sure you have the right individual before publicly posting the info at Websleuths. Even if they are the right person, don't drag their family names into the discusison. They don't deserve it. Please post responsibly.

And on another note, ALL images taken from the internet require links to the source. No link, no post !

Thank you.

 

[Benoit Bawles]

OK fair enough, I forgot forum posts show up on search engines. I figured posting links to obits was ok because they were public documents but your point is valid. I'll make a post on the SRHM general with forum rules and search engines in mind.

 

[theshadow45]

Jeannette has been missing for 49 years today.

 

[Pete388]

Hmmm....

I don't think the young woman is strictly Caucasian, but I'm not convinced she is Jeannette. It's a shame there are not more photos to compare.

View attachment 223320 View attachment 223321 View attachment 223323

The tips of their noses seem quite different. I think the young woman in the photo might be part Japanese? She looks a bit like a friend I had when younger who was.

That could be very true, you will rarely find a pure native Hawaiian anymore. A lot of the Japanese and Chinese men who came to Hawaii to work on the pineapple and sugarcane plantations in the 1800s and early 1900s married native Hawaiian women. Not to mention to a lesser extent the white, Philipino, Korean and Portugese men adding to the mix. The common term now that they use is "hapa"

 

[Richard]

Jeannette Kamahele
BIRTH 10 Feb 1952
DEATH 25 Apr 1972 (aged 20)
Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, USA
BURIAL Body lost or destroyed

Jeannette Kamahele, 20, a Santa Rosa Junior College student, was last seen on April 25, 1972 hitchhiking near the Cotati on-ramp of Highway 101.

A friend witnessed her likely abduction and reported that she entered a faded brown Chevrolet pickup truck fitted with a homemade wooden camper and driven by a 20-30 year old Caucasian male with an Afro hairstyle.

Her body has never been found.

LINK:

Jeannette Kamahele (1952-1972) - Find A Grave...