Police asks help identifying the people in photos taken by murderer

[ali]

http://www.stevehodel.com/evidenceroom/?p=650

 

[carbuff]

Good article in LA Weekly: http://www.laweekly.com/2010-01-21/news/rodney-alcala-the-fine-art-of-killing/1

It answers a lot of questions about time lines and travel, though it doesn't mention Europe.

 

[dsntslp]

Those pictures of the girls on bikes in front of some shrubbery look like Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Cocoa Beach? But definitely that part of the north Florida coast. The hotel looks a lot like Cocoa Beach to me, too.

Those shrubs are seagrapes. They are a protected plant in Fl, no trimming etc because they help to keep the dunes from eroding.
Do they have seagrapes in California?

The building in the background in one of those pics with the girls in front of the seagrapes looks like it is in N. Miami at a place called North Beach, Haulover Park (clothing optional since at least 1986 that I know of and it seems I remember hearing that the fight to stop the nudity had been ongoing for at least twenty years. Haulover Park has/had? a bench like that and also seagrapes separating a dirt pathway/drive from the ocean. Part of the path has since been paved.

 

[CarlK90245]

I wonder what ever became of Dating Game bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw, and what she thinks now about having selected the Dating Game contestant from hell?

Presumably he didn't kill her, or we would have heard about it. But it seems that she must be thinking that first she hit the wrong lotto by getting on the Dating Game and selecting a serial killer, and then she hit the right lotto by not getting killed by him.

 

[carbuff]

I wonder what ever became of Dating Game bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw, and what she thinks now about having selected the Dating Game contestant from hell?

Presumably he didn't kill her, or we would have heard about it. But it seems that she must be thinking that first she hit the wrong lotto by getting on the Dating Game and selecting a serial killer, and then hit the right lotto by not getting killed by him.

The LA Weekly article says she decided not to go on the date with him because he was too creepy.

 

[CarlK90245]

The LA Weekly article says she decided not to go on the date with him because he was too creepy.

Good call !!!

 

[Donjeta]

I've read some stuff on this and saw it on NG also...but I'm a bit confused. Do we know that he only committed crimes in California (and possibly Europe)??:waitasec: If we knew how much he traveled it and/or where it sure would help.

I think all of the above matches should be submitted.:angel:

The reason I say that is that I saw Hot Case 1317 on DN, it is the remains of a biracial female, 25-35 yrs old, curly black hair, dressed in a 1/2 white slip with tube top and a button blouse found nearby. However, the female was found in North Carolina but was found in October and presumed to have died 3 months prior...putting the crime in the area of July 1979. There's no photo or rendition of the victim.

He had a storage locker in Seattle so maybe we should look at that corner of the world as well.

 

[BethInAK]

i saw the article and came running to this thread knowing you'd all be on it.

I'm hoping most of these women contact the police to let them know they are still alive, but still, I think everything everyone has posted is worth looking into further.

 

[CarlK90245]

I remember when I was a teenager in the 70's being down at the beach and seeing a stranger with a camera asking teenagers if he could take their photos.

I don't remember now what he looked like, but I am wondering now if this was the same person.

Good article in LA Weekly: http://www.laweekly.com/2010-01-21/news/rodney-alcala-the-fine-art-of-killing/1

It answers a lot of questions about time lines and travel, though it doesn't mention Europe.

The LA Weekly article indicates that one of the victims, Charlotte Lamb, was found in a laundry room in El Segundo in 1978.

That makes me think even more that Alcala was the guy that I saw at the beach taking photos of teenaged girls. As I recall, it was around 1978, when I was about 15 or 16, and it was at the Grand Avenue beach directly adjacent to El Segundo.

 

[smart blonde]

It's probably just the way these two girls are holding their mouths, but there is some resemblance to Lisa Joy White and the UID girl. I agree with everyone else regarding Debra Kidwell- she's close.

Lisa Joy White:
http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

Excellent match up, in my opinion- these 'two' girls look to be one and the same to me. Amazingly similar! (The pics didn't transfer over when I quoted your post- but, I'm referring to the pics in POST #14, on the first page of this thread).

 

[Sleuthster]

Missing that could be linked

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/827dfca.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/49dffl.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1947dffl.html

 

[Sleuthster]

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll234/CCParrott/kz3eaj-kz3eag0163.jpg

http://live.universal-collectibles.com/uu/p_ds/p_img.aspx?PRODUCTID=18412&PICTURE=1

Poster in background

 

[carbuff]

The LA Weekly article indicates that one of the victims, Charlotte Lamb, was found in a laundry room in El Segundo in 1978.

That makes me think even more that Alcala was the guy that I saw at the beach taking photos of teenaged girls. As I recall, it was around 1978, when I was about 15 or 16, and it was at the Grand Avenue beach directly adjacent to El Segundo.

Yikes Carl! That is scary! Thank God you didn't go with him!

 

[ali]

Is anyone good at doing timelines? I'm really confused about that has he been in jail since 1978?

 

[carbuff]

Is anyone good at doing timelines? I'm really confused about that has he been in jail since 1978?

I haven't done a formal timeline, but the notes I extracted from the LA Weekly article gave these dates:

1968, first known assault when he nearly killed a schoolgirl by beating her over the head with a pipe. He fled when police came to his house.

1971, arrested in Concord NH where he was working as a counselor in a summer arts camp under the name John Berger or Burger. He was returned to CA for trial in the 1968 assault but served less than 3 years.

Went back east after that, apparently. They suspect he was living in NYC, probably as Berger, and committed at least two murders there. (Cornelia "Michael" Crilley in ?1971? and Ellen Hover in either 1974 or 1977 -- the article contradicted itself)

He was under arrest for short periods in the 70s but not arrested for the murder of the 12-year-old until 1980. He seems to have gone more and more out of control -- the murders he's being tried for were increasingly bizarre.

I wish I could find an exact date for when he was arrested. Laureen Rahn went missing from NH in April 1980 and is believed to have gone to California...http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/rahn_laureen.html

 

[tatertot]

Yikes. Nowadays you can still see ads on Craiglist seeking "models" for these kinds of nude/semi-nude photo shoots. I hope any women answering them bring along at least one friend to supervise and tell someone else the address where the shoot will take place. Scary.

Could Alcala have paid some of his "models" who are seen in multiple photos, especially the ones he took nude photos of in his apartment? If they were runaways or just young adults on their own, money for posing might have sounded like a good deal.

If that's his apartment in the photos, he went to a lot of trouble decorating it to look "arty" with the posters and photography equipment. In Picture #12, you can see lights rigged up for a photo shoot and an orange/yellow/green floral, very-circa-70s bedsheet against the wall. It's used in a lot of the photos as a backdrop. I think those yellow and blue boxes on the table near the sheet are GE brand spotlights, similar to the ones clipped to the metal table nearby. GE's packaging hasn't changed much over the years.

Some of the shots look like they were taken surreptitiously, like #45, the one of the dad and kids showering off at the beach. The guy's face is in the water so he might not have even known the photo was taken.

 

[Cymro]

I've been through all the photos but not got any strong matches yet that haven't been mentioned already or elsewhere.

This girl looks like an ideal potential victim though.

Cynthia M Hernandez, age 20, missing since August 26 1976 from Glendale, Ca.

Closest matches are to the left and right, Hernandez to the center:

 

[Donjeta]

Try this link for the photos, Kimster:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-504083_162-10002762.html?tag=page

 

[bugaboo]

I was slow to see this article, but ran here immediately. It sounds strange, but I'm just so excited to see these pictures. Maybe some matches can be made with missing persons, and maybe their families can find some peace. I think I know how I'll be spending my rainy weekend: eyes glued to the monitor. cguru:

Great job everyone!

 

[tifflee]

The release of all these photos remind me of a show I once saw profiling James "Mike" DeBardeleben and how they also found boxes of photos they thought were his victims (in addition to underwear, old and new - I wonder if the old clothes ever got tested for DNA?). Did they ever release the photos to the public to try to identify the women? Seems like they should try to if Huntington PD's efforts pay off.