Identified! CA - Mendocino Co, 2 WhtFem Teens, Jul'79 *Francine Trimble & Kerry Graham*

[CarlK90245]

Are there theories as to who could have killed these girls? Serial killers active in CA at around that time would be Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Bittaker_and_Roy_Norris

Maybe Bittaker, but not Norris. Norris was in prison until January 1979.

I don't know of Bittaker ever leaving the Los Angeles area after he was released from prison in October of 1978, but I suppose it is not out of the question. Northern California is a full day's drive from Los Angeles.

 

[Minted]

To snatch (or pick up) and kill two girls at once definitely seems like the MO of someone who didn't do such a thing just once. It seems that there must be suspects known to LE.

 

[wintermute]

The Santa Rosa hitchhiker murderer seemed to have stopped his crimes at least a few years before Kerry and Francine were murdered, but otherwise this perp seems like a very possible candidate. He even did at least one double murder of two 12-year-old girls. Other similarities include leaving the bodies bound and without clothing, and dumping them right off of a road.

 

[katydid23]

The Santa Rosa hitchhiker murderer seemed to have stopped his crimes at least a few years before Kerry and Francine were murdered, but otherwise this perp seems like a very possible candidate. He even did at least one double murder of two 12-year-old girls. Other similarities include leaving the bodies bound and without clothing, and dumping them right off of a road.

I wonder if he was in jail for a couple years and then resumed killing when released? Or maybe he was living out of state for awhile and returned?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Rosa_hitchhiker_murders

 

[SophieRose]

Gerald and Charlene Gallego were operating in the Sacramento area at that time. Their first two killings, young girls, were in Sep 1978, and the next two in Jun 1979.

Leonard Lake (of Lake & Ng - they didn't meet until 1981, said to be in Ukiah) lived in Ukiah around 1980-82, but I'm also finding reports of him living there earlier. He could have started his killing spree before Ng joined him.

 

[SophieRose]

I wonder if he was in jail for a couple years and then resumed killing when released? Or maybe he was living out of state for awhile and returned?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Rosa_hitchhiker_murders

It was Dec 1978, maybe he returned home for Christmas.

The first two girls in the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders were last seen on Guerneville Road. It's said that Francine and Kerry were going to Coddington Mall, and it's likely they would take that road from Forestville.

 

[kemo]

Bittaker and Norris were in Los Angeles, over 600 miles away; not likely.

Sonoma County, where the girls disappeared from, was a rural, low population density area best known for redwood trees and apple orchards. It also had a reputation for a lot of murdered or missing women that are often referred to as the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders. This name is usually limited to six cases that occurred in 1972-73 but these were probably not all committed by the same guy and similar murders continued though the decade.

The high number of murdered and missing women has a lot to do with the influx of people who identified with the "peace and love" sub-culture of the 1960's but preferred the idlic forests of the north coast to the urban areas of the state. Partly as a result of these newcomers to Humboldt Co, hitchhiking became common and was actually a reliable abet dangerous method of transportation. Women particularly found that they could get rides quickly and easily and normally there would be no problem. It is hard to imagine today but in California at the time, thousands of young women routinely relied on hitchhiking to get to work or school. It would be perfectly reasonable for a couple of 14 year olds from a small town in Sonoma Co to hitchhike to a larger town with a mall.

I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970's and I was very aware that there were a lot of murdered and missing women at the time. It has become apparent that the Bay Area had disproportionate number of these types of crimes and Sonoma County was a "hot spot". The number of these type of crimes tailed off since then.

I have collect the names of about 50 women who were probable victims of sexual predators in the greater SF Bay Area in the 1970's that are still unsolved. It is likely that there were some serial killers operating that have not yet been identified but I suspect a lot of them were committed by men who stopped after one or two murders and resumed unremarkable lives.

Debra Silva, who I believe has posted on this board has an excellent web site on the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders : http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/

 

[Minted]

Bittaker and Norris were in Los Angeles, over 600 miles away; not likely.

Sonoma County, where the girls disappeared from, was a rural, low population density area best known for redwood trees and apple orchards. It also had a reputation for a lot of murdered or missing women that are often referred to as the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders. This name is usually limited to six cases that occurred in 1972-73 but these were probably not all committed by the same guy and similar murders continued though the decade.

The high number of murdered and missing women has a lot to do with the influx of people who identified with the "peace and love" sub-culture of the 1960's but preferred the idlic forests of the north coast to the urban areas of the state. Partly as a result of these newcomers to Humboldt Co, hitchhiking became common and was actually a reliable abet dangerous method of transportation. Women particularly found that they could get rides quickly and easily and normally there would be no problem. It is hard to imagine today but in California at the time, thousands of young women routinely relied on hitchhiking to get to work or school. It would be perfectly reasonable for a couple of 14 year olds from a small town in Sonoma Co to hitchhike to a larger town with a mall.

I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970's and I was very aware that there were a lot of murdered and missing women at the time. It has become apparent that the Bay Area had disproportionate number of these types of crimes and Sonoma County was a "hot spot". The number of these type of crimes tailed off since then.

I have collect the names of about 50 women who were probable victims of sexual predators in the greater SF Bay Area in the 1970's that are still unsolved. It is likely that there were some serial killers operating that have not yet been identified but I suspect a lot of them were committed by men who stopped after one or two murders and resumed unremarkable lives.

Debra Silva, who I believe has posted on this board has an excellent web site on the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders : http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/

Yes, absolutely I agree that the place and time made hitchhiking quite normal. Also, unfortunately because the era drew many grifters through the area, it makes it all the more difficult to identify specific individuals known to have committed violent crimes in that area. It is just the right time and place for someone who was just passing through to have done this. But it irks me because the brazenness of it (two at once, not very concealed, not very far off a road) indicates someone with extreme confidence (Bundy did things very similar to this, though the Silva website points out it is unlikely it was him for at least the known Santa Rosa hitchhiker victims). So that would be someone who felt certain he would get away with it, or someone so impulsive and loose in their methods that they were sure to get caught doing something similar soon. If it is the latter, it seems such a person is probably incarcerated today for similar crimes, though perhaps not in that area.

 

[Roselvr]

Serial killers aren't my thing so I can't really contribute. The article Murdered teens identified as missing girls Kerry Graham, 15, and Francine Trimble, 14 has a photo of Alcala; who Kerry & Francine may have taken a ride from

I'm so thankful I never hitched. Seemed too dangerous to me. If I couldn't walk, take the bus, ride my bike or moped or get a ride with someone; I waited till I could get there. I had my own share of experiences from being bullied most of my life to working pumping gas 7 days/ nights a week (77 to 93). Doing what I do, it amazes me that a creep didn't stop.

 

[wintermute]

Bittaker and Norris were in Los Angeles, over 600 miles away; not likely.

Sonoma County, where the girls disappeared from, was a rural, low population density area best known for redwood trees and apple orchards. It also had a reputation for a lot of murdered or missing women that are often referred to as the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders. This name is usually limited to six cases that occurred in 1972-73 but these were probably not all committed by the same guy and similar murders continued though the decade.

The high number of murdered and missing women has a lot to do with the influx of people who identified with the "peace and love" sub-culture of the 1960's but preferred the idlic forests of the north coast to the urban areas of the state. Partly as a result of these newcomers to Humboldt Co, hitchhiking became common and was actually a reliable abet dangerous method of transportation. Women particularly found that they could get rides quickly and easily and normally there would be no problem. It is hard to imagine today but in California at the time, thousands of young women routinely relied on hitchhiking to get to work or school. It would be perfectly reasonable for a couple of 14 year olds from a small town in Sonoma Co to hitchhike to a larger town with a mall.

I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970's and I was very aware that there were a lot of murdered and missing women at the time. It has become apparent that the Bay Area had disproportionate number of these types of crimes and Sonoma County was a "hot spot". The number of these type of crimes tailed off since then.

I have collect the names of about 50 women who were probable victims of sexual predators in the greater SF Bay Area in the 1970's that are still unsolved. It is likely that there were some serial killers operating that have not yet been identified but I suspect a lot of them were committed by men who stopped after one or two murders and resumed unremarkable lives.

Debra Silva, who I believe has posted on this board has an excellent web site on the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders : http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/

I agree that the series of murders attributed to the SR hitchhiker murderer were probably committed by multiple people. I read the Wikipedia entry for the SR murders, and it included a list of possible victims. Some of these victims were abducted and disposed of in San Francisco; one woman was found in Golden Gate Park, which is blocks away from where I live. I can't imagine why a murderer that was likely living in the North Bay would choose to dispose of a body in a very densely populated city like SF, where he ran a high risk of someone witnessing him dump the body. I'm almost certain that the SF murders were committed by someone else.

 

[kemo]

I agree that the series of murders attributed to the SR hitchhiker murderer were probably committed by multiple people. I read the Wikipedia entry for the SR murders, and it included a list of possible victims. Some of these victims were abducted and disposed of in San Francisco; one woman was found in Golden Gate Park, which is blocks away from where I live. I can't imagine why a murderer that was likely living in the North Bay would choose to dispose of a body in a very densely populated city like SF, where he ran a high risk of someone witnessing him dump the body. I'm almost certain that the SF murders were committed by someone else.

There was some FBI report that speculated that the Santa Rosa cases, the SF cases and some others in Northern California were linked and gave them the name "The California Occult Murders". I am very skeptical.

Four murders in San Francisco during the period May 29, 1973 and July 15, 1973 (Rosa Vasquez, Yvonne Quilandtang, Nancy Gidley and Angela Thomas) were very similar and probably connected. All of the victims disappeared from the City and their bodies were found nude in isolated locations. There is no reason to believe any were hitchhiking.

These murders were somewhat overshadowed by the Zebra killings which began later in the year. It is possible that they are connected but most likely they were the act of one sexual predator. There has been little publicity or follow of these murders but, since the bodies were found within a few days, DNA might be available.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Schoolmates, neighbors never told Forestville girls vanished 36 years ago

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5197689-181/schoolmates-neighbors-never-told-forestville?ref=menu&artslide=0

Goetz, who was a schoolmate of Graham’s and hung out with both girls, remains troubled that no one at the time asked her whether she’d seen them and no one in authority told her or other students they were even missing.

“What breaks my heart is no one ever asked,” said Goetz, 53, whose maiden name was O’Halloran and who now lives in Santa Rosa. She said she may have had information that could have helped find the girls.

Other former schoolmates who knew the girls more casually first found out they’d gone missing this month when the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office revealed Feb. 2 their remains had finally been identified, found in the woods near a pullout along Highway 20 west of Willits. They were stunned they had not heard of the case sooner.

“How did we not know about this disappearance of two girls from very small schools and a very small town?” asked Kathy Culley, a Santa Rosa resident and classmate of Graham’s at El Molino.

But Margaret Graham thinks sheriff’s investigators believed at the time the girls left voluntarily.

“If a child didn’t come back, they assumed they ran away,” she said. “You have to remember how long ago that was. Kids were doing their own thing.”

Graham, 77, doesn’t think that was the case because her daughter was recovering from having her appendix removed and was still taking antibiotics. Trimble’s aunt earlier this month recalled in an interview her sister telling her at the time that Graham’s antibiotics were left on a dresser at her home, something she considered suspicious.

Goetz said she last saw the girls at El Molino High School one day that December. They had joined her and some other students that morning to smoke cigarettes in the parking lot near the tennis courts. Graham was a student at the high school while Trimble was in eighth grade at Forestville School. Neither attended school that day, Goetz said.

“They came to school. They didn’t go to class,” she said. “That was the last time we saw them.”

The girls said they were going to hitchhike to a party in Santa Rosa, Goetz said. She said she didn’t know who they were meeting up with.

 

[killer Chaser]

There was some FBI report that speculated that the Santa Rosa cases, the SF cases and some others in Northern California were linked and gave them the name "The California Occult Murders". I am very skeptical.

Four murders in San Francisco during the period May 29, 1973 and July 15, 1973 (Rosa Vasquez, Yvonne Quilandtang, Nancy Gidley and Angela Thomas) were very similar and probably connected. All of the victims disappeared from the City and their bodies were found nude in isolated locations. There is no reason to believe any were hitchhiking.

These murders were somewhat overshadowed by the Zebra killings which began later in the year. It is possible that they are connected but most likely they were the act of one sexual predator. There has been little publicity or follow of these murders but, since the bodies were found within a few days, DNA might be available.

Some more possible connections here. http://www.zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=2504&p=45782#p45782

 

[Tulessa]

I was hoping that they would clarify exactly when they changed Kerry's Date LKA and subsequently were alerted by NCIC that this was a potential match, but from what I can gather it was sometime in 2015.

Roselvr submitted this match in 2014.

So even if they didn't look into this based in Roslvr's submission, they should have. She was on record saying that the date discrepancy should be questioned before it actually was questioned, and I see nothing on any other forum to suggest that anyone questioned it before she did. Several did afterward, but none before.

So IMO, Roselvr deserves the Match!, and I am flagging the thread as such.

Congrats, Roselvr.

YESSSSSSS! So proud of you sista!!

 

[Redwood146]

These girls werent runaways as such just wanting to hitch hiking to a party..... gosh they were so young and its so sad that the connections were made so late in the piece.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

Congratulations again, Roselvr! You are amazing!!! Keep up the great work. Loved ones need answers. Just awesome. :loveyou:

 

[tlcya]

The amazing work continues in these unidentified threads. Congratulations!

 

[Roselvr]

These girls werent runaways as such just wanting to hitch hiking to a party..... gosh they were so young and its so sad that the connections were made so late in the piece.

According to one article, Francine's family said they were doing their make up; left to run to the mall, but were coming back.

 

[burblestein]

Now that these unfortunates have been identified, this becomes a cold case homicide. It is being carried forward at http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-14-Forestville-24-Dec-1978&highlight=trimble.

 

[Jerrod]

I was hoping that they would clarify exactly when they changed Kerry's Date LKA and subsequently were alerted by NCIC that this was a potential match, but from what I can gather it was sometime in 2015.

Roselvr submitted this match in 2014.

So even if they didn't look into this based in Roslvr's submission, they should have. She was on record saying that the date discrepancy should be questioned before it actually was questioned, and I see nothing on any other forum to suggest that anyone questioned it before she did. Several did afterward, but none before.

So IMO, Roselvr deserves the Match!, and I am flagging the thread as such.

Congrats, Roselvr.

??? I know this is a post from an old thread which has migrated to a cold case thread, but is anyone (such as the mod) going to update and correct this for the sake of accuracy?