CA CA - Martin Christopher Austin, 20, Fairfield, 15 Mar 1974

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]5021DMCA - Martin Christopher Austin[/h]

Name: Martin Christopher Austin
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: March 15, 1974
Location Last Seen: Fairfield, Solano County, California

[h=2]Physical Description[/h] Date of Birth: January 5, 1954
Age: 20 years old
Race: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 170-180 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
Distinguishing Marks/Features: He has a full beard and mustache (dark brown).

[h=2]Identifiers[/h] Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Not Available

[h=2]Clothing & Personal Items[/h] Clothing: Blue jeans size 34/36 waist, gray t-shirt, brown suede jacket.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: "Waffle stomper" type shoes - hiking boots with lug soles - size 11.

[h=2]Circumstances of Disappearance[/h] Martin Austin was last seen at home by his mother at 8:00 a.m. on 03/15/1974. Later the same day he picked up his paycheck at Solano Community College in Fairfield, CA but failed to report for work there the next day. Mr. Austin's white 1971 Honda was found abandoned in the parking lot of Linda Mar Shopping Center in Pacifica, CA on 03/17/1974. Foul play is suspected in his disappearance.

[h=2]Investigating Agency(s)[/h] Agency Name: Fairfield Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Police Tech. Nancy DiGiovanni
Agency Phone Number: 707-428-7350
Agency E-Mail: ndigiovanni@fairfield.ca.gov
Agency Case Number: 74-1754

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 32025
[h=2]Information Source(s)[/h] NamUs
California Department of Justice


http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/5021dmca.html

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/32025/

https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/martin-christopher-austin

 

[glamourkitty1922]

There isn't anything else about him.

 

[Sleuth91]

Bumping this thread for Martin.

 

[MalaYQue!]

Here is the updated agency contact information:

Fairfield (CA) Police Department - Case #74-1754
Rosemary Southward - Investigations Bureau, Missing Persons
(707) 399-1988
rsouthward@fairfield.ca.gov

 

[Savemecastiel]

Bump

 

[vspin]

I *think* I may have figured out what happened to this man. Please see my post here: CA - CA - Oxnard, WhtMale UP9187, 18-30, carnival worker, aka 'Brad Bodie', Apr'74

 

[vspin]

I spoke to his sister, and the unidentified male I suspected was him, is not, according to her. She says she is going to send me more photos of her brother, and that I can share them with you all.

 

[vspin]

His sister gave me a much better photo of him which was taken (high school, 1971) about ~3 years before he went missing. According to his sister, he "lost a lot of weight in college," and that "he grew a beard with reddish streaks in it shortly before he disappeared."

 

[FogHornFiles]

20 year old Martin Christopher Austin was last seen at home by his mother at 8:00 a.m. on March 15th 1974. Later the same day he picked up his paycheck at Solano Community College in Fairfield, CA but failed to report for work there the next day. Mr. Austin's vehicle was found abandoned in the parking lot of Linda Mar Shopping Center in Pacifica, CA on March 17th 1974. He was of Caucasian descent and was last seen wearing blue jeans size 34/36 waist, gray t-shirt, and a brown suede jacket. He is listed as missing from Fairfield, California.

On May 10th 1974 a male body was found in the surf by a passing jogger in Pacifica, California. The body was estimated to be aged 18-30 years old and of Caucasian descent. The body was clothed in Blue Levis Strauss jeans and white brief-type underwear. The estimated year of death was 1973 or 1974.

I've been in contact with Fairfield, California Police and Pacifica Police. They said they appreciated the tip and that they would investigate further. Was this worth submitting ? I admit the time between the disappearance and discover of the body in the surf is strange.

[Missing Person Case (namus.gov)](The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs))

[Unidentified Person Case (namus.gov)](The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs))

 

[FogHornFiles]

20 year old Martin Christopher Austin was last seen at home by his mother at 8:00 a.m. on March 15th 1974. Later the same day he picked up his paycheck at Solano Community College in Fairfield, CA but failed to report for work there the next day. Mr. Austin's vehicle was found abandoned in the parking lot of Linda Mar Shopping Center in Pacifica, CA on March 17th 1974. He was of Caucasian descent and was last seen wearing blue jeans size 34/36 waist, gray t-shirt, and a brown suede jacket. He is listed as missing from Fairfield, California.

[Missing Person Case (namus.gov)](The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs))

[Martin Christopher Austin | State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General ](Martin Christopher Austin)

On May 10th 1974 a male body was found in the surf by a passing jogger in Pacifica, California. The body was estimated to be aged 18-30 years old and of Caucasian descent. The body was clothed in Blue Levis Strauss jeans and white brief-type underwear. The estimated year of death was 1973 or 1974. (Some sites list the body as being found Feb 10th. This is incorrect.

[Unidentified Person Case (namus.gov)](The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs))

[JOHN DOE / CASE #74-407 | Coroner (smcgov.org)](JOHN DOE / CASE #74-407 | Coroner)

If you search for additional information on this unidentified person case you will most likely come across the “[Unidentified Wiki](https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/San_Mateo_County_John_Doe_(1974))” page and a few others discussing our particular John Doe. Many include information on Anthony Harris and the Death Angels. However this information is inaccurate. Here is what they say below. (This link also says Feb 10th for a unknown reason)

“The victim was discovered by two women walking a dog on the beach in a bundle. Both arms were tied by wire at the sides of the torso and the knees bound to the chest. The lower abdomen was cut from the hip bones and the victim’s head, hands, and feet were never recovered. In 1974, Anthony Harris went to the police and told them about the Death Angels, a black Muslim nationalist gang that did random attacks against white people in San Francisco that killed fifteen and wounded eight to ten between 1973-1974. Harris told them specifically about the unidentified victim, now dubbed "John Doe #169". The victim was allegedly a homeless man they abducted in Ghirardelli Square on December 24th, 1974 . They then brought him to the Black Self-Help Moving’s warehouse where they gagged, tied up, and took turns torturing the man by hacking his limbs while he was still conscious.” - From Unidentified Wiki

The above story is in connection to a nude body found on December 24th 1974 in San Francisco, California.(No articles online about the discovery of this body. I used Newspaper.com) The body was found on Ocean Beach at the end of Pacheco Street. Papers at the time said “The nude body had no head, hands, or feet … there was also a gaping wound in the abdomen”. Police believed the body had only been in the water for two days, if not less. The story in the Paper even mentions the same young women walking her dogs as the Unidentified Wiki article. Furthermore the body in San Francisco was considered to have only been in the water for two days or less. The Pacifica body was estimated to have been in the water for over a month.

Namus Shows Martin Austin as an exclusion for the body found in Pacifica, California on May 10th 1974. However could this be a mistake ? The timing, age, height, location, and ethnicity all match. Furthermore the body was found in Jeans, this was what Martin was last reported wearing. Martin's car was found in Pacifica on March 17th 1974. This would be consistent with the theory that the body was in the water for a month.

[Zebra](Zebra: The True Account of 179 Days of Terror in San Francisco : Clark Howard : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive) by Clark Howard Gives some interesting insight. (Not completely sure on the accuracy of this book). On page 166 Howard writes about a particular detail Harris mentioned about the man they kidnapped on December 24th. Upon inspecting the victims identification one of the kidnappers said “This sucker aint even from around here man, He probably won't even be reported missing here”. Harris had described this man as homeless. It's curious to me that they even assumed a homeless man would be reported missing. The Bay Area has always been a transient hotspot. There was little risk of a missing homeless man being reported. However, a college student from Fairfeild is a different story. Fairfield to San Francisco is just over an hour's drive away. The additional drive to Pacifica only adds a further 10-15 minutes. The suspects could have thought that this separation would help buy them time and that the man's disappearance would not be noticed in San Francisco. This memory could possibly have been referencing Martins murder but at a later date. Possibly Harris confused which attack was which. This murder is further talked about on pages 173-74, 180-81, and 354-355.

At the time the [Zebra](Zebra murders - Wikipedia) murders were in full swing. A number of bodies were found mutilated on beaches so I guess it's not hard to imagine one ending up in the nearby coastal town of Pacifica. Just seems like a very big coincidence. What do you think ? Could Martin have fallen victim to the Death Angels ? The deaths on the beaches were all extremely similar. Im curious as to what testing was done to rule Martin out. Do any crimes or bodies around Fairfield Match Martin ?

 

[FogHornFiles]

Body found May 10th 1974. Pacifica, CA
JOHN DOE / CASE #74-407 | Coroner (smcgov.org)

 

[FogHornFiles]

December 24th 1973. San Francisco, CA. Ocean Beach.
- Bit of a side note. This location is about a 20 Minute drive away from where the Pacifica body would be found on May 10th 1974.

 

[MalaYQue!]

Hi FogHornFiles (et al.). The remains found on Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica CA on May 10th, 1974 have been ruled out as a match for Martin Austin. I totally agree with you that the timeline, circumstances, and physical descriptions looked like a very strong possibility. The possible match between "Pacifica Unknown" and Martin Christopher Austin was conclusively eliminated by a DNA comparison in 2020. The body was exhumed and the DNA was compared to the family reference sample DNA for Martin, on file with CA DOJ. As for the discrepancy in the dates Pacifica Unknown was found on the beach in Pacifica: it appears to have been a typo in the original NamUs entry and has since been corrected to May 10, 1974. Martin Austin's NamUs entry was also edited in the Circumstances section to put his last known location in Pacifica, CA rather than Fairfield, CA.

20 year old Martin Christopher Austin was last seen at home by his mother at 8:00 a.m. on March 15th 1974.
<snip>
"On May 10th 1974 a male body was found in the surf by a passing jogger in Pacifica, California... Some sites list the body as being found Feb 10th. This is incorrect.
<snip>
"Namus Shows Martin Austin as an exclusion for the body found in Pacifica, California on May 10th 1974. However could this be a mistake ? The timing, age, height, location, and ethnicity all match. Furthermore the body was found in Jeans, this was what Martin was last reported wearing. Martin's car was found in Pacifica on March 17th 1974. This would be consistent with the theory that the body was in the water for a month.
<snip>
"I'm curious as to what testing was done to rule Martin out. Do any crimes or bodies around Fairfield Match Martin ?
<snip>
"I've been in contact with Fairfield, California Police and Pacifica Police. They said they appreciated the tip and that they would investigate further. Was this worth submitting?" [END QUOTE]

 

[FogHornFiles]

Great to have that information confirmed ! Curious as to what other theories have been presented in the past.

 

[FogHornFiles]

Do we know if Martin had any connection to Pacifica or if he frequented this part of the Bay Area often ?

Is it possible that the crime was committed in another area and the suspect drove the car to Pacifica ? Or has it been confirmed Martin was in Pacifica ?

 

[madamx]

Bumping