CA CA - Yvonne Weber, 13, & Maureen Sterling, 12, Santa Rosa, 4 Feb 1972

Maureen Louise Sterling
DOB: 18 February 1959
Last seen 4 February 1972

Yvonne Lisa Weber
DOB: 29 January 1959
Last seen 4 February 1972

Just before 7:30 PM on 4 February 1972, Maureen and Yvonne were dropped off by Maureen's mother at the Empire Ice Arena, which is across the street from Coddingtown Mall, Santa Rosa CA. They were scheduled to be picked up at 11 PM. However, they were not there when the time came.

A Sonoma County Sheriff's Office memo states they were last seen at about 9 PM by a 16-year-old male teen, while they were apparently still in the arena.

However, some of their friends also reportedly spotted the two girls entering a car on Guerneville Road, which runs between the ice arena and Coddingtown Mall, as can be seen on this map (The arena is in the upper left, marked "Snoopy's Home Ice"): https://www.google.com/maps/dir//Gu...8df245e3808d9!2m2!1d-122.7863403!2d38.4525715.

At about 4 PM on 28 December 1972, a pair of teen boys found the girls' bones on Franz Valley Road north of Santa Rosa, over ten miles from the ice arena. The dump spot was 2.7 miles north of Porter Creek Road, and about 66 feet off the road, down an embankment leading to Franz Creek. Maureen's and Yvonne's remains were so skeletal that no means of death could be detected. No items of clothing—not even buttons or other remnants—were found at the dump site, and it is assumed the girls were stripped naked before being discarded.

A gold necklace with a basket-weave design cross was found with the bodies. One earring was also recovered. At least one earring can thus assumed missing.

Maureen and Yvonne are considered the first victims of the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murderer. The thread for this killer is at http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ls-young-women-1972-1973&highlight=hitchhiker

Sources:

http://www.santarosahitchhikermurde...bodies_identified_as_two_missing_sr_girls.pdf

http://www.santarosahitchhikermurde...erling/franz_valley_remains_2_young_women.pdf

http://www.santarosahitchhikermurde...ains_of_2_bodies_found_in_tranz_valley_p1.pdf

Yvonne's death certificate: http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/docs/dcs/weber_dc.pdf

Maureen's death certificate: http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com/docs/dcs/sterling_dc.pdf

“Lost Coast Highway” by Gray George

Bumping...

Richard, thanks for bumping this. I have never heard of the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murderer.

Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders - Wikipedia

This site lists the possible victims of this killer.

Ted Bundy was considered a suspect but was eliminated twice.

Other well-known suspects included the Zodiac killer, Arthur Leigh Allen, and the Hillside Stranglers Bianca and Buono.

Here’s the WS thread for the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murderer:

CA - CA - Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders, 7 girls/young women, 1972-1973

Another excellent site is Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders - Santa Rosa, California.

The murders of Maureen L. Sterling and Yvonne L. Weber (both 12 years old) were mentioned in the book Zodiac by Robert Graysmith in his discussion of the Santa Rosa Hitchhike Murders.

Other victims of that possible serial killer were:

Kim Wendy Allen, 19 who went missing 4 March 1972 and was later found dead.

Lori Lee Kursa, 13, who went missing 21 November 1972 and was found dead on 12 December 1972.

Carolyn Nadine Davis, 15, last seen alive 15 July and found dead 31 July 1973.

Therese Diane Walsh, 23, went missing in December 1973 and her body was later discovered in the same spot where Kim Wendy Allen's body had been dumped.

Jeannette Kamahele, 20, was murdered and her body found 100 yards from where Lori Lee Kursa's body had been found earlier.

These are the victims usually associated with that particular serial killer, however there were more murders of young persons which could also have been linked to them.

The above entry is replete with error.
Janet Kamahele is still missing, as can be seen at CA - CA - Jeannette Kamahele, 20, Santa Rosa, 25 April 1972. I remain extremely dubious she was actually part of this series of murders.
The body found near Lori Lee Kursa's drop location hasn't been identified.
Kim Wendy Allen was found to the south of Santa Rosa, while the other victims were found north of the city. This can be verified at CA - CA - Kim Allen, 19, Santa Rosa, 4 March 1972
The idea that the Zodiac Killer and the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murderer are the same person is ludicrous. I get tired of pointing out that the Zodiac shot courting couples, while the SRHHM abducted and strangled teenage girls and young women. Next you know, someone will be insisting that the Zodiac also napalmed grandmothers.

burblestein said:

...The idea that the Zodiac Killer and the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murderer are the same person is ludicrous. I get tired of pointing out that the Zodiac shot courting couples, while the SRHHM abducted and strangled teenage girls and young women. Next you know, someone will be insisting that the Zodiac also napalmed grandmothers.

Click to expand...

When one considers any crime to be the work of a particular serial killer, there are many factors which enter into that study. Such things as time frame, geographic location, description of victims, circumstances of the crime, types of weapons used, etc. etc.

A serial killer is first and foremost, a psychotic murderer who kills people. Now he/she may have preferences as to victim selection, timing, method, etc., those factors might be more or less important depending on the specific serial killer and the circumstances.

An investigator or writer might suggest or speculate that an unsolved disappearance or murder is the work of a specified (although possibly unidentified) killer, that does not make it a fact. Still, it is a valid consideration in many cases, especially when attempting to solve a crime by linking it to another.

To say that Zodiac could NOT have committed a given crime based on the fact that he is known to have previously killed in a different style is an illogical assumption. Just looking at the four "Known Zodiac" attacks, three were on young couples, while the fourth was the murder of a taxi driver. A different pistol was used in each attack, as well as a knife. Two victims were bound, the others were not. So just in the four attacks most ascribed to him, there was a lot of variation and difference.

In letters, the person claiming to be "Zodiac" bragged that he would kill by many different means and methods. And in other attacks that he claimed, there was much variation. Two of those attacks involved the tampering with cars followed by abductions of young women.

The threat of the Zodiac killer was something well publicized and talked about in California in the 1970's, so many writers are quick to compare murders and abductions in that era with Zodiac.

That said, I didn't mean to conclude in any of my posts here that the Santa Rosa hitchhiker crimes were the work of Zodiac. Rather, I simply stated that Robert Graysmith had discussed the Santa Rosa crimes in his book about Zodiac.

When the several Santa Rosa cases are studied and considered, it does seem to be a very strong probability that at least some of them were committed by the same person or persons working together.

The "illogical assumption" that serial killers develop their own habits in killing people is commonly used by homicide detectives to direct their investigations. It's an application of the principle of Occam's Razor, an accepted tool of logic.

Bumping thread up. This case is now 51 years old.

Bumping, Maureen and Yvonne went missing 51 years ago yesterday. Yvonne’s birthday passed recently as well.

Bumping, today is Yvonne’s birthday.

The 52nd anniversary of Maureen and Yvonne’s disappearance passed recently.

Today is Maureen’s birthday.