CA CA - Paula Pope, 18, Fresh Pond, 3 Sept. 1972

[apearn]

I saw Paula mentioned in another thread but I didn't find on for her alone.

Namus

Status Missing
First name Paula
Middle name Ann
Last name Pope
Nickname/Alias Judith Paula Ann Pile
Date last seen September 03, 1972 00:00
Date entered 09/04/2013
Age last seen 19 to years old
Age now 61 years old
Race White
Ethnicity
Sex Female
Height (inches) 58.0
Weight (pounds) 85.0

She and her husband and their friends were camping at the Cripple Creek Campground near Fresh Pond, in El Dorado County. It was Labor Day weekend in 1972. She had an argument with her husband. She wanted to go to a rock concert in Carson City. Steve couldn't go because he was on parole and he couldn't leave the state. Paula stormed out of the camper. Her friend April went after her, but came back in to get her coat. It was raining. When she went out again, she couldn't find Paula. No one has seen her since

 

[dogperson]

Didn't Bundy confess to killing a hitchhiker on Labor Day weekend in 72/73? I will have to look it up. POlive were unable at the time to match the hitchhiker to a missing girl. Maybe she tried to hitch a ride to the concert?

 

[apearn]

There were some info about her going to a concert and hitching a ride towards Sacramento. Then leaving that group and looking for a new ride back to the camp. I don't have that link right now so I don't know how good that info is.

 

[apearn]

I saw this girl on another thread and she looked interesting for Paula. Per Google maps: Yuba Lake is about 8.5 hours from Carson City and about 10.5 from the area of the campground.


https://identifyus.org/cases/8382



Unidentified White Female


The victim was discovered on September 3, 1978 in Juab County, Utah
Estimated Date of Death: 2-3 years prior
Vital Statistics

Estimated age: 18-22 years old
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'2-5'3"; 110 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Light blond hair, around 11 inches long.
Jewelry: 1.5 inch wide double hoop earring, light yellow metal, fastener for non pierced ears. White metal barrette.
Dentals: Available. Teeth # 26-27 are crowded.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Not available.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/751ufut.html

 

[apearn]

Paula's profile updated today to include DNA in Namus. The JD I posted above also had DNA in Namus......so a no go.

 

[Ricochet]

I found the article on this website http://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=99&t=1725 . The person that posted the article remembered talk about a biker angle at the time and thought that was the most probable.

 

[Steph54]

While reading the posts on Zodiackillersite.com regarding the Pope case, I noticed a concert bill someone posted for the "First Annual Carson City Labor Day Music & Art Festival" at T-Car Speedway in Carson City, Nevada. What a find! The bill lists several non-musical entertainments, including skydiving. When I saw that I instantly thought of Roger Reece Kibbe. According to Trace Evidence, Kibbe had been out of state prison a short time by 1972.

 

[Steph54]

Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (Ancestry.com)
Name: Judeith Paula Ann Pile
Date of Birth: 14 Sep 1953
Gender: Female
Birth County: El Paso
Father's Name: Eugene Pile
Mother's name: Dorothy Carey


California, Marriage Index, 1960-1985 (Ancestry.com)
Name: Paula A Pile
Age: 18
Est. Birth: abt 1954
Spouse Name: Steven L Pope
Spouse Age: 24
Est. Spouse Birth: abt 1948
Date: 15 Jul 1972
Location: Sacramento


California, Death Index, 1940-1997 (Ancestry.com)
Name: Paula Ann Pope
Social Security #: 554880222
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 14 Sep 1953
Birth Place: Texas
Death Date: 3 Sep 1972
Death Place: El Dorado


California, Divorce Index, 1966-1984 (Ancestry.com)
Name: Steven L Pope
Spouse Name: Paula A
Location: Sacramento
Date: 6 Jan 1981

 

[rats]

Bumping for Paula, missing 44 years. :rose::rose:

 

[theshadow45]

Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders unidentified victim? Not much to go on but Paula went missing about two and a half hours from Santa Rosa and there was talk of her going to Sacramento via hitchhiking and she almost certainly would have had to pass through there to get to where this girl was found. Thread for Sonoma County Jane Doe 1979: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?147701-CA-Sonoma-Co-WhtFem-19-red-hair-contact-lenses-hog-tied-Jul-79

 

[Lavender Moon]

Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders unidentified victim? Not much to go on but Paula went missing about two and a half hours from Santa Rosa and there was talk of her going to Sacramento via hitchhiking and she almost certainly would have had to pass through there to get to where this girl was found. Thread for Sonoma County Jane Doe 1979: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?147701-CA-Sonoma-Co-WhtFem-19-red-hair-contact-lenses-hog-tied-Jul-79

Paula wore contact lenses, according to Charley Project. A contact lens was found with the remains of the young woman thought to be murdered by the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Killer(s).

 

[theshadow45]

Yes, specifically hard contact lenses. SCJD's were found to be as well, which was considered at the time to possibly be a significant find due to the rising popularity of the newly created soft contact lenses they had become far less common by the late 1970's. This is discussed more extensively on her thread.

 

[theshadow45]

In addition to the hard contact lenses in common; Sonoma County Jane Doe was estimated to be approximately 19 years old, had red/auburn/brown hair, stood about 5'3", and had previously broken a rib. Paula disappeared 11 days before her 19th birthday and had light brown hair. No mention of Paula breaking any bones in the past and she was a bit shorter than the estimation at somewhere under 5' but I've seen them farther off in the past.

 

[theshadow45]

Something else: Timeline works, Paula went missing in September 1972 while the Hitchhiker Murders were ongoing and the Jane Doe was discovered in July 1979 not too far from where another victim had been found years earlier and was estimated to have been there for about the same amount of time (5-7 years, from 1972-1974).

 

[kemo]

There was a high number of young women who were murdered or went missing in the Bay/Sacramento area in the 1970's. I think this had a lot to do with hitchhiking, that was very common in the region at the time. There were a number of known serial killers and clusters of killings that suggest the possibility of unknown serial killers but there were many victims that are not linked to any pattern. There were many who were " known to hitchhike" but the exact time or place of their disappearance is unknown. They can not really be connected to other cases yet they appear to be victims of some predator. This seems to apply to Paula.

The last reported whereabouts of Paula was Fresh Pond, an obscure place name for a cluster of buildings on Hwy 50 about 3 miles east of Pollock Pines, Ca. 5 miles east of there is Ice House Road, that Paula would have used to get back to the campground where her husband was. It is very possible that she was actually dropped off there and somehow that spot was identified as "Fresh Pond" because it was the nearest place name. Otherwise, had she been left off at the actual "Fresh Pond", she would have had to backtrack 5 miles along Hwy 50. It would suggest either indecisiveness on the part of Paula or raise questions about the couple who reported they had dropped her off.
If she was actually dropped of at Ice House Road, it would tend to confirm the couple's report.

Ice House Road leads to a area of the National Forest that has some recreation lakes, a lot of campgrounds but few if any regular residents. Any predator who might have picked her up there would have no traceable links to the area and miles of undeveloped forest to dump a body.

 

[Mountain Mama]

This is a bit confusing. Namus has one story of the circumstances and Charley Project has a different story. Which is true? Did Paula go to the concert, perhaps the "First Annual Carson City Labor Day Music & Art Festival" at T-Car Speedway, and disappear on her return trip while hiking the last stretch from Fresh Pond to Ice House Rd? Or did she disappear way before, when she and a friend reportedly left the trailer during a rain storm following the fight with her husband, as Namus reports? We need to know which story to go with.

 

[Mountain Mama]

Since the descriptions of the time leading up to Paula's disappearance are conflicting, I suggest focusing on what the newspaper reports say. We need to be able to determine if Paula actually disappeared way before the concert in Carson City, as Namus reports. If this is not true, then we need to examine whether Terry Laber and Carol Cooper (from Sacramento) simply dropped Paula off in Fresh Pond alone to hike the last miles back to Ice House Rd or if they did indeed see her talking with motorcycle types and that would explain why they were stated as having tried to convince her to go to Sacramento instead.

 

[Mountain Mama]

Link to Charley Project page for Paula : http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/pope_paula.html

 

[Mountain Mama]

Here is the link to her NamUs page: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/21696/1/

"Paula stormed out of the camper. Her friend April went after her, but came back in to get her coat. It was raining. When she went out again, she couldn't find Paula. No one has seen her since".

 

[theshadow45]

Thinking of both Paula and Sonoma County Jane Doe (1979)/Santa Rosa Jane Doe today; more about the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders here: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?302778-CA-Santa-Rosa-Hitchhiker-Murders-7-girls-young-women-1972-1973&highlight=paula+pope. This UID is still not in NamUs or Doe Network, how can we change that?