UNSOLVED CALIFORNIA: Investigating Northern California crimes that have turned cold
California has had its share of cold cases -- the heroes and villains. Some cases, like that of the Golden State Killer, have been solved. Others linger on.
ABC10
Cold cases take a toll on every person caught in their gravity – from the victims and surviving family and friends awaiting justice to the diligent detectives combing through every clue to bring them that relief.
Some cases are a few years old while others go back decades. Evidence, witnesses, even the detectives that dedicate their lives to solving these mysteries are not immune to the passage of time.
California has had its share of cold cases. Some, like that of the Golden State Killer and the Grim Sleeper, have been solved. Others linger on.
ABC10's Madison Wade is taking a look into some of Northern California's lingering cold cases in our series UNSOLVED CALIFORNIA.
Chapter one Jeffrey Mitchell, Part II
- Name: Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell
- Date: October 27, 2006
- Location: A secluded area near Sloughhouse, Calif.
Summary: It was October 27, 2006, early in the morning. Sacramento County Deputy Jeff Mitchell told dispatch he was checking on a white van without plates on a rural road in Sloughhouse.
After dispatch never heard back backup rushed to the scene. The first officer found Jeff shot and killed.
The van in question was found the next day with two bodies inside.
Whoever shot and killed Jeff may have been trying to get away with getting rid of the bodies. That is one theory that persists.
A memorial now stands where Jeff's murder took place, on Meiss Road. It is the starting point to uncover what happened to him.
"I hope that I get to see the person responsible for Jeff’s case," said Micki Links, a detective with the sheriff's cold case homicide unit.
Detectives have not stopped working on this case and told ABC10 over the last 14 years, they have made a lot of strides.
"How does 14 years go by without somebody being held accountable?" asked Crystal Mitchell-Graves, Jeff's widow.
Crystal is also the mother to Jake Mitchell -- Jeff's only son.
Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell's murder
UNSOLVED CALIFORNIA: Wife of murdered deputy awaits justice, shares how she keeps his legacy alive
Chapter two Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell, Part I
- Name: Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell
- Date: October 27, 2006
- Location: A secluded area near Sloughhouse, Calif.
Summary: Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell was shot and killed on the job on October 27, 2006.
Fourteen years have passed and the case remains unsolved.
Mitchell's killer or killers have not been caught but detectives are hopeful they are close to solving the case of one of their own.
The eerie silence alerted dispatch something wasn’t right. They tried asking Deputy Mitchell for a status but his radio was silent.
It happened at about 3:20 a.m. or 4 a.m. in a remote and secluded area in Sloughhouse. There was nothing around except a white van without plates, as was initially observed by Mitchell.
After trying unsuccessfully to get a hold of Mitchell, dispatch alerted all nearby units to respond.
The first officer arrived in 14 minutes. They found Mitchell lying on the ground behind his patrol car bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head. The white van was gone.
Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell's murder
UNSOLVED CALIFORNIA: Who killed Sacramento County Sheriff Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell?
Chapter three Detective Micki Links
- Name: Detective Micki Links
- Date: N/A
- Location: Sacramento County Sheriff's Office
Summary: When Detective Micki Links retired from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office in 2010, she thought she was done working after dedicating 30 years to a job she was passionate about.
Links would soon be called back to work the Cold Case Investigations Homicide Unit, formed to solve cold cases dating back decades.
"I felt this need to come back and work them. I was invested in them," Links said.
Links now volunteers her time to solve cold cases. Many of them were cases she previously worked as a deputy or during her time on the sexual assault team.
"A cold case is a case that has been worked as much as it can be at the time," Links said.
Detective Micki Links
UNSOLVED CALIFORNIA: Retired Sacramento Sheriff's detective returns to solve cold cases
Chapter four Delta 'Jane Doe'
- Name: Delta "Jane Doe"
- Date: March 29, 2008
- Location: Tyler Island Road near Isleton, Calif.
Summary: A fisherman made a gruesome discovery at dusk on March 29, 2008, on Tyler Island Road near Isleton.
He called 911 to report he had found bones underneath a discarded box spring.
It was late when Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies got out there. A little pathway to the levee led them to the remains buried beneath the old box spring.
"We could tell the body had been under the water at some time or another," said Micki Links, an investigator with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Cold Case Homicide Unit.
They didn’t know how long the body had been there until the box spring was examined. Vegetation suggested the body was left there years ago.
"The victim was probably killed at fall of 2004. So that put it at almost four years that the body had been there," Links said.
Links has since come back from retirement to work cold cases but back in 2008 she was a deputy responding to the scene.
Who is Delta Jane Doe?
UNSOLVED CALIFORNIA: Who is Delta Jane Doe? Sacramento cold case investigator hopes for tip in 12-year-old case
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