Investigating Northern California crimes that have turned cold | Unsolved California
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.
Jose Dominguez Case
Name(s): Jose "Che" Dominguez
Date: Aug. 2, 1981
Location: Stockton, Calif.
Summary:
After four decades of mystery surrounding the sudden disappearance of Jose Esuaro Dominguez, authorities in Stockton may be close to a breakthrough in the then teenager's cold case, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday.
For 40 years, holidays and everyday life for the family of Jose Dominguez of Stockton have been amiss. Known by family and friends as "Che," Dominguez went missing Aug. 2, 1981, when he was 16 years old.
Gov. Newsom offers reward for four killings Article
Name(s): N/A
Date: December 21, 2021
Location: California
Summary:
Four cold cases in California had a spotlight shone on them after the governor's office announced $50,000 in reward money for each case.
It's a move that comes after an ask from law enforcement agencies who exhausted their leads. The hope is that the rewards can lead to new information and possibly, the perpetrator.
Jasmine Menina Case
Name(s): Jasmine Menina
Date: June 10, 2021
Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Summary: A family desperate for answers is asking for help after their daughter, sister Jasmin Menina was found dead near Sacramento.
Little is known about what happened to Jasmin Menina but someone knows something. James Menina is desperate to know what happened to his 26-year-old daughter.
"She had the most beautiful smile in the world," James Menina said. "I want my baby back. She didn't deserve this. She never hurt nobody."
Heather Lee Ann Hibbs Case
Name(s): Heather Lee Ann Hibbs
Date: February 10, 2002
Location: Vacaville, Calif.
Summary: Almost 20 years later, the Solano County Sheriff's Office needs help in figuring out who killed Heather Lee Ann Hibbs in Vacaville.
According to the sheriff's office, Hibbs' body was found in an irrigation canal near the intersection of Brown and Salem Roads on Feb. 10, 2002. They said she died from blunt force trauma.
Hibbs was reported last seen in San Francisco around Jan. 11, 2002, and shortly later at the Solano Mall in Fairfield leaving with an unknown person in a blue truck. The sheriff's office did not release a description of the person.
Priscilla Lewis Case
Name(s): Priscilla Lewis
Date: September 24, 1996
Location: Crockett, Calif.
Summary: A DNA match has helped detectives solve the killing of a San Francisco Bay Area waitress whose body was found in a basement bathroom 25 years ago.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office identified Danny Lamont Hamilton as the man who killed Priscilla Lewis. Prosecutors allege he drowned Priscilla Lewis in 1996 in an attempted rape and burglary at a restaurant in the city of Crockett.
The case was unsolved for two decades after investigators interviewed dozens of people, analyzed evidence and executed several search warrants.
Sheriff's investigators say they submitted more evidence to a DNA crime lab last year and the match came back.
Barbara Ann Smith Case
Name(s): Barbara Ann Smith
Date: August 17, 1991
Location: Stockton, Calif.
Summary: Little is known about what happened to Barbara Ann Smith who was found dead at a Stockton elementary school after being killed in 1991.
Tucked in thousands of rows at the Stockton Rural Cemetery is where Smith rests with her baby. She was born in 1961 and was killed in 1991 while she was seven months pregnant with her daughter.
According to Stockton police, Smith was bludgeoned to death but they are unsure what kind of weapon was used in the killing.
Gloria Tyson, Smith's sister wants to make sure her story is not forgotten.
Sarayah Redmond Case
Name(s): Sarayah Redmond
Date: September. 25, 2020
Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Summary: Sarayah was at the Stonecreek Apartment complex the night of her killing, family members say. She was watching a movie on Sept. 25, 2020, when someone fired into the unit.
The Sacramento Police Department said a man was also injured in the shooting, but survived. That man was inside the apartment and was a friend of Sarayah’s, family members said.
Lance Whitemore Case
Name(s): Lance Whitemore
Date: October 13, 2020
Location: Stockton, Calif.
Summary: In between two homes on South Madison Street in Stockton, a memorial has stood for more than a year.
The memorial is for 33-year-old Lance Whitmore. He was killed on October 13, 2020, a Tuesday night at around 10:45 p.m.
Lance Whitmore's mother Pamela Whitmore and little sister Raquel Whitmore come by the memorial every day to honor Lance Whitmore.
Pamela says the night her son was killed, he was with an unknown woman driving in this neighborhood when shots rang out. His family also said his car was shot up to 16 times.
Lance Whitmore crashed his car. The unknown woman and the shooters then took off.
Pamela Whitmore is worried her son's case will go cold.
Cherilyn Hawkley Case
Name(s): Cherilyn Hawkley
Date: October 29, 1993
Location: Granite Bay, Calif.
Summary: Someone took 39-year-old Cherilyn Hawkley from Eureka Elementary School in Granite Bay, 28 years ago, on October 29, 1993, and killed her, leaving her body in her van to be discovered.
"It’s shocked a lot of people for a long time," said Detective Bryan Mattison with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office .
It was the Friday before Halloween. Kids were trick-o-treating in classrooms and there was a fall festival-type celebration taking place.
"She had stayed late cleaning up popcorn," Mattison said. "There’s a janitor that maybe sees her car around 5:30 and when he comes back around 6, it’s gone and that’s it. No one sees her again."
Cherilyn Hawkley didn’t come home that night alarming her boyfriend and father. Her boyfriend reported her missing.
Only two days later, Halloween night, her van was discovered less than a mile away from her school.
Allan Olvera Case
Name(s): Allan Olvera
Date: October 11, 2001
Location: Sacramento County
Summary: "In October of 2001, the sheriff’s department was called to Allan Olvera’s house. His parents hadn’t heard from him in 4 to 5 days, and he wasn’t answering his phone. The front door was locked. No answer at the door. The dad went around the back side and went through the house through an unlocked slider. They found Allan deceased. He had been bludgeoned to death. Very horrific," said Detective Micki Links, who is in charge of the cold case unit with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
How could something so horrific happen to a person who was so loved?
“I just feel like he invited somebody over or somebody stopped by to visit him and for whatever reason, things went bad," Links said.
Detective Links sits in her office and clicks through the crime scene photos showing the outside of Olvera's home. Above her, on a whiteboard, she has Olvera’s case front and center.
She’s been working the case hard since 2012, when they got some new information that led them in a different path than the original suspect, which at the time was Olvera’s former roommate.
"I feel that Allan knew the person who killed him," she said.
The Keddie Murders Case
Name(s): Glenna “Sue” Sharp, John Sharp, Tina Sharp, and Dana Wingate
Date: April 11, 1981
Location: Keddie, Calif. in rural Plumas County
Summary: It has been 40 years since the most horrific crime in Plumas County history, the Keddie Murders.
Glenna “Sue” Sharp; her son, John Sharp, 15; and his friend, Dana Wingate, 17 were brutally killed and left to be found in Cabin 28. Tina Sharp, 12, was also killed. Her remains were found in Butte County
Investigators believe Tina is the center of this case.
Investigators tell ABC10’s Madison Wade they are closer than ever to solving this case. It’s one that has haunted this area ever since.
UNSOLVED CALIFORNIA: The Keddie Murders
Patrick Garza and April Weber Case
Name(s): Patrick Garza and April Weber
Date: September 3, 2002
Location: Stockton, Calif.
Summary: It was early in the morning during the late summer in Stockton. Back then, in 2002, the crime happened in an area known to law enforcement as a higher crime neighborhood, especially between rival gangs.
A quick trip to a convenience store, Quik Stop on Freemont Street, turned deadly for a young couple.
"Within moments of arriving they were gunned down by two different assailants," said Detective Patrick High with the Stockton Police Department.
April Weber died next to the payphone she was trying to use. Patrick Garza died at the hospital.
Is the Black Dahlia murder and Zodiac Killer the same person? Interview
Name(s): Numerous victims
Date: January 15, 1947 (Black Dahlia murder) - October 11, 1969 (last known victim of the Zodiac Killer)
Location: California (Bay Area to Los Angeles)
Summary: A long list of notorious serial killers have called California home. One retired detective not only believes crimes attributed to two of the most famous killers were actually committed by one person, but he believes the person responsible was his own father.
"[They are] charming, handsome, smooth-talking and always two steps ahead of victims and very dangerous," said Steve Hodel, a retired LAPD detective from the '60s to '80s.
Hodel believes California is the most lethal state. The Golden State leads the country in unsolved murders and also serial crimes, according to Project Cold Case and the Murder Accountability Project.
Hodel believes two of the most notorious serial killers, the Black Dahlia Murderer and the Zodiac Killer, might be his own father.
"It's a hell of a story," Hodel added. "You couldn't make this up."
California Serial Killers Interview
Name(s): N/A
Date: N/A
Location: California (Statewide)
Summary: There's darkness in the sunny state of California. The golden state, tarnished with terror. In that darkness, there's a laundry list of serial killers caught and others still at large.
There are thousands of unsolved murders and missing persons cases. Tracking them all is Ryan Backmann, the founder of Project Cold Case, an organization that raises awareness and helps families navigate unsolved murders.
According to the Murder Accountability Project, which compiles data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, California has the most unsolved homicides and cold cases in the country.
There are just under 41,000 cold cases in California from 1980-2019. The clearance rate for cases in California is 60%, close to the national average. Sacramento County has 868 cold cases from 1980-2019 and a clearance rate of 75%.
Jonathan Altamirano Case
Name: Jonathan Altamirano
Date: August 29, 2017
Location: Sacramento County, Calif.
Summary: He was a young man, a former star athlete at Highlands High School and an Army Veteran. Jonathan Altamirano was killed in a drive-by shooting in Sacramento County in 2017.
His family reached out specifically to ABC10 and the Unsolved California team to shine a light on his case that they worry, has gone cold.
"My name is April Altamirano. I am writing you today because I came across your unsolved California post. Wanted to give a bit of a back story and ask for the help my family so desperately needs. 4 years ago in the early morning of August 29, 2017, My brother was taken from us in a fatal drive by shooting in foothill farms, ca. Till this day we have no answers or leads," read an email sent to ABC10's Madison Wade.
Three and a half years later, no arrests have been made.
"It's hard. My mom had 6 of us. She was sick herself and had cancer. I raised all my siblings," April said. "I feel like I failed him."
April carries this sadness around with her. Who killed her brother and why?
Vanthoeun Som Case
- Name: Vanthoeun Som
- Date: November 12, 2011
- Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Summary: A young father was murdered with a machete outside of a Sacramento nightclub in 2011 and the case remains unsolved.
It's a unique cold case and it leads to something unexpected. The family of Vanthoeun Som are desperate for answers and need help solving the case.
It was a night out gone wrong. Three friends were stabbed in a parking lot on 15th Street and K Street on November 12, 2011.
What was supposed to be a weekend birthday celebration turned violent.
"Three guys approached them and from what I was told, they asked the guys for money and one of his friends said go find a job, stop asking for money. Words were exchanged and someone pulled out a machete," Mora Som, Vanthoeun Som's sister.
According to ABC10 archives and reporting, two suspects were seen on surveillance video but were never caught.
The two friends of Vanthoeun survived their injuries. Three days after the attack though Vanthoeun died.
Who killed Vanthoeun Som?
Read: Murdered with a machete on 15th & K Streets in 2011. Who killed Vanthoeun Som? | Unsolved California
Anthony and Albert Dawson Case
- Name: Anthony and Albert Dawson
- Date: December 10, 2002
- Location: South Sacramento, Calif.
Summary: On December 10, 2002, two brothers were shot and killed outside their grandmother's home in South Sacramento. Eighteen years later, the case is still unsolved.
Rishema Brazil, their sister, emailed ABC10 hoping to shine renewed light on their story hoping someone knows something and is willing to help solve the case.
"My brothers were murdered December 10, 2002, and someone tragically killed them in my front yard," Brazil said over a Facetime call.
Brazil said her grandmother's house was the only one with Christmas lights on, on Tamoshanter Way. It was dark that night and there weren't any witnesses.
"My brothers came home around midnight and they were outside. They had just bought my grandma cigarettes and they were outside," she said.
Twenty minutes later, their grandmother heard gunshots.
Andrew Witherow Case
Name: Andrew Witherow
Date: June 2, 2001
Location: Sacramento County, Calif.
Summary: It was late on a Saturday night on June 1, 2001. Andrew Witherow and Loc Huynh were in one of the few cars on Highway 99 at the time. Huynh was in the driver’s seat.
“Were they in the wrong place at the wrong time? Definitely,” Julia Robinson, Witherow’s sister, said.
They were heading north approaching the Fruitridge exit when someone pulled up next to them and starting shooting.
Huynh called 911 to report he and Witherow had just been shot. He stopped driving in the middle of the highway, causing several cars to hit them. Their car erupted in flames.
Huynh escaped but Witherow did not.
ABC10 sat down with the detective working the case at the time and also Witherow’s sister.
What roadblocks do they face in solving this case? With a lack of witnesses and evidence, it may come down to someone needing to come forward.
Highway 99 drive-by death
Jeffrey Mitchell, Part 1 Case
Name: Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell
Date: October 27, 2006
Location: 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.
Jeffrey Mitchell, Part II Case
Name: Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell
Date: October 27, 2006
Location: 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
Read: Wife of murdered deputy awaits justice, shares how she keeps his legacy alive | Unsolved California
Detective Micki Links Interview
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
Delta 'Jane Doe' Case
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?
Read: Who is Delta Jane Doe? Sacramento cold case investigator hoping for tip in 12-year-old homicide case
WATCH: Framed by the Golden State Killer? | Watch Full Series with Investigative Reporter Lilia Luciano
