Buzz
While California is renowned for its glamorous Hollywood and cutting-edge Silicon Valley, it also harbors a darker side. Over the years, its unconventional and unrestrained vibe has drawn in peculiar cults such as the Manson Family and Heaven’s Gate. Additionally, it has produced more serial killers than any other state, with the exception of Texas.
Certain unsolved mysteries from California, like the Black Dahlia case and the Zodiac Killer, have gained nationwide attention. However, many equally strange and terrifying California mysteries have gone unnoticed by the rest of the country over time.
10. The Killing of James Gilmore Jr.
James Gilmore Jr., known as “Jimmy,” was a rebellious 14-year-old from Baldwin Park who often bullied peers and associated with a teenage motorcycle gang. Coming from a separated family, they were familiar to local law enforcement. Neighbors viewed Jimmy as a troublemaker, and even his mother and siblings had little affection for him.
On the evening of January 7, 1962, while home alone with his younger brother Wayne, Jimmy heard a knock at the back door as they watched TV. He informed Wayne he was stepping out briefly and would return soon.
After Jimmy failed to return for three days, his mother filed a missing person report with the police, describing her son as “vicious” and likely to have run away with friends. Jimmy’s father doubted this explanation, hinting his son might never have left the house, yet authorities never suspected the family’s involvement in his disappearance.
In March 1985, over a decade after the Gilmores had moved out, a worker renovating the house discovered Jimmy’s skeleton in a shallow grave beneath the structure. Despite the remains being there for over 20 years, neither the Gilmores nor the subsequent homeowner reported any unusual odors.
Police administered lie detector tests to Jimmy’s brother and parents, all of whom passed. As of late 2015, no arrests have been made in Jimmy’s murder case, and most individuals linked to the case have since passed away.
9. The Tragic Demise of Michelle Von Emster
On April 15, 1994, the naked body of a woman was discovered floating in the waters near San Diego’s Point Loma. The body bore horrific mutilations, including a missing right leg and extensive bite marks and bruises. Despite the absence of clothing or identification, a butterfly tattoo on her shoulder helped authorities identify her as Michelle Von Emster, a 25-year-old local drifter.
Brian Blackbourne, the San Diego medical examiner, revealed during the autopsy that Emster was alive during the brutal attack. She suffered a broken neck and cracked ribs, among other injuries.
Blackbourne determined that Emster was attacked by a great white shark, leading to her death from blood loss and drowning. The bite marks on her body, too small for a great white, were likely inflicted by blue sharks postmortem. He concluded that her death was a tragic accident.
Many shark experts rejected Blackbourne’s findings. Unlike the portrayal in Jaws, shark attacks are uncommon, particularly in the area where Emster’s body was discovered. Blackbourne admitted his lack of knowledge about sharks and sought advice from a marine biologist, who later conceded there was no concrete evidence linking a great white to the incident.
Even if a great white had attacked Emster, skeptics argue it could have happened postmortem. Several puzzling aspects of the case remain unresolved. For instance, why were her clothes never recovered? Her roommate, who had taken her to the beach the night before her body was found, mentioned Emster was wearing a green trench coat.
With the night’s temperature at 15 degrees Celsius (60 °F), it’s unclear why she would have been swimming nude. Additionally, how did sand end up in her lungs? Over time, various theories—ranging from suicide to murder—have been proposed, yet Emster’s death continues to spark intense debate and remains unsolved.
8. The Vanishing of Anna Waters
On January 16, 1973, Michaele Benedict was inside her San Mateo County home chatting with friends while her four-year-old daughter, Anna Waters, played in the backyard. Around 2:20 PM, Michaele noticed Anna had gone silent and discovered her missing from the yard. After a 30-minute search of the property, Michaele contacted the police. Investigators initially suspected Anna might have fallen into a nearby creek and drowned, but no evidence of her was found in or around the water.
Some investigators and family members suspect Anna’s biological father, George Henry Waters, may have abducted her, though this has never been proven. Waters, a respected doctor, struggled with paranoid schizophrenia. His association with a dubious psychic named George Brody led to the end of his marriage to Anna’s mother, and he moved to San Francisco to live with Brody after the divorce.
Brody, a manipulative and enigmatic figure, claimed Anna was the reincarnation of a woman he once knew. Oddly, Waters never expressed concern about Brody’s fixation on his daughter. When Brody died in 1981, Waters took his own life
Years after Anna vanished, her half-brother Nonda recalled an incident they had kept secret. A month before her disappearance, Anna and Nonda were playing outside when a man and woman in a Chevrolet Impala approached them. The couple attempted to coax Anna into their car but left after she refused. It remains unclear whether this encounter was connected to Anna’s disappearance.
7. The Killing of Georgette Bauerdorf
On October 12, 1944, just before noon, 20-year-old Georgette Bauerdorf was found dead in her West Hollywood apartment. Bauerdorf, an ambitious actress and the daughter of a wealthy oil magnate, was discovered face down in her bathtub with a washcloth in her mouth. Initially, police suspected she might have drowned after a fall, but the autopsy revealed she had been beaten, raped, and suffocated.
While her expensive jewelry remained untouched, the killer took $100 and her car, which was found 20 kilometers (12 mi) from her apartment the following day. Investigators also noted that an exterior light had been unscrewed and turned off, and her front door was unlocked, indicating the killer either had a key or convinced her to open the door.
Bauerdorf worked as a hostess at a Hollywood club catering to servicemen, leading police to suspect the killer might have been someone she met there. A coworker mentioned she had a peculiar ex-boyfriend, a serviceman she had dated the previous month. Despite his deep affection for her, Bauerdorf ended the relationship. Authorities attempted to locate the man but were unsuccessful.
A year after Bauerdorf’s death, the Los Angeles police received a strange note alleging that her killer was a soldier stationed in Okinawa. The note read, “The murderxx (sic) of Georgette Bauerdorf was Divine Retribution. Let the Los Angeles police arrest the murderer if they can.”
6. The Vanishing of Bryce Laspisa
In the early hours of August 30, 2013, 19-year-old college student Bryce Laspisa was driving back to southern California after visiting his girlfriend. He called his parents to inform them he was going to stop and rest. However, Bryce never made it home. Around 8:00 AM, a California Highway Patrol officer arrived at the Laspisas’ Laguna Niguel home to report that Bryce’s car had been found crashed near Castaic Lake.
Bryce’s vehicle was discovered on its side with the rear windshield shattered. His wallet, phone, and laptop were still inside, but there was no trace of Bryce. Authorities speculated he might have escaped the car but could have sustained a head injury. Despite extensive searches by air and ground, Bryce has never been located.
Bryce’s parents believe their son is still alive and not a victim of foul play. In the days leading up to his disappearance, Bryce had been acting unusually. He had ended his relationship with his girlfriend on August 28, and his parents filed a missing person report the following day after he missed a promised call. Police later found Bryce unharmed at a rest stop, where he assured his family he was fine.
Some speculate that Bryce may have fled from home following the crash near Castaic Lake. There have been unverified sightings of him in states like Washington, Nevada, and Oregon.
5. The Vanishing of Christine Walters
On November 12, 2008, a couple near Eureka, California, discovered 23-year-old Christine Walters naked and bleeding on their doorstep. They took the disoriented woman to a hospital, where she refused to disclose what had occurred. After her release, Walters told her mother in Wisconsin that she had been pursued by forest demons following a shamanic ritual. Her mother offered to fly to California to bring her home, but Walters insisted on returning to Wisconsin alone.
Walters’ mother noted that her daughter sounded paranoid during subsequent phone calls. Walters claimed the forest demons were still hunting her and refused to explain her injuries or state of undress, fearing the demons would overhear. On November 14, Walters left her ID and backpack at a coffee shop and vanished, never to be seen again.
In the four months before her disappearance, Walters had been living on the West Coast. She was captivated by northern California’s stunning landscapes and its alternative lifestyle. Friends and family back home mentioned she had connected with a group of spiritualists who shared her interests. Walters was known for her trusting nature, which may have led her to associate with a risky group within the alternative community.
4. The Killing of Stephanie Crowe
On January 21, 1998, 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe was found dead in her bedroom by her grandmother in Escondido. She lay in her doorway but had been stabbed nine times in her bed. Investigators found no fingerprints, DNA, or the murder weapon at the scene. Remarkably, none of Stephanie’s family reported hearing or seeing anything unusual that night. Her room was undisturbed, and there was no evidence of forced entry.
A schizophrenic drifter named Richard Tuite had been spotted in the neighborhood the night before, knocking on doors and yelling for a girl named “Tracy.” However, authorities released him due to insufficient evidence. Their focus then shifted to Stephanie’s older brother, Michael. He claimed to have walked past her bedroom early that morning but didn’t notice her body in the doorway.
Police accused Michael of being envious of Stephanie, and after intense and coercive interrogations, he confessed to her murder. His friends, Josh Treadway and Aaron Hauser, were also implicated. While Josh admitted involvement, Aaron denied any role in the crime. He provided a detailed theory about how the murder might have occurred but never confessed.
The three teenagers were initially charged with murder, but the charges were dropped due to coerced confessions. Attention shifted back to Richard Tuite, whose shirt was found with traces of Stephanie’s blood. Tuite’s lawyer claimed the shirt, seized by police during his arrest, had been contaminated due to mishandling of evidence. Although Tuite was convicted in 2005, he was acquitted after a retrial in 2013 due to insufficient evidence.
3. The Disappearance of Gary DeVore
Gary DeVore, the screenwriter behind Hollywood films like Raw Deal and Time Cop, was developing a remake of the 1949 movie The Big Steal before vanishing on June 28, 1997. After spending a week with a friend in New Mexico, DeVore left for his home in Santa Barbara, California, on June 27.
Around 12:38 AM, DeVore called his wife, Wendy, but she asked to call back after her TV show ended at 1:00 AM. When she tried calling him three times after the show, he didn’t answer. At 1:15 AM, DeVore called her back, saying he’d be home in a few hours. That was the last time anyone heard from him.
A year after DeVore’s disappearance, Douglas Crawford, a lawyer and amateur detective, read about the case in a newspaper and recalled a story about a woman who had driven into the California Aqueduct. Crawford suspected DeVore might have met a similar fate. In early July, he retraced DeVore’s route and found car debris near the aqueduct. Police were alerted, and a search of the water revealed DeVore’s car with his body in the front seat.
A number of different theories have been proposed for how DeVore ended up in the aqueduct. Some suggested that he committed suicide, while others thought he had driven into it accidentally. His wife believes that he was abducted and murdered. During his last phone call to her, DeVore had not acted like his usual self. Wendy suspects that somebody was with him.
A conspiracy theory, which was the subject of the 2014 documentary The Writer with No Hands, claims that he was murdered by the CIA. According to this theory, DeVore had been involved with the CIA and was assassinated after he planned to incorporate some dark secrets about the 1989 US invasion of Panama into his new script.
2. The Unsolved San Diego Murders Of 1931–1934
Between 1931–34, a series of brutal, unsolved murders were committed in San Diego. While the murders were never clearly linked together, police believed there was a connection because all five victims were young females. The first victim, Virginia Brooks, disappeared on her way to school in February 1931. Her body was found in a burlap sack a month later, “virtually hacked to pieces” as one contemporary newspaper reported.
The second victim, a 20-year-old woman named Louise Teuber, was discovered naked and hanging from a tree on April 19, 1931. Her coat, dress, and underwear were found nearby, along with a package containing her bra. Initially, authorities suspected suicide, but bruises on her left hip, neck, and shoulders suggested otherwise. The autopsy revealed she had been strangled with a rope before being hung. Just days later, another woman, Dolly Bibbens, was found strangled in her apartment.
On May 4, 1931, 27-year-old Hazel Bradshaw was discovered fatally stabbed in Balboa Park. Moss Garrison, a former lover, was accused of her murder but was later acquitted. The killer seemingly went dormant for three years before resuming on August 17, 1934. The fifth and final known victim, 16-year-old Celia Cota, left her home at 8:00 PM for a walk. Her parents reported her missing by midnight, and her body was found in their backyard the next morning. While Cota may not have been the killer’s last victim, the murders may never have been definitively linked.
1. The Keddie Murders
Keddie, a serene resort town known for its log cabins, became the scene of a gruesome quadruple murder in 1981. On the evening of April 11, 14-year-old Sheila Sharpe stayed overnight at a neighbor’s house. Returning the next morning, she discovered her mother, Sue, her brother Johnny, and his friend Dana bound and fatally stabbed. Her younger sister, Tina, was gone, while her brothers Ricky and Greg, along with their friend Justin, were found unharmed in their bedroom.
Authorities struggled to identify a killer or motive. The victims had endured extreme torture. Sue and Johnny were bludgeoned with a hammer, and Dana was strangled. The stabbings were so brutal that the blade of the steak knife used was bent backward.
Remarkably, Ricky and Greg claimed to have slept through the entire ordeal. However, Justin provided inconsistent accounts. At one point, he stated he saw the murders and Tina being abducted. In other versions, he insisted these events were merely dreams.
In 1984, Tina’s skull was discovered 50 kilometers (30 mi) from Keddie. While her exact cause of death remained unclear, it was likely she died the night of the attack. The investigation stalled, with no suspects identified, though Justin’s father, Martin Smartt, and his friend Bo Boubede exhibited suspicious behavior during police interviews.
Smartt even speculated on how the murders might have been executed but was never questioned further. Years later, his therapist revealed that Smartt confessed to killing Sue for influencing his wife to divorce him. He allegedly murdered Tina as well but denied involvement in Johnny and Dana’s deaths. Both Smartt and Boubede have since passed away, leaving the case officially unresolved.
