San Juan Bautista, CA Area Cold Cases
Name
Andre JohnsonAge
21Cause of Death
Gun/FirearmInfo
Agency
Monterey County Sheriff's Office
Name
Rhoda HarrisAge
61Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
Rhoda Harris was 61 years old when her body was found in her home on November 29, 1967. Rhoda lived alone in a small house on Oxner Street in Monterey. Her body was discovered by her adult daughter, who had been unable to reach Rhoda by phone. Based on the crime scene, it appeared that Rhoda may have been killed a day or two prior to her body being discovered. Rhoda’s car was also stolen at the time of her murder and found abandoned in the city of Marina on 11/30/67. No suspects were identified in the initial investigation.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
John DalyAge
18Cause of Death
StabbingInfo
John Calvin Daly was 18 years old and passing through Monterey in the late summer of 1969. John’s body was discovered in the wooded area of Dan Dahvee Park, just off of Munras Avenue, on the morning of September 8th, 1969 by a city park employee. John had been stabbed to death by an unknown person(s). No known motive for John’s murder has been identified, and there is limited information for detectives to work with. John, known as “Jack” by those who knew him growing up, remember him being an avid surfer along the shores of Cape May, New Jersey. John has not been forgotten.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Patricia JonesAge
Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
At 6:30 am on the morning of January 12, 1974, three newspaper boys discovered the body of Patricia Jones lying in the alleyway of Bruce Lane, near the old Kirby Appliance Store (no longer in existence). Patricia had been shot to death. Detectives were unable to determine if Patricia had been killed at the location she was found, or if her body had been left at this location after the murder. Patricia was visiting the Monterey area from her home in San Mateo, having arrived in Monterey by bus the previous day. Patricia had tried to rent a car at the Monterey Airport at 9:50 pm on 1/11/74, but was unsuccessful. Her whereabouts from that point on are not currently known. At the time of her murder, Patricia had been involved in occasionally working as an escort.Patricia’s murder is believed to have taken place sometime between 9:50 pm on 1/11/74 and 2:12 am on 1/12/74.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Peter GarciaAge
Cause of Death
TraumaInfo
On September 30, 1974, Peter Garcia was in his apartment in the 500 block of Scott Street in Monterey when he was murdered by an unknown assailant. No witnesses or motives for the assault were identified during the initial investigation. Garcia later died as a result of the traumatic injuries he received during the attack.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Michael BellemurAge
Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
At the time of his murder on March 11, 1976, Michael Bellemur was working as the manager of a local motel on Tenth Street in Monterey. Michael was shot and killed during an attempted robbery of the motel’s office. Several suspects, involved in multiple other robberies during this same time period, were identified during the initial investigation. No charges were filed, and this case has been actively reviewed and investigated since that time.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Ala'a AlroomiAge
Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
On 12/28/79, Ala’a Alroomi was visiting a friend’s apartment at 500 Glenwood Circle. In what detectives would later believe to be a case of mistaken identity, Ala’a was shot and killed by a suspect that fired through the living room window. Ala’a was a foreign exchange student from Saudi Arabia at the time of his death, and had no known enemies. A suspect that was involved in a love-triangle with the apartment’s actual tenant was quickly identified, but at the time of the shooting there was insufficient evidence to file charges against him.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Hreta IsomaAge
63Cause of Death
AssaultedInfo
During the evening of July 14, 1981, Hreta was exiting a vehicle that had just parked at an apartment complex in the 700 block of Casanova in Monterey. As Hreta walked away from the car, she was assaulted by an unknown male. She later died of her injuries. Hreta was 63 years old when she was killed. She had no known enemies and it was thought that her attacker was possible attempting to rob her, but was scared away by the driver of the car Hreta had been in.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Shelia ChavezAge
18Cause of Death
TraumaInfo
Shelia Chavez was 18 years old at the time of her death. She was last seen by a friend in Carmel Valley on 8/10/82 waiting for a bus. On 9/18/82 her body was found at the bottom of a ravine, to the rear of the Monterey Public Library. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. Although a male adult admitted to being with the victim sometime before her death, no positive suspects have been identified. Prior to her death, Chavez frequented the downtown area of Monterey. There may have been someone who knew Shelia around the time of her death who has information on her friends and associates at the time.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Jennifer MorrisAge
20Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
Jennifer Morris was reported missing by her family on January 24, 1983. Jennifer had been shopping at the Del Monte Shopping Center. Her car was found in the shopping center parking lot the next day, but no sign of Jennifer was found. She had simply vanished. In 2011, her remains were found buried in the woods east of the shopping center. Based on the evidence, it was determined that Jennifer had been the victim of a homicide. Jennifer was twenty years old at the time of her murder.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Jerry JamesAge
Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
On Sunday Morning 3/4/84, the body of Jerry James was found in the kitchen of his home in the 1200 block of Third street in Monterey. James' roommate, Ronald Carpenter had discovered the body and called police. James was found nude and was the victim of a beating with a blunt object. The subsequent investigation by the Monterey Police detectives identified a potential suspect who was arrested within 3 days of the incident. This person was later released due to a lack of evidence. Both James and the suspect frequented the North Fremont area of Monterey including the Nu-Art adult bookstore on N. Fremont.It is believed that James knew his killer and may have allowed the suspect into his home.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Norman FriddleAge
57Cause of Death
HomicideInfo
Fifty-seven year old Norman Friddle lived in the 200 block of Montecito at the time of his murder. Norman answered a knock at his front door on the evening of July 13, 1984 and was immediately assaulted. Detectives at the time believed the attack was an attempted robbery. Norman subsequently died of his injuries and was unable to provide any information on his attacker.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Diane FoxAge
Cause of Death
StabbingInfo
During the afternoon of August 5, 1984 Timothy Weiner reported his fiancé, Diane Fox, missing from their home in the 600 block of Airport. Weiner told police he had last seen Diane around 2a.m. when she left the home in a borrowed car to go to the 7-11 store down the street. Fox never returned home. After locating the car parked two blocks away, Weiner notified police Diane was missing at 4pm. Grocery bags in the car and 7-11 employees later confirmed Diane had been at the store around 2am that morning. On August 7, 1984 Diane Fox's body was found on Lapis Road near Marina. Her body had been "dumped" after she was killed at an unknown location. The cause of death was stabbing with other blunt force injuries after a violent struggle.No arrests were made in the initial investigation, and DNA examination of the evidence is ongoing.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Stephen BriggsAge
Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
During the early 1990's, the Monterey recreation trail on Cannery Row was a popular area for teenagers and young adults to congregate. Around 10:40 pm on June first 1991, a fight broke out on the recreation trail near the Edgewater Packing Company. A crowd of about 30 people, mostly teenagers and young adults, were in the general area.During the fight someone pulled out a small caliber handgun and fired into the crowd hitting two 21year old males.One of the victims was shot in the leg. The second victim, Stephen Briggs, was shot in the chest. Briggs died in the hospital as a result of the shooting.Although several possible suspects were identified in the initial investigation, we are still looking for people who were at the scene of the shooting that did not come forward or were never identified. Even if you believe your information is not relevant, if you were there we would like to speak with you.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
Durward MillsAge
66Cause of Death
StabbingInfo
Durward Mills was the victim of a robbery while working at the Cork-n-Bottle liquor store at 2210 North Fremont Street. On May 29, 1992 around 5:11 PM, Monterey officers were dispatched to the liquor store where a witness found the 66 year old Durward Mills lying behind the counter. Mills had been stabbed by an unknown suspect and was transported to Community Hospital. The cash register had been emptied. Mills died the next day from his injuries. Witness statements from in and millssuspectaround the store at the time of the robbery helped create the composite image of the suspect shown at the top. The suspect's name is possibly "Levi", who was possibly homeless at the time of the crime.Agency
Monterey PD
Name
James FinneganAge
Cause of Death
ShootingInfo
On April 8, 1995 James Finnegan was shot to death in the vacant lot adjacent to Tire Town and Ralph's grocery store in the 2400 block of North Fremont (the old Cypress bowl parking lot). Finnegan was driving in his vehicle when he got into a verbal argument with several males in another car. The altercation continued as both vehicles drove into the vacant lot, where Finnegan was ultimately shot.Although three of the suspects involved in this initial altercation were identified and contacted in 1995, no arrests have yet been made for Finnegan's murder.Agency
Monterey PD