14h 10min, mar 9, 1980 y - LA Jane Doe March 1980 UID & HOMICIDE

Description:

At 2:10pm on Sunday, March 9, 1980, the body of a young white female was discovered on a mountain side/hillside in the West Los Angeles area. The body was found about 150ft below a turnout on Topanga Canyon Blvd in Los Angeles, CA, approximately 3mi north of the Pacific Coast Highway.

It was determined the cause of death was strangulation by ligature, and the manner homicide. The victim is estimated to have been dead for approximately 3-4 weeks prior to discovery, putting her death at about February 10-17, 1980. However, she is generally thought to have died as early as 1979.

All parts of Jane Doe were recovered, though due to decomposition, her face was not recognizable. However, a drawing of Jane Doe is available on NamUs and Doe Network.

Jane Doe is estimated to have been 17-23 years old, though NamUs puts her estimated age group as Adult - Pre 20. The May 8, 1980 LAPD police bulletin available on NamUs estimated Jane Doe to be 18-22 years old.

While Jane Doe was 5'0 to 5'7, NamUs states that she was measured to be exactly 5'7; however, this may have been a misinterpretation of the information available from the LA County ME, which lists her as 5'7 due to not allowing a height range to be entered because of the site's formatting.

Jane Doe's decomposed remains weighed 69 lbs when discovered. She is estimated to have weighed about 125 lbs in life. Her eye color could not be approximated. Her hair was brown. Her left foot measured 10in, and she was possibly a size 8-9 shoe. Jane Doe's ears were pierced.

Jane Doe was nude when found. The only item found with her was a yellow metal earring in her left ear. The earring was in the shape of the number '1' with stars at the top and the words "Harley Davidson" at the bottom. A photo of the earring is available on NamUs and Doe Network.

Jane Doe's fingerprints are available for comparison. A semi-graphic photo of her right thumb is shown in the police bulletin in the Images section of her NamUs page. There was insufficient DNA for profiling.

Jane Doe had all of her teeth, which were in good condition. Teeth 1, 8, 9, and 10 were somewhat v-shaped or tapered. Her dental records are available for comparison.

Jane Doe has five MP exclusions on NamUs. She is not: Kristina Sue Allen, Rebecca Jean Dunn, Lucinda Schaefer, Andrea Hall, or Kristy Booth.

Anyone with information regarding Jane Doe should contact Betsy Magdaleno of the LA County Medical Examiner's Office at (323) 343-0512; the case number is 80-03285. They should also contact detective supervisor Elizabeth Camacho of the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division at (213) 486-6850; the case number is 80-481164.

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I have not seen this proposed online by authorities or anyone else before, but personally I find this case to resemble the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders (SRHM), due to Jane Doe being a young white female in her teens/twenties who was strangled to death, then left nude — except for an earring — down an embankment in California.

The main differences, however, are that a) all canonical SRHM victims were found in Sonoma County, while this Jane Doe was found in southern CA, and b) the canonical SRHM murders occurred in 1972-1973, while this Jane Doe died in 1979-1980.

However, it should be noted that in one of the SRHM cases, that of Theresa Diane Smith Walsh, the victim was last seen alive in LA County (specifically at Zuma Beach in Malibu), and was found dead in Sonoma County. Furthermore, I find it very striking that Jane Doe was only found with a single earring, which is a unique common theme in SRHM cases. For these reasons, I am tagging this event as Unconfirmed SRHM.

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I could not find contemporary newspaper articles regarding Jane Doe.
Note: I am the creator and manager of her FindAGrave memorial.

CONFIRMATION OF COMPLETION DATE: May 31, 2025
LAST UPDATED: June 12, 2025

Cases mentioned above that are also/will be present on this timeline:
SRHM, Rebecca Dunn; Kristina Allen, Andrea Hall
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FEBRUARY 10-17 1980
LUNAR PHASE: waning crescent - waxing crescent
ZODIAC SIGN: aquarius
DAY OF WEEK: Sunday - Sunday

MARCH 9 1980
LUNAR PHASE: last quarter
ZODIAC SIGN: pisces
DAY OF WEEK: Sunday

Added to timeline:

Date: