7h 30min, may 17, 1979 y - Adam Ashley Body found

Description:

At about 7:30 or 7:40am on May 17, 1979, a man riding his bike discovered Adam's body lying in the sand just above the surf line on Torrey Pines State Beach. The bicyclist promptly went to a phone booth and called the police, who arrived on the scene at 7:50am.

CA Cold Cases write-up, with all sources: https://cacoldcases.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-murder-of-adam-ashley-may-1979.html


COD blunt force trauma to the head
Proposed by: me
Possible scorecard entry: USER [Adam had been involved in drugs, and reportedly stopped using them just a week before his death (though he possibly could have taken them up again in the intervening period)]

Reasons proposed: Demographics, general time period, SoCal; beach, COD blunt force trauma, shoeless when found, no identification on him, about 6mi as the crow flies from dump site of (semi-)confirmed victim, some personal property was missing/taken from him

Reasons against: Body found at same location where he was attacked (though dragged a very short distance); county (San Diego, with only 1-2 confirmed victims, and generally quite south of epicenter of dump sites); LE's current working theory for motivation is robbery; possible connection to the murders of two girls the same age as Adam on the same beach

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