7 h, oct 1, 1976 y - Donnie Whaley Body found

Description:

"Found just after dawn Friday [10/1/76] at the bottom of a road embankment about one mile from San Diego Stadium. [...] Donald Miles Whaley, reported missing a week ago by his mother, was found by a construction worker at 7am beneath a 15-foot bridge over a damp creek on property owned by a sand-and-gravel company" (LBI 10/2/76).

"The boy, missing for a week, had apparently been strangled. [...] The body was found early Friday morning [10/1/76] in a brush-covered ditch near Murphy Canyon Rd by an employee of a nearby company. The body was apparently tossed into the ditch head first. [...] The boy left home Sept. 25 [1976] after telling his sister he was planning to visit a girlfriend" (IBSN 10/3/76).

"An autopsy showed the boy had been strangled. His body was found Friday [10/1/76] beneath a 15-foot bridge in an unincorporated area of San Diego County. The boy was reported missing Sept. 25 [1976] by his mother. [...] It was originally thought the boy died when he broke his neck during a fall from the bridge, but, based on an autopsy report, it now appears 'he was thrown' from the access bridge into a sand and gravel pit operated by the Daley Construction Corp. [...] It appeared the body had been at the location a few days before it was discovered" (LBI 10/5/76).

"The 12-year-old El Cajon youth was found strangled in a ditch near Murphy Canyon Road after he had been missing five days. [...] A spokesman for the coroner's office said the youth apparently died shortly after he was reported missing Sunday, Sept. 26 [1976]. [...] The body was dressed in [...] the same clothing the youth was wearing when he left home Saturday, Sept. 25" (LMLN 10/6/76, CVSN 10/7/76).

"A spokesman for the coroner's office said the youth apparently died shortly after he left home Saturday night, Sept. 26 [sic]. He was reported missing by his mother the next morning. [...] This is the area on Murphy Canyon Road where the body of Donnie Whaley was found last week, strangled to death. If you drive this area regularly and if you happened to be there Saturday night or Sunday morning and saw anything unusual, contact the sheriff's office [...]. The youth, 12, was last seen at his home Saturday night" (LMLN 10/13/76).

"The 12-year-old El Cajon boy was found strangled to death Oct. 1 [1976] in a ditch off Murphy Canyon Road. A coroner's report issued last week said microscopic tests showed he had been sexually molested before his death. [Donnie] was reported missing the morning of Sept. 26 [1976] by his mother [...]. He was last seen Saturday night, Sept. 25, [1976], when he left the house to walk a girlfriend home" (LMLN 10/20/76).

"Sept. 25, 1976: Donald Whaley was last seen telling his sister he was going to visit his girlfriend. He never returned. His body was found Oct. 1, 1976 in a drainage ditch off Murphy Canyon Road. He had been sexually assaulted and strangled" (SDUT 3/7/10, 8/30/16).

"Twelve-year-old Donald Whaley left his home in El Cajon on Saturday, Sept. 25, 1976, to go visit a girlfriend. He was last seen walking near the intersection of Marshall and Magnolia in El Cajon. [...] The seventh-grader was found Oct. 1 [1976] face down in a brush-covered drainage ditch about 15 feet off of Murphy Canyon Road, 10 miles from his house. He was found in the clothes he was wearing when he disappeared. The coroner's office reported he was most likely killed soon after he was abducted. He had been sexually assaulted and strangled" (2024 CBS8 article).


Proposed by: me
Reasons proposed: Demo. (except age), time period, SoCal; strangled, SAed, body dumped, found near highway

Reasons against: Age (on the younger side), county (to an extent), distance from epicenter of dump sites, possibility of connection to other child murders (including that of (a) girl(s)) in the area at the time

Facts that could go either way: Fully clothed, age (youngest confirmed Kraft victim was 13yo)



Note: Sunrise in El Cajon on Fri., Oct. 1, 1976 was at 6:42am.
*** Additional information is likely available in the only SDUT archive, which requires a subscription; I plan to check it out eventually. ***

General contemp. NPs Oct. 1976:
LBI 10/2/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/independent-donald-whaley/199577901/
VTH 10/3/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-herald-donald-whaley/199577889/
LAT 10/3/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-donald-whaley/199577801/
IBSN 10/3/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-beach-star-news-donald-whaley/199577866/
LBI 10/5/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/independent-donald-whaley/199577967/
OT 10/16/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-donald-whaley/199577934/

Requests for info from SUN News Group:
LMLN 10/6/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/life-news-donald-miles-whaley-david-cli/181544679/
CVSN 10/7/76 pt 1: https://www.newspapers.com/article/chula-vista-star-news/4917925/
CVSN 10/7/76 pt 2: https://www.newspapers.com/article/chula-vista-star-news-donnie-whaley-dav/181544713/
LMLN 10/13/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/life-news-donnie-whaley/199576321/
LMLN 10/20/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/life-news-homicide-crime/199576333/
CVSN 10/28/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/chula-vista-star-news-donnie-whaley/199576338/
LMLN 12/1/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/life-news-donnie-whaley/199576368/
IBSN 12/16/76: https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-beach-star-news-donnie-whaley/199577095/

21st century news sources:
SDUT 3/7/10: https://cacoldcases.blogspot.com/p/the-san-diego-union-tribune-mar-7-2010.html
SDUT 8/30/16: https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2016/08/30/past-child-abduction-and-murder-cases-in-san-diego-county/
2024 CBS8 article: https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/crime/true-crime/48-years-later-san-diegos-summer-of-terror-unsolved/509-25166a07-2728-406a-a3eb-8e260ef643f3

Misc. sources:
El Cajon PD: https://www.elcajon.gov/Home/Components/News/News/26/142?arch=1
FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/237501937/donald-miles-whaley

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