17h 5min, jan 9, 1975 y - Harriet Elizabeth Riley SUSPICIOUS DEATH

Description:

Six-year-old Harriet Elizabeth Riley left for Larchmont Park in North Highlands at 3:35pm on Thursday, January 9, 1975. She was last seen playing alone on the sidewalk next to the park at about 5pm. She didn't arrive home by 6pm as expected.

On Friday, January 10 at ~9:30am, Harriet's body was found in a dumpster at the ("nearby") Terry Crest Apartment Complex. She had been suffocated. Her body had been wrapped in a plastic sheet, with a plastic bag over her head

One week later, Sheriff Lowe stated that her death was found to be an accident: two 6-year-old boys told police that they were playing a game with Harriet when she accidentally died at one of the boys' homes; "While the specifics are unclear, this “game” supposedly involved binding Riley’s ankles with twine and covering her face in a plastic wrapping material." However, it's unknown who moved her body (possibly parents).

The Black community in Sacramento expressed disappointment in the sheriff's department's handling of the case, as Harriet and her family were Black. There is doubt regarding this previous ruling of accidental death, and her case is still listed in the cold case section of the SCSD's website, with no mention of the previous ruling.

There is some online speculation that Herman Lee Hobbs killed Harriet. He is guilty of the murders of Terri Pata (1975) and Holly Ann Campiglia (1980), as well as likely Brenda Ann Tucker (1994), and possibly Stephine Black (1974) and Katherine Harlan (1979), as well as possibly the disappearance of Jennifer Lynn Wallis (1997).

Despite this, Harriet's case is still considered unsolved, and remains on the Sacramento County Sheriff's Cold Case page.

Harriet's father, Harold, had been shot to death through a closed window by an unknown perpetrator at their home (then at 215 Olmstead Drive, Sacramento, though they moved to North Highlands later) on Sept. 27, 1971.

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CONFIRMATION OF COMPLETION DATE: June 1, 2025
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LUNAR PHASE: waning crescent
ZODIAC SIGN: capricorn
DAY OF WEEK: Thursday
Moon South Decreasing 11:59; Moon-Mars 18:12

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