11 h, jan 26, 1973 y - Pamela Jean Spencer DISAPPEARANCE

Description:

Pamela Jean Spencer, 20, lived in an apartment at 2440 Ocean Park Blvd in Santa Monica, LA County, CA at the time of her disappearance. On January 26 or 27, 1973, Pamela left her apartment shortly before 11:00am with her dog Layla, planning to hitchhike on the Pacific Coast Highway to the home of a friend, Sally Knipler, who lived at 20766 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, LA County, CA. Pamela never arrived at her destination. She was reported missing three days later, though by whom is not stated in any sources.

Despite an "extensive investigation by Santa Monica police," no trace of Pamela was found. Her apartment was found intact, and it appeared she hadn't returned after leaving for Malibu.

All sources imply that Pamela's dog Layla was never found. Layla was a long-haired, gray and white, female dog. She was an Alaskan Malamute/Shepherd mix that was "husky-like in appearance."

For some time Pamela's case was featured in the Malibu-Topanga News' Secret Witness list: every Thursday, from March 22 to November 8, 1973, the newspaper would publish a summary of Pamela's case, offering a reward of $250 to anyone with information leading to her whereabouts. These are the only mentions of her from the time, and are the "contemporary newspaper clippings" that I have used as a source. After the first instance of Pamela's case in the Secret Witness list, the content of the summary was not altered between publications.

According to friends, Pamela had moved to Santa Monica only three months earlier, and was seeking a job as a secretary. When Pamela's case was first added to the Secret Witness list on March 22, 1973, it was mistakenly reported that Pamela had moved to Santa Monica only three weeks before she went missing; however, this was fixed in the very next issue, and every edition since then stated that she moved there three months before her disappearance, not three weeks. Where Pamela moved from was not stated.

Some of the information about Pamela and her disappearance differs between NamUs — as well as Charley Project and Doe Network, which used NamUs as a source of information — and newspaper reports at the time. While the former states that Pamela's date of last contact was Friday, January 26, 1973, the latter consistently says that she went missing the following day, i.e. Saturday, January 27, 1973.

Pamela is a white female who was 20 years old when she disappeared. While contemporary newspaper clippings put her at about 5'0 and nearly 118 lbs, all modern databases state that she was 5'1 and 110 lbs. She is of average build, and has brown eyes. She has an extremely large brown birthmark on her left leg from the knee to the hip. NamUs lists Pamela's hair color as black, while contemporary clippings state that she had long brown hair. A photo of her is available on NamUs, Charley Project, and Doe Network.

According to all mentions of Pamela in the Secret Witness list, "she was believed to have been wearing blue jeans and a brown shirt when she left her apartment." The choice of wording sticks out to me, as "believed" makes me think that there is/was some doubt regarding what she was wearing. It's possible that this doubt is due to whoever witnessed her being unsure it was her, or not getting a good look at what she was wearing. None of the sources state who was the last to see her, and whether she was last seen while in the process of leaving her apartment, or while hitchhiking on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway.

NamUs is a bit more definitive — as well as a lot more descriptive — about what Pamela was last wearing: a brown shirt, blue jeans, and a blue blazer, as well as a diamond ring on her left hand and a pearl necklace. She was also possibly wearing, "brown suede shoes known as 'clods.'" She was possibly carrying a small, square-shaped suede handbag or shoulder purse that was navy blue in color. According to the same source, Pamela was also extremely near-sighted and wore contact lenses or tinted, wire-rimmed "Air Force style" glasses.

Pamela's disappearance at the age of 20 on January 26 or 27, 1973 puts her DOB at Jan 27-28 1952 to Jan 26-27 1953. Furthermore, NamUs states that her current age — as of 4/12/2025 — would be 72 years old, which by itself puts her DOB at Apr 13 1952 to Apr 12 1953. From this it can be ascertained that Pamela was born sometime between April 13, 1952 and January 27, 1953, inclusive. I couldn't find anything about her on Ancestry, so this is the best we can get.

Pamela was reported missing on January 29 or 30, 1973. Her NamUs case was created Oct 22, 2015, and was last updated on July 18, 2023. Her Charley Project and Doe Network profiles were created on Aug 4, 2021 and Mar 12, 2022, respectively. She is classified as Endangered Missing on Doe Network, while the Charley Project simply lists her as Missing. Pamela does not have a profile on the California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General (CA DOJ OAG) website, unlike many others who went missing from CA in the 60s and 70s.

Pamela has zero UID rule-outs on NamUs. According to Doe Network, it is unknown if her dentals, fingerprints, or DNA are available for comparison. Anyone with information regarding Pamela should contact the Santa Monica Police Department at (310) 458-8491. The agency case number is 731792.

-----
On April 12, 2025, I submitted Pamela Jean Spencer and Sonoma County Jane Doe 1979 as a potential match to the Doe Network. That same day, Mary Bell of DN replied, “Your suggested match has previously been submitted to law enforcement by Doe Network.”

-----
WRITE-UP COMPLETION DATE: March 2025

Cases mentioned above that are also/will be present on this timeline:
Sonoma County Jane Doe 1979
-----

JANUARY 26
LUNAR PHASE: last quarter
ZODIAC SIGN: aquarius
DAY OF WEEK: Friday

Added to timeline:

Date: