sep 5, 1977 - Scott Howard Allison HOMICIDE

Description:

Scott Allison, 21, was an active-duty Army soldier stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky at the time of his death. On Sunday, September 4, 1977, he set out in his car to visit his family in Bakersfield, Kern County, CA.

The last time Scott's family heard from him was that day, when he called his mother from Prescott, AZ and told her that he would be home in about 10 hours. When the 10-hour mark came and went, his mother called the police to file a missing person report. The police did not begin their search immediately, claiming that not enough time had passed.

The next day, Monday, September 5, an 11-year-old boy found the body of a young white man partially inside a sleeping bag in a vacant lot off of 37000 Flower Rd near the fire station in Hinkley, San Bernardino County, CA. This is a desert area 14mi west of Barstow. The victim had been bludgeoned to death.

The following day, a service duffel bag containing Scott's military personnel records was found along Highway 95, about 12mi south of Needles. This led to the identification of his body. Other personal belongings of his were found at Lake Havasu.

Scott's car, a 1977 yellow Monza, was missing at the time. It was last seen parked at a cafe in Needles at around midnight on Monday. "Nobody was around the vehicle at the time, but about a half-hour later the car was seen at a service station in Needles with two male occupants." Detectives theorized that Scott may have picked up a hitchhiker.

Scott's car was found on Monday, September 19, 1977 outside a Gardena gambling casino "where it apparently had been parked for more than a week." It was impounded, and casino employees told police that it had been in the parking lot since Sunday, September 11. The car was locked and nearly out of gas.

In 2017 it was reported that William Zamastil, a serial killer who is known to have killed at least four people across three different states, including CA, was a possible suspect in Scott's case. However, there has been no further news on the theory, and his case is still unsolved as of at least August 2024.

Anyone with information about Scott's case is urged to contact the SB County Sheriff Homicide Detail at (909) 387-3589 or anonymously call WE TIP at 1-800-78-CRIME.

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WRITE-UP COMPLETION DATE: May 9, 2025
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LUNAR PHASE:
ZODIAC SIGN:
DAY OF WEEK: Monday
EVENTS: Labor Day

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