No photograph has been released
Homicide
Robert Lee Nusbaum
- Found Aug. 13, 1966
- Huber Street, Anaheim
A 41-year-old man was beaten to death in his Anaheim home in August 1966. His stolen white 1963 Chevrolet turned up in Long Beach two days later.
Orange County, California · 1966 to today
24 people.
Families still waiting.
They were teenagers walking home, young mothers, a golf-club designer, a boy from Iowa buried without a name. Some vanished. Some were killed. None of their families have the full answer. OC Files tells their stories in one place: what happened, what's still unknown, and how you might help.
10
people still missing
14
lives taken, no one held responsible
60
years the oldest family has waited
4
people given back their names since 2023
Their stories
Everyone on the Sheriff's Department's public cold-case and missing-person lists, from 1966 onward. Each story starts at the beginning, with no prior knowledge needed.
Homicide
Genise Rispin and Edwin Miller
- Last seen Aug. 29, 1970 (official summary says Aug. 27)
- Lake Elsinore; found off Ortega Highway and near San Juan Capistrano
Two teenagers vanished walking in Lake Elsinore in August 1970 and were found strangled miles apart, one off the Ortega Highway, one near San Juan Capistrano.
Missing person
Angelo “Nick” Gatti
- Last seen July 13, 1974
- San Juan Hot Springs area, Ortega Highway
A 21-year-old from Newport Beach was dropped near San Juan Hot Springs in July 1974 to live off the land in the Cleveland National Forest. He never came back.
Homicide
Michael Ray Schlicht
- Found Sept. 14, 1974
- Fire road, present-day Aliso Viejo
An Iowa teenager found dead near Laguna Hills in 1974 was buried as John Doe until DNA named him in 2023. He is believed to be an early Randy Kraft victim.
Homicide
Dorothy Jane Scott
- Last seen late May 28, 1980
- UCI Medical Center, Orange; found in Anaheim Hills
A Stanton mother vanished from a hospital parking lot in 1980 after months of threatening calls. A man phoned her parents for years claiming he'd killed her.
Homicide
Kerry Patterson
- Last seen June 26, 1980
- Fullerton; found near Tonner Canyon, Brea
A 15-year-old vanished walking home in Fullerton in June 1980. Her remains were found in Brea's oil fields. Investigators have released a sketch.
Homicide
Lonnie Raymond Thomas
- Found May 1, 1980
- Tonner Canyon oil field, near Brea
A young man shot in the face and left in the Brea oil fields around 1979 was a John Doe for 43 years. DNA named him Lonnie Raymond Thomas, 20, in 2023.
Homicide
Lee Ray Rowland
- Found Feb. 22, 1981
- Parents' home; car burned in Garden Grove
A 30-year-old was found dead in his parents' ransacked home in 1981, a day after his car was driven behind a Garden Grove business and set alight.
Missing person
Sean Phelan
- Last seen Oct. 1, 1981 (some records say Oct. 18)
- Six Pence Inn, Tustin
A 21-year-old checked out of a Tustin motel in October 1981 and vanished. Depressed after a divorce, he was known to hitchhike up the coast to Washington.
Homicide
Maritza Glean Grimmett
- Found April 1983
- Canada and Old Trabuco roads, Lake Forest (then El Toro)
Remains found in a Lake Forest culvert in 1983 were a Jane Doe for 41 years until DNA named Maritza Glean Grimmett. OCSD named two persons of interest in 2025.
Homicide
Darrell Attardo and Stephanie Anderson
- Found Oct. 30, 1984
- 9th Street, Sunset Beach
A young couple were found stabbed to death in their Sunset Beach home in October 1984. The house was ransacked and a safe had been ripped from a closet.
Missing person
Nahid Azarian Nassabi
- Last seen June 19, 1984
- El Toro (now Lake Forest)
A 29-year-old mother vanished from her El Toro apartment in June 1984. A coworker found the door unlocked and the home in disarray. Police call it suspicious.
Homicide
Michelle Marie Sagel
- Found Dec. 7, 1985
- Jeffrey Road, Irvine
A 24-year-old woman's body was found in a bag beside Jeffrey Road in Irvine in December 1985. She had no known address and used several names.
Missing person
Linda Rose Grimm
- Left home March 31, 1986; last call October 1987
- Perris (Riverside County); calls from near Wichita, Kansas
A 24-year-old left her Perris home in 1986 and phoned her family from Kansas for 18 months, sounding afraid. Her car later turned up in Huntington Beach.
No photograph has been released
Homicide
Joe Luis Avila
- Killed just after midnight, May 7, 1987
- Santa Isabel and Tustin avenues, Santa Ana Heights
El Ranchito owner Joe Avila was shot at least 14 times in his Porsche near his Santa Ana Heights home in 1987. Police called it a professional hit.
Missing person
Claudia Mathieu
- Last seen Dec. 9, 1997
- Dana Point Harbor / Doheny State Beach area
A 37-year-old Dana Point woman planned to kayak from the harbor in December 1997. Her car was found there with her dog locked inside. No one saw her launch.
Homicide
Donald Raymond Loar
- Last seen February 1998; found Aug. 29, 1998
- Rancho Mission Viejo lands, southeastern Orange County
Remains found in a shallow grave on remote Rancho Mission Viejo land in 1998 were identified by DNA in 2024 as Donald Loar, 54, missing from Bellflower.
Missing person
David Boone
- Last seen Dec. 5, 2006, about 2 p.m.
- Town Center Drive, Foothill Ranch, Lake Forest
A golf-club designer whose irons won the Masters and U.S. Open walked out of his Lake Forest home in 2006, leaving his wallet, keys and phone behind.
Missing person
Yolanda Lopez
- Last seen Sept. 6, 2009, about 7:40 a.m.
- San Clemente
A 36-year-old woman left a friend's San Clemente home early one morning in September 2009 and vanished. A message later claimed she'd returned to Mexico.
Missing person
Amada Abundez
- Last seen June 12, 2010
- San Juan Capistrano
A 35-year-old San Juan Capistrano woman left home on a June morning in 2010 and was last known to be shopping at Marshall's on Del Obispo Street.
Missing person
Miljko Todorovic
- Last seen April 2013 (April 10 or 21)
- Dana Point; car found near the Mexican border
A 58-year-old left his Dana Point room in 2013, reportedly for dental work in Tijuana. His Jeep was found near the border; his phone roamed in Mexico.
Missing person
Anita Jensen-Kendrick
- Last contact Feb. 15, 2016 (official page says late Feb. or early March)
- Lake Forest
A 34-year-old woman originally from Jamaica drove away from her Lake Forest home in a yellow Porsche Boxster in early 2016. The car was sold weeks later.
Nameless for decades, named at last
For decades they were buried or catalogued as John and Jane Does. Since 2023, DNA and family-tree research have given four of them their names back, and their families a place to grieve. Now the question is who killed them.
How genetic genealogy works- Michael Ray Schlicht
Found Sept. 14, 1974 · Fire road, present-day Aliso Viejo
- Lonnie Raymond Thomas
Found May 1, 1980 · Tonner Canyon oil field, near Brea
- Maritza Glean Grimmett
Found April 1983 · Canada and Old Trabuco roads, Lake Forest (then El Toro)
- Donald Raymond Loar
Last seen February 1998; found Aug. 29, 1998 · Rancho Mission Viejo lands, southeastern Orange County
Where their stories happened
From the oil fields of Brea to the Ortega Highway and the Dana Point harbor, see where each person lived, was last seen and was found.
Open the map
New to cold cases?
How these cases work, in plain language
What “person of interest” really means, how DNA is solving decades-old cases, and why old reports often disagree.
Want to dig in?
A research toolkit for local sleuths
Free archives, public records and maps, plus the ground rules that keep amateur research kind and useful.