Lee Ray Rowland

Lee’s story

Lee Ray Rowland, 30, was found dead in his parents’ home on Feb. 22, 1981. They had been away since Feb. 17 and came back to find the house ransacked and property gone, and Lee lying face down on his bed. Before they found him, his car had already been dropped behind a business in Garden Grove and set on fire, with a second vehicle waiting. No one has been charged. [1]

This is one of the least-documented cases on Orange County’s list. Almost everything public about it is on the Sheriff’s Department’s own short summary.

Who Lee was

Lee was 30 and was at his parents’ home while they were away. He had a job. When someone slashed his car’s tires shortly before Feb. 20, he called in to work. The Sheriff’s Department has released two photographs: a portrait in a tuxedo, and one in what appears to be a military dress uniform. No public record describes his service. [1]

What happened

• Feb. 17: Lee’s parents leave for the weekend.
• Shortly before Feb. 20: someone slashes his tires. Lee mentions it when his mother calls.
• Feb. 20: the last time his parents speak to him.
• Feb. 21, 3:30 a.m.: in Garden Grove, witnesses see Lee’s car driven in behind a business, with a second vehicle following. A person gets out of Lee’s car and into the second vehicle. Moments later, Lee’s car erupts in flames. Garden Grove police find it burning.
• Feb. 22: his parents come home and find him. [1]

The official account doesn’t give a cause of death, the business where the car burned, descriptions of either vehicle, or what was taken from the house.

Where it happened

Two jurisdictions were involved: Garden Grove police handled the car fire, while the Sheriff’s Department investigated the death. That suggests the family home was in unincorporated territory or a sheriff-patrolled city nearby, but the address hasn’t been published. [1]

What investigators have said

The Sheriff’s Department says it is still hoping for new information. It has not described a motive or suspects. [1]

Open questions

• Who slashed the tires, and was it a warning?
• How was the car driven to Garden Grove if its tires had been slashed? Were they replaced, or was it towed?
• Who was in the second vehicle?
• What was taken from the house, and has any of it ever surfaced?

What you can do

• If you were in Garden Grove in the early hours of Feb. 21, 1981 and saw a car fire behind a business, or two vehicles together, contact the cold case team.
• If you knew Lee, from work, from the military, or from the neighborhood, and know of trouble he was in that February, investigators want to hear from you.
• Research: the Register and Garden Grove’s Orange County News for Feb. 21–28, 1981 are the likeliest places for contemporary reports of the fire and the death. The California Death Index (free on FamilySearch) would give his birth date and birthplace.