Posted on 03/25/2025 3:32:38 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office announced on Tuesday that they have identified the remains found in 1995 as those of a missing teen from New York.
On March 22, 1995, partial remains were found in a riverbed off Highway 129 east of Rogge Lane. All investigators could determine from DNA testing was that the remains were from an unknown female.
Her identity was a mystery for decades before her case was re-examined in 2019 when her remains were sent for more forensic testing, including carbon dating.
The testing determined that she was likely born in the 1960s, with her death estimated between 1977 and 1984, per a sheriff's office spokesperson.
She was identified as 13-year-old Laura Ann O’Malley from Queens, New York. She was reported missing in New York in August 1975.
Her family had not seen or heard from her since she went missing. The circumstances of her disappearance remain unclear.
"From 2022 to 2023, our office utilized advanced genetic genealogy to identify potential family members. Partnering with Othram, a leader in forensic DNA analysis, we were able to develop new investigative leads," said a sheriff's office spokesperson.
It is unknown how O’Malley arrived in California.
I heard they found two bodies in the back of a pickup truck near Castle Rock State Park, but there is no article yet.
Ping
Looks like Bundy’s type
How do they know she was 13 when she died?
Radio carbon dating?
I wonder if that’s all we’re going to learn. She must have had family who knew what she was doing, where she was etc., when she came up missing in NY. I guess authorities won’t share everything they know...What a nightmare that had to be for everyone, assuming she was from a normal family and not abused and ran away...
Confusing but I took it as she disappeared at age 13, in 1975.
They carbon dated her bones.
I’d strongly suggest there’s a whole lot of bodies buried in those mountains. Back in the 70’s when i lived there it was a cool beach town but there were so many cults and sects, Murder Capital.
One of Ed Kemper’s ?
Mostly that was due to two serial killers, Edmund Kemper and Herbert Mullin. Mullin dies in prison a couple years ago. Kemper is still in prison.
Ok, it is that precise, or just most likely guess?
They now know when she was born, exactly She disappeared in 1975. So she was born in 1962?
Poor child! Looks like a nice kid.
Strange time of year to find an old skeleton. The Pajaro is a good sized river for Coastal California. The bed grade is low on relatively flat ground approaching an estuary. Flows are seasonally plentiful and the water usually a bit turbid. There have been no unusual storm flow events to scour the bottom.
My wife, to this day, thinks she bumped in Ted Bundy in the early 80s in downtown Portland.
She says the “creep-factor” was off the charts with this guy. She was so creeped out she asked a friend to walk her to her car.
She says the picture she saw later of Ted Bundy was a match.
Yes, the water has poor visibility. It had a lot of flooding in recent years, so maybe it was pushed loosed, or uncovered because of that?
I don’t know enough about radiocarbon dating to know how accurate it is. But according to the article, since then they have also had genetic information, which finalized the identification.
Next time anyone want to know what a female is, they can ask the investigators. They know what a female is.
I remember making a trip one time from Sacramento to San Cruz to go to an amusement park - by the ocean - had a huge roller coaster.. That would have been in the late ‘50’s, early ‘60’s.. We were at a friend’s apartment and were told to quiet down by the manager so we said we’ll show him - piled into our friend’s VW Bug and headed to Santa Cruz...WHY? Who knows..Seems as if it was night but why would the park be open after dark? That’s what memory does to us.
That roller coaster was so scary I swore I’d never go on it again and all I had to do was walk past it and I was ready to get back on it. Boy - to be young again!!
“”She says the picture she saw later of Ted Bundy was a match.””
Spooky for sure and great vibes on your wife’s part...
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