My mom says she seems to remember one of her family members being a roger. She knows her dads name was van also her brother. What did u find having to do w roger?

Has anyone thats read about Yvonne Weber and her friend Maureen Sterling noticed the similarities to my sister n her friendd case? They were 12 & 13 (just like valerie n doris) both were last seen together. Valerie n doris were seen to hitchiking down by the peach tree mall in linda. Their bodies were found in remote places. Their crime was November 1973, whick falls along the timeline of the Sonoma hitchicker murders. Just caught my attention

Hi, Melanie, and welcome!

I’m so very sorry about your sister and her best friend, what a horrific tragedy–and they were just children! I don’t remember ever hearing about this awful crime, maybe because I live on the East Coast and back then we didn’t have the Internet etc. We barely heard news about Zodiac!

I do hope you can find out who did this, I bet these are not his only crimes! And something bad happened to the boys who found your sister and her friend? That’s just plain freaky.

And while I went to my share of parties/sleepovers at that age, I don’t ever remember ppl being invited (or not) based on hair color?!? I’m up late and my brain is fuzzy (well, it often is lol) but this sounds weirder and weirder!

Again–I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what your family has been thru. I hope whoever did this gets what’s coming to him!!

Melanie, I originally had found an article about this horrible case (Press Telegram, November 19, 1973), which says about the following:

The two girls were on a shopping trip and had been driven to a wooded area called Camp Far West Reservoir which is popular for picnics and parties, before being cut down by a number of close-range shotgun blasts. On 12 November, 1973, boys who were target shooting near a Bear River diversion dam found the bodies of the two 13-year-old girls who had been shotgunned to death. The victims were identified as the daughter of Margaret Joan Hasting and Dorothy Elva Derryberry, all of nearby Olivehurst. Both mothers had reported the girls missing and Sheriff Gary Miller said there was no apparent motive for the slayings. There was no arrest. The bodies of the two girls, missing about 20 hours only, were found east of Wheatland, shot to death. There was no apparent motive for the killing and there were no suspects. Nor could the killings be connected to any other recent slayings in the area. The girls were best friends, attended school together and reportedly were seen together on Sunday morning. The Lane girl’s mother told sheriff’s deputies Monday morning that her daughter had been missing since Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Dorothy Elva Derryberry also reported to the sheriff Monday that her daughter had been missing since Sunday afternoon. Both girls were fully clothed and had been dead less than 24 hours. There was no immediate evidence of a sexual assault. The bodies were taken to the Sacramento County coroner’s office for an autopsy. One girl had been shot in the back and chest, the other in the side.

The girls probably were too young to having a party there on a Sunday afternoon, in November. One idea could be that it was an hunting accident, with a witness homicide, however it appears to be something different. If I understood correctly, your fathers home had been burglarized one day earlier, too? Although Valerie did not live with her father, is this correct?

With approximately 50° Fahrenheit I wouldn’t expect them to have picnic either..so obviously they had e.g. used to play there or simply had talked to each other. Nobody would stay out at those temperatures for more than an hour or two, I’d say, so it is likely that the killer might have followed one of them? Would be interested if there do exist earlier articles as the one is about a week later?

QT

I may just be reading it wrong, but it seems that they actually went on a shopping trip and then someone picked them up and drove them to this wooded area and gunned them down.

Either way, I’m so sorry for your loss and just want you to keep hope alive…cold cases do sometimes get solved.

They could have simply gotten a ride from a stranger, but I would bet it was someone they knew. Old enough to drive, but still a younger man…maybe even one the girls were a bit smitten by. Invited along to some sort of gathering. While they were young, they were of an age where they would want to fit in and want to hang out with the older kids.

That would be my guess as well Tahoe. I know back in the 70’s, older teens did a lot of hitch-hiking, but I don’t see two 13 year old girls just grabbing a ride with some stranger. IMHO it was someone they knew or felt safe with.

My mom says she seems to remember one of her family members being a roger. She knows her dads name was van also her brother. What did u find having to do w roger?

Probably just a coincidence, but Roger was an acquaintance of an acquaintance of a person I have been researching. I don’t know much about him yet. I think I did read something about him helping to rescue a couple stranded rock climbers or something along those lines.

I have recently submitted my sisters cold case to the recently new tv series on TNT called COLD JUSTICE. They have nothing but great reviews and I have a good feeling something may eventually happen hopefully soon.I have also found out the detective who mentioned beer cans from the crime scene being sent off for dna. That has been sometime in the past six months. My mom never heard anything about any beer cans until recently. I just found out that my mother doesnt even know if they were sexually assualted. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? She said it was never mentioned. I guess she was too in shock to ask. Unbelieveable

Hi Melanie–

So glad to hear they caught the guys! Looks like it was the DNA that paid off. I’m sure you and your family’s perseverance had a lot to do with it.

I’m curious to know if there is any familiarity with them. Do you know if any old friends or family know of them?

Finally…has your suspect been one of them? Trial will follow, guess it’ll be life w/o parole..two consecutive life for rape, murder. Even if second degree, they both will end up with 25+25 thus 50 years. The rest of their lives in prison, rottening for what they’ve done to those young innocent girls. No more beer, guys. Electric chair would not have been enough, although it’s a nice thought.

If one of the guys indeed was your suspect I’d like to know what had made him suspicious to you? Good luck

QT

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/two … 87571.html

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/two-arrested-for-murder-of-olivehurst-girls-in-recently-reopened/article_2d13e1fa-79f9-11e6-b691-93558e487571.html

I wish they would have video taped their arrests. I would love to see the look on their faces.

Love it,I love to see killers that think they’ve slipped thru the cracks get snagged,good news for sure