Citrus Heights Kidnapping

20 year old “Nancy” was kidnapped at gunpoint on Wednesday, July 27, 1977 at 12:30 pm, as she returned to her car from the bank and grocery store. The shopping center was located at Greenback Lane, and San Juan Avenue in Citrus Heights.

•“Nancy” was a college student who still lived with her parents a few blocks from the shopping center, and she was expected home right away. By 2:30 pm her family began looking for her, and by 5:00 pm they had called the police. Despite the fact that “Nancy” was an adult, Sacramento Sheriff investigators immediately treated the case as possible foul play, and put out a bulletin looking for her car. This quick thinking on the part of her family and deputies undoubtedly saved her life. 

• “Nancy’s” car was discovered in Granite Bay, stuck on the side of Cavitt Stallman Road, west of Barton at 1:00 am, July 28th. The location is in Placer County, so the case immediately became multi-jurisdictional. “Nancy’s” car was locked, and the keys and her wallet were missing. Inside the car, investigators located her bank book, purse, groceries and undergarments. 

•Law enforcement immediately organized a large group of searchers, and a volunteer located “Nancy” in a irrigation ditch culvert under Barton Rd at 11:23 am on the 28th. The location was about 1/4 mile northeast of her car. “Nancy” was naked, with her hands tied behind her back, and her muddy blouse and skirt were found nearby. She had been bludgeoned, and had knife wounds on her neck and arms. She had been in the culvert for about 22 hours. “Nancy” was rushed to the hospital, and survived after surgery. Within a few days, she was able to tell her story to Sacramento Sheriff's Detective Carol Daly. 

• “Nancy” said that a man had forced his way into her car at gunpoint, and commanded her to drive away from the shopping center. He gave her turn-by-turn directions, including to make a U-turn at the point where her car was found. The road was narrow, and she got her car stuck on a ridge on the edge of the road. After determining that the car would not move, her attacker ordered her into the back seat, and began to assault her. At some point, while they were in the car, two young men approached to see if they needed help, but the suspect waived them off, and the men left. 

•“Nancy” was then walked north up Barton Road at gunpoint. This was between 1:30-2:00 pm on a Wednesday, in the middle of summer. Several witnesses saw them walking, and at one point “Nancy” attempted to break away from her attacker, and the oncoming car had to swerve to avoid hitting her. None of the witnesses realized that “Nancy” was in trouble, or could give a detailed description of the man.

•Once they reached the ditch area, “Nancy’s” hands were tied, and she was assaulted again. The last thing she remembered from the scene, was being hit on the head, she had no memory of being stabbed, put in the culvert, or rescued, only waking in the hospital. 

•The attacker took the car keys and “Nancy’s” wallet. It was unknown how he left the area, and no other witnesses emerged despite wide-spread media coverage, and a large reward for information. Presumably, the suspect was planning to drive “Nancy’s” car back to the Citrus Heights area, but couldn’t since it was stuck.

• “Nancy” described her kidnapper as a white male, 29-35 years, 5’9”-5’11,” with dark brown, wavy hair, cut above the ears. He was wearing oversized brown plastic glasses which the victim believed to be fake, and used as a disguise. “Nancy” described his nose as being large or unusual. He was also wearing thin, brown leather gloves, jeans, a t-shirt, and a maroon jacket. 

•According to “Nancy,” the kidnapper was extremely certain and commanding in his directions, so he clearly had a planned attack site. Given the U-turn and culvert locations, he likely was taking her to the property at 5575 Cavitt-Stallman Road. 

• It’s 239 acres, privately owned in the same family since 1955, and largely unchanged in all of those years. It is the only location that fits since the attacker said that they had missed their turn, and he wanted “Nancy” to head back a short distance. It’s also the same property on which “Nancy” was found the next day.

•The property has a large irrigation pond, with an isolated area of trees—an obvious area for an attack. It was extremely odd that the suspect felt comfortable assaulting “Nancy” in the backseat of her car, on the side of the road, but didn’t try to kill her in the car, or shoot her in the trunk and just walk away. Instead, he took another huge risk and walked her a 1/4 mile at gunpoint. Not only could she have escaped, but one of the witnesses may have identified him. By all accounts, he dragged “Nancy” by the arm to that specific spot. 

•Although the property was agricultural, it only had grazing cattle, no crops or daily farming operation. The owners of the property were well-known car dealers, and they also ran a tow yard and body shop with their son. It would have been easy to know that nobody would have been home, or working on the property mid-day on a Wednesday. The offender may have simply been looking for an outdoor site where he wouldn’t be disturbed, or he wanted to terrorize the family, or throw suspicion on someone associated with them or the ranch.

Possible connections to DeAngelo:

•The family that owned the property where “Nancy” was attacked had three sons and a daughter. The oldest son was DeAngelo’s age, and the youngest was 18 in 1977. DeAngelo lived in the area, and could have crossed paths with them at any time back to the early 1960s.

•DeAngelo attended Sierra College from 1968-1970. The college is only about 1.5 miles from the spot where “Nancy” was found. The site is also between Folsom High, where DeAngelo graduated in 1964, and his then home in the Auburn area. In 1970 he was engaged to a woman who lived in Penryn, and he worked in Newcastle. DeAngelo was very familiar with the area.

•The site of the original kidnapping was just 700 yards east of the home of DeAngelo’s in-laws, and one mile west of the Pay’N Save where he was arrested for shoplifting in 1979—all along Greenback Lane. There were four EAR attacks within a mile, and a dozen in the general area.

•The victim was a recent graduate of San Juan High School. She attended with Janet Kovacich and DeAngelo’s sister-in-law. 

•There is conflicting information about the presence and testing of forensic evidence in “Nancy’s” case. If sperm cells were found and ABO tested, they could be matched to DeAngelo's status as a non-secretor. If the attacker left his own blood at the scene it could have been matched to DeAngelo’s A+ type. The PCSO cold case investigation started after DeAngelo's arrest was shut down before “Nancy’s” file could be reviewed.

•DeAngelo was not at work on July 27, 1977.

•A shared MO with the other Placer cases is the moving of victims from one law enforcement jurisdiction to another. 

-Hakari from SSD to PCSO;

-Donna Lass from El Dorado to PCSO;

-“Nancy” from SSD to PCSO;

-Kovacich from Auburn PD to PCSO;

-Norris from SSD to PCSO (both body & truck separately); and

-Lloyd from Auburn PD to PCSO, car in LAPD.

-Wanner was kidnapped and found in PCSO jurisdiction, but her ATM card was used in SSD;

-Although Hawkley stayed within PCSO jurisdiction, the creation of multiple scenes created confusion and disagreement among investigators, and misdirected their efforts; and

-Susan Jacobson has never been found, but presumably she was moved from Roseville PD to another jurisdiction. Additionally, it appears that she was kidnapped from her home, and the parking of her car and disposal of her wallet were a staged secondary diversion scene created to waste investigatory resources and divert the search for witnesses to the wrong location. Creating multiple scenes, in different jurisdictions gives the offender a huge advantage.