What Sparked Your Interest in This Case?
Aug 30, 2017 21:54:25 GMT
sammyt, Michelle Cruz, and 7 more like this
Post by mia on Aug 30, 2017 21:54:25 GMT
My husband was in the Air Force and stationed at Mather AFB. We arrived in Rancho Cordova in the summer of 1975. Base housing wasn't available to us at first, so we rented an apartment in Rancho. We lived there for almost two years.
On November 4, 1976, the peace within our community would be forever shattered.
When the news blackout was lifted, we heard for the first time that there was a rapist targeting young women on the east side of town. The news didn't mention anything more specific such as the fact that the rapist was targeting middle to upper-class neighborhoods.
Our apartment complex probably consisted of at least 80% military wives with their husbands stationed at nearby Mather. Our apartment complex was one in which the apartments were all connected by a wall to the neighboring apartment on either side of us. We didn't have anyone living above us. It was really a nice apartment complex.
We were all frightened by the news that there was a rapist targeting young women on the east side of town. That was us--Rancho Cordova was smack dab in the target area of this creep.
We have always had firearms in our house. I felt a little bit safer knowing I had a handgun beside me at night.
The police never told us that the EAR was doing reconnaissance before a break-in and was known to unload firearms of their ammunition. Had we known we'd have checked our guns each day and night.
While living in the apartment off base, I did get frightened by two separate incidences.
The first occurred one morning when one of my friends came to let me know that the police were at an apartment within our complex.
The rumors were that a young woman inside had been assaulted by the East Area Rapist. The prevailing rumor at that time was that he had left religious type symbols behind. I heard that it was in the form of a huge cross either left on the bed or above the bed of the young woman who had been assaulted.
I wasn't certain if the cross was supposed to be a physical object that the EAR had brought to the scene--or if it was supposed to be a cross drawn or painted above the bed on the wall. In the days immediately following this woman's assault, the painted cross above her bed became the most prevalent of the rumors.
To this day I don't have any idea if any of these rumors were based on fact.
I followed the news closely that evening and every evening afterward. We also received the Sacramento Bee newspaper each day.
I searched and waited for information on the rape within our complex. Not one word was ever on the news or in the newspapers. The fear I felt rose to a whole new level.
For a short while, my husband was put on the graveyard shift at Mather, leaving me alone at night. Our apartment had two sliding glass doors. One in the front and one in the back. The police had let us know that the EAR came into homes usually through a sliding glass door. My husband made some wooden sticks out of broom handles to keep inside the sliding area of the doors at night. This would hopefully prevent the doors from being opened.
Our bedroom was upstairs, and I'd often sleep with the bedroom window open. An older woman lived on the left side of us. She was a widow and we kept an eye out for one another. She was aware of the fact that I kept my bedroom window open at night as she did the same.
One night she saw a dark-haired man trying to get into our front sliding glass door. She told me that she was about to scream out for me since she knew I'd hear her. But, evidently, the guy heard her. He looked up, saw her watching him, and took off running. She came over shortly thereafter to make certain I was okay. Neither of us thought to call the police because the guy was no longer there. I only phoned my husband to ask him to please come home from work. He did.
That scared the crap out of both my husband and me. The following night, and most all of that week after this happened, my husbands Commanding Officer allowed him to stagger his hours to be home with me more during the night.
We never used the front sliding glass door since we also had a normal front door as well. I only opened the blinds during the day to let in the sunlight.
One night shortly after my neighbor had seen the guy trying to get into our apartment, my husband came home at about 1 am, if I'm recalling the time correctly. We finally got settled into bed about an hour after he got home. He had fallen asleep but I was still awake when I began to hear strange noises.
The first thing I heard was what sounded like someone scraping a piece of wood or a ruler across the front door. It was a scratching type sound. Just one long one. (I actually likened it to the sound of a mop handle scraping across our front door.)
All was silent for about a minute or so. Then, I heard the sound of our heavy door knocker on our front door as it was lifted then allowed to fall. It made one loud reverberating sound throughout the apartment. It frightened the crap out of me.
I woke my husband and he grabbed his gun and went to look outside the front door. There was no one in sight. All of these things were seriously unnerving.
We finally got a house on Mather AFB in the spring of 1977 and wasted no time in moving out of the apartment.
It's all very strange to look back at that time and recall the fear that ran rampant throughout our community. Realizing that this guy was never caught is disturbing.
We left the state of California in late 1979. Sometimes I'd wonder if the East Area Rapist had ever been arrested. I didn't have a clue for quite some time that he'd escalated his crimes and had begun to murder his victims.
It was probably around the year 2013 that I thought about the East Area Rapist and decided to use google to see if he'd been caught. I also was curious as to his identity. I'd always wondered if I'd ever crossed paths with him while we lived there.
When I googled "East Area Rapist" I fully expected to see his mugshot and read of the date he'd been arrested. It was shocking to read that he'd become the "Golden State Killer."
To me, it is astonishing that he could have committed these numerous heinous crimes and yet, has not been caught. This just totally baffles me. I can't understand it.
My hope is that he'll be identified and arrested if he is still alive. I hope he is still among the living because I believe that he needs to answer the many questions that linger about all of his crimes.
The victims and the families of the victims deserve to know who this monster is. They deserve their day in court. I pray that he will be identified before too much more time passes. ~Mia
On November 4, 1976, the peace within our community would be forever shattered.
When the news blackout was lifted, we heard for the first time that there was a rapist targeting young women on the east side of town. The news didn't mention anything more specific such as the fact that the rapist was targeting middle to upper-class neighborhoods.
Our apartment complex probably consisted of at least 80% military wives with their husbands stationed at nearby Mather. Our apartment complex was one in which the apartments were all connected by a wall to the neighboring apartment on either side of us. We didn't have anyone living above us. It was really a nice apartment complex.
We were all frightened by the news that there was a rapist targeting young women on the east side of town. That was us--Rancho Cordova was smack dab in the target area of this creep.
We have always had firearms in our house. I felt a little bit safer knowing I had a handgun beside me at night.
The police never told us that the EAR was doing reconnaissance before a break-in and was known to unload firearms of their ammunition. Had we known we'd have checked our guns each day and night.
While living in the apartment off base, I did get frightened by two separate incidences.
The first occurred one morning when one of my friends came to let me know that the police were at an apartment within our complex.
The rumors were that a young woman inside had been assaulted by the East Area Rapist. The prevailing rumor at that time was that he had left religious type symbols behind. I heard that it was in the form of a huge cross either left on the bed or above the bed of the young woman who had been assaulted.
I wasn't certain if the cross was supposed to be a physical object that the EAR had brought to the scene--or if it was supposed to be a cross drawn or painted above the bed on the wall. In the days immediately following this woman's assault, the painted cross above her bed became the most prevalent of the rumors.
To this day I don't have any idea if any of these rumors were based on fact.
I followed the news closely that evening and every evening afterward. We also received the Sacramento Bee newspaper each day.
I searched and waited for information on the rape within our complex. Not one word was ever on the news or in the newspapers. The fear I felt rose to a whole new level.
For a short while, my husband was put on the graveyard shift at Mather, leaving me alone at night. Our apartment had two sliding glass doors. One in the front and one in the back. The police had let us know that the EAR came into homes usually through a sliding glass door. My husband made some wooden sticks out of broom handles to keep inside the sliding area of the doors at night. This would hopefully prevent the doors from being opened.
Our bedroom was upstairs, and I'd often sleep with the bedroom window open. An older woman lived on the left side of us. She was a widow and we kept an eye out for one another. She was aware of the fact that I kept my bedroom window open at night as she did the same.
One night she saw a dark-haired man trying to get into our front sliding glass door. She told me that she was about to scream out for me since she knew I'd hear her. But, evidently, the guy heard her. He looked up, saw her watching him, and took off running. She came over shortly thereafter to make certain I was okay. Neither of us thought to call the police because the guy was no longer there. I only phoned my husband to ask him to please come home from work. He did.
That scared the crap out of both my husband and me. The following night, and most all of that week after this happened, my husbands Commanding Officer allowed him to stagger his hours to be home with me more during the night.
We never used the front sliding glass door since we also had a normal front door as well. I only opened the blinds during the day to let in the sunlight.
One night shortly after my neighbor had seen the guy trying to get into our apartment, my husband came home at about 1 am, if I'm recalling the time correctly. We finally got settled into bed about an hour after he got home. He had fallen asleep but I was still awake when I began to hear strange noises.
The first thing I heard was what sounded like someone scraping a piece of wood or a ruler across the front door. It was a scratching type sound. Just one long one. (I actually likened it to the sound of a mop handle scraping across our front door.)
All was silent for about a minute or so. Then, I heard the sound of our heavy door knocker on our front door as it was lifted then allowed to fall. It made one loud reverberating sound throughout the apartment. It frightened the crap out of me.
I woke my husband and he grabbed his gun and went to look outside the front door. There was no one in sight. All of these things were seriously unnerving.
We finally got a house on Mather AFB in the spring of 1977 and wasted no time in moving out of the apartment.
It's all very strange to look back at that time and recall the fear that ran rampant throughout our community. Realizing that this guy was never caught is disturbing.
We left the state of California in late 1979. Sometimes I'd wonder if the East Area Rapist had ever been arrested. I didn't have a clue for quite some time that he'd escalated his crimes and had begun to murder his victims.
It was probably around the year 2013 that I thought about the East Area Rapist and decided to use google to see if he'd been caught. I also was curious as to his identity. I'd always wondered if I'd ever crossed paths with him while we lived there.
When I googled "East Area Rapist" I fully expected to see his mugshot and read of the date he'd been arrested. It was shocking to read that he'd become the "Golden State Killer."
To me, it is astonishing that he could have committed these numerous heinous crimes and yet, has not been caught. This just totally baffles me. I can't understand it.
My hope is that he'll be identified and arrested if he is still alive. I hope he is still among the living because I believe that he needs to answer the many questions that linger about all of his crimes.
The victims and the families of the victims deserve to know who this monster is. They deserve their day in court. I pray that he will be identified before too much more time passes. ~Mia
