Introduction: Unfortunately, despite a considerable amount of time and effort, I found very little information about the background of Vicki Dawn Lynee Miner, who was born on December 21,1953 in Provo, Utah to Richard and LaRee Miner. Richard Edwin Miner was born on October 15, 1932 in Springville, Utah and Laree Jackson was born on December 11, 1935 in Vernal, UT. LaRee and Richard married on June 2. 1953 in Coalville, Utah and the couple went on to have three children together: Randy (b. September 1957), Jerry (b. August 1956), and Vicki. Richard and LaRee moved their family from Springville, Utah to California in 1962, and at the time of her death, Vicki was a junior at Buena Park High School and was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. * I’m not certain of the exact spelling of one of Vicki’s middle names, as I’ve seen it listed as Lynne and Lynee; I’ve also seen it with and without the ‘Dawn.’

According to a classmate of Miner’s going by the name ‘Loco Moco’ on Facebook: ‘all the guys liked her, but the cool thing about Vicki is that she didn’t ignore us like other older girls did. Instead of dismissing us as the drooling idiots we were she would talk to us like she actually enjoyed being around us. She was always smiling and laughing. She was the sweetest girl I have ever known. I hope her family finds peace and justice.’

Disappearance: At around 9:30 AM on Friday, October 30, 1970, Vicki Miner was last seen after she left her family’s residence and started her short walk to school; she never made it. Her parents filed a missing person’s report later the same day. According to multiple articles (including The Anaheim Bulletin), on November 14, 1970 her remains were discovered by two fifteen-year old boys that had been out ‘shooting bb guns’ in a creek bottom near a vacant field near Malvern Avenue and Dale Street, roughly fifty feet from the Sante Fe Railway Mainline (the area had reportedly been frequented by horseback and motorcycle riders); she had suffered a massive blow to her head, which caused a skull fracture that resulted in her death. Despite being fully clothed, her pants were unbuttoned and she was missing a brown, size 28 to 30 leather cowhide belt. Additionally, Vicki was missing her size seven, dark brown leather strap sandals that had been shabbily fixed with a piece of orange coated electrical wire, and a dark brown suede finish purse; her handbag had her driver’s license, social security card, several small plastic toy animals, and a small red Bible in it. Sheriff’s detectives and a group of boy scouts searched the area where she was found but it turned up no new evidence.

However, I would like to point out that according to Marcus Gourley (whose father was the Chief of Police in Buena Park in October 1970), who commented on a Facebook post about Miner made by the local Police Department, on the morning she disappeared Vicki had been ‘late for school that morning because of a traffic ticket. Mrs. Willeford saw her walk by that morning, Vicki had a habit of Hitch-Hiking (As we all did then). It’s believed at that someone picked her up, between Dale Street and the HS.’ … ‘The night before she disappeared she gave me a ride home From BPHS. I told my dad later and her Mom by Phone that it was a very unremarkable conversation. I felt so bad when heard from my dad what happened. Her brother’s Jerry and randy also have passed away. Her parents must of gone thru hell. I truly hope they catch the bastard that did this! Vicki was a doll, so sweet and pretty, and she came from a wonderful Mormon family!’ … … ‘She was found by Chris Willeford and his friend! They we’re shooting BB Guns, No horseback riders found her!’

Investigation: the young victim had a deep gash on the side of her head, and detectives quickly determined that she had been bludgeoned to death; the coroner estimated that she had been dead for roughly fourteen days before she was found. In the weeks that followed the discovery, detectives remained ‘tight lipped’ about the murder and maintained strict security around it, and Detective Patrick Black with the Buena Park Homicide Department would only comment that the ‘investigation is continuing.’

Suspects, Ted Bundy: In late October and November 1970, Ted Bundy was in the early days of his relationship with Liz Kendall (who he began seeing in September 1969) and was residing at the Rogers Rooming House in the university district of Seattle. Also at this time, he was employed at Pedline Supply company, a family-owned medical supply company, and was a full-time psychology student at the University of Washington, where he later graduated with a degree in psychology. According to the ‘1992 FBI TB Multiagency Team Report,’ on October 30, 1970, Bundy was seen in Seattle (as well as for the following five days), so it is unlikely he was involved in the murder of Vicki Lynne Miner.

Rodney Alcala: Another name that I came across while researching the murder of Vicki MIner is ‘the Dating Game Killer,’ Rodney Alcala, who was active between 1968 and 1979. His life of crime began in 1968 after he assaulted an eight-year-old girl, and his behavior quickly escalated to homicide, and he was eventually convicting of killing eight young women and girls before he was finally apprehended in July 1979 (although investigators feel he may be responsible for upwards of 130 rapes and murders across California, New York, Wyoming and Washington). There is no evidence that he had anything to do with Vicki Miner’s death.

The Zodiac: At the time Vicki was murdered, the Zodiac was in the peak of his heyday, and in fall 1970 he was in the midst of terrorizing the citizens of Northern California while heckling police as well as the news media: he sent multiple taunting communications and cryptic cards to The San Francisco Chronicle detailing his atrocities, and baited investigators. On October 5, 1970 he mailed a 13-hole-punched greeting card (known as the ‘13-hole card’) to The San Francisco Chronicle that contained the mocking message: ‘PS THERE ARE REPORTS city police pig cops are closing in on me. Fk I’m crackproof, What is the price tag now?’ Three days before Vicki was last seen alive on October 27, 1970 it was confirmed that the Zodiac sent a letter to Chronicle reporter Paul Avery (whose name had been misspelled ‘Averly’ on the envelope): in it, he claimed fourteen kills and warned that he was going to pull off something drastic, such as blowing up a school bus by shooting a tire and picking off the children as they ran out. But in my opinion, when it comes down to it, the Zodiac was a showboat and loved to take credit for his work, and he never once alluded to killing Vicki Miner.

The Manson Family?: At one point it was briefly suspected that Vicki had been involved with the Manson family, but that theory was squashed after it was quickly determined there was no truth behind it.

Bruce McGregor Davis, Manson Family Member: One commenter on BPPD’s Facebook page’s post about Vicki Miner named Larry Rosa said that perhaps Bruce McGregor Davis (a high-ranking member of the Manson Family) had killed the pretty young teenager, and went on to suggest that she was his final murder before he was finally arrested on December 2, 1970. In October 1970, Davis was a fugitive of the law and was being sought for his role in the brutal 1969 murders of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald ‘Shorty’ Shea. Unlike the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders, Davis was directly convicted of playing a major part in the deaths of Hinman and Shea and would later receive a life sentence. As of July 2026, he remains incarcerated in a California prison after being repeatedly denied release.

The Golden State Killer: Joseph James DeAngelo Junior is a name that came up a few times while I was researching the murder of Vicki Lynne Miner, but it took place slightly outside of his timeline: in the fall of 1970, DeAngelo was still a student at Sierra College in Rocklin, California, and earlier that May, he became engaged to a nursing student and classmate (she eventually ended their relationship in 1971 after he began to display increasingly worrisome behavior). DeAngelo’s crimes began in 1974 in Northern California, where he committed a minimum of 120 burglaries, at least fifty-one rapes, and thirteen murders before he went dormant in 1986. He was arrested on April 24, 2018 thanks to investigative genetic genealogy.

‘Mystery Man:’ Charles M. Smith: One interesting place I found most of my information about this case was on a Facebook post made by the Buena Park Police Department, and a suspicious name came up in the comments only once: ‘Charles M. Smith.’ Apparently, law enforcement never had enough evidence to hold or arrest him, and he relocated to Hawaii ‘many, many years ago,’ shortly after the murder. If someone reading this can provide me with additional information about this mystery man, please reach out to me.

Cindy Lee Mellin: Months before Graham’s disappearance, Cindy Lee Mellin was last seen on January 20, 1970 in the parking lot of the Buenaventura Shopping Centre in Ventura, CA (roughly two and a half hours away from Buena Park). The nineteen-year-old worked there as a salesclerk at The Broadway Department Store and she left shortly after closing; she was last seen standing next to her car at 9:40 PM and had been accompanied by an unknown Caucasian male between thirty and forty years of age that appeared to be helping to replace her left rear tire. After she failed to come home that night Cindy’s father arrived at the shopping center the following morning at 7:00 AM and immediately noticed her car on the bumper jack with the flat tire still in place; on the ground nearby was the spare. Cindy was nowhere to be seen, and no one has ever seen or heard from her since.

Kathleen Johns: Roughly two months after Cindy Mellin disappeared twenty-two-year-old Kathleen Johns was driving west on Highway 132 near the I-5 in Modesto on March 22, 1970 at around 11:15 PM (along with her ten-month-old daughter) when she observed a light-colored, late-model vehicle following her. When she pulled over it did the same, and with a tire iron in his hand, a man exited his car and approached hers. He said to her, ‘your rear wheel is wobbling. I’ll tighten up the lugs.’ The young mother stayed in her car while the stranger worked on repairing the wheel, and when he was finished working, he informed her it had been mended and that she could go. Of course, as she tried to back up it the wheel fell off completely and when Johns got out to examine it, she realized there was only one bolt holding it in place. The mystery man suddenly returned and offered to take her to a nearby service station; Johns (without any other options) got into his car with her young daughter.

However instead of helping, the man instead drove around on side roads for approximately an hour and a half, and according to John’s police report, he was ’friendly and not threatening,’ but several times when she asked if he was going to stop at a gas station, he would simply ‘elude the question and start talking about something else.’ Kathleen quickly became concerned that he was going to harm her and/or her child, and as a way to escape she told him that she was going to be sick, however as he slowed down for a stop sign, she quickly opened the car door and leapt out with her daughter and hid in a neighboring field; the suspect did not stick sped off. Johns was able to flag down a passing car, and the driver took her to a nearby police station; she was inconsolable and sobbing uncontrollably when she was interviewed by detectives, and at one point had noticed a wanted poster with a composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer on the wall and exclaimed, ‘that’s the man!’ Police later found her car near Byrd Road and Highway 132, incinerated; the Zodiac Killer took credit for this incident in a letter written on July 24, 1970.

Robin Ann Graham: A little over two weeks after Vicki Miner was last seen alive, eighteen-year-old Robin Ann Graham was last seen less than an hour away on the side of a Los Angeles freeway in the early morning hours of November 15, 1970 after her car had run out of gas. She has not been seen or heard from since, nor are there any clues as to her whereabouts or subsequent fate. As of July 2026, her murder also remains unsolved. The murder of Miner and the disappearance of Graham share several striking similarities: both crimes occurred within a span of slightly over two weeks in the fall of 1970, and both victims were young, white coeds that were navigating their normal, everyday routines (Vicki was a high school student, and Robin in her first year of college).

The two young women possessed strikingly similar physical characteristics that were common amongst victims of serial offenders that were active in California at that time: both women were tall, slim and wore their brown hair long and parted down the middle. Both girls had been targeted while they were isolated and vulnerable while in transit: Vicki was walking by herself to school when she was abducted and Robin was stranded alone on the side of a busy highway after her car ran out of fuel. In both cases, distinctive elements of the victims’ footwear and personal belongings became central focus points of the investigation: in Miner’s case, her dark brown leather sandals purse, and her leather cowhide belt were missing and when Robin disappeared, she vanished along with her distinct red clog shoes and her personal leather purse. Despite the commonalities, there is nothing official linking the murder of Vicki Miner to the disappearance of Robin Ann Graham.

Conclusion: Jerry Lee Miner died at the age of twenty-one after her hung himself on July 26, 1977 in Fullerton, California (his mother had been the one to find him). Randy Lee Miner died on September 30, 1998 at the age of forty-one in Anaheim, California from complications of Leukemia.

I’m not sure when or how he died, but I do know that Vicki’s father Richard Edwin Miner is deceased. Her mother Laree Jackson-Miner died on February 7, 2023, in Fullerton, California after a long struggle with cancer. According to her obituary, she was one of seven children, and she grew up on a small farm in Utah and graduated from Payson High School in 1958. On March 25, 1972 she was sealed (along with Richard) in the Los Angeles LDS Temple, and after she retired, LaRee volunteered for the Fullerton Police Department for ten years and she ran several marathons for the Leukemia Foundation.