Going West: True Crime - Cherilyn Hawkley // 448

Episode Date: October 26, 2024

On October 31st, 1993, a beloved 39-year-old teacher was found strangled to death inside her car in a quiet suburb of Sacramento. As police investigated her final movements, they started to believe that someone she knew was behind her murder. But now, over 30 years later, we’re still left in the dark about what really happened to her that night. Many are left wondering if hers is connected to a similar cold case from the area, and whether both are victims of the infamous Golden State Killer. This is the story of Cherilyn Hawkley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host Heath and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to going west Hello, everybody. Hope you're doing well. Hope you've been doing some spooky stuff this month. Today's case was recommended by Leah and Katie. So thank you both so much. This is our Halloween episode. It takes place in the nineties on Halloween in California. This is one of those cases that we definitely want you guys to share because we really need to put attention

on this story for the sake of her kids and family. And we also do dive into a second case in this one that might be connected, delve into some serial killer ideas that have been floating around. So, you know, one of which actually you guys will be very familiar with. Oh, yes, you guys will know this person's name when we bring him up. But anyway, yes, thank you guys so much for tuning in. As Daphne said, please make sure that you share this episode. And if you want to see photos from this episode and all the other episodes that we've done so far, head over to our socials. We're on Instagram at Going West podcast, and we're also on Facebook. Well, then let's do it.

And without further ado, without further ado. All right, guys, this is episode 448 of Going West, so let's get into it! The Halloween cold case in the spotlight tonight as investigators push for answers. The body of a Placer County school teacher, Sherrilyn Hockley, found exactly 30 years ago tonight. It was Halloween night 30 years ago that the body of Sherrilyn Hockley was found, strangled in her car, a murder case, gone cold. Decades after the murder of Sherrilyn Hockley and her daughter still question who killed their mother.

Every year it replays like through your mind. Last seen leaving Eureka Elementary's Halloween celebrations. She was found days later, just a mile from the school. We hope that he hasn't hurt anybody else. It's important to have closure. I mean, it will never bring mom back,

but it would help people. Sherilyn Ann Garten was born on March 19, 1954 in Whittier, California, which is a southeast city of Los Angeles, to parents Marilyn and Robert, and she grew up alongside brothers Chip and Scott. But the family later moved up north to Paradise, California before they eventually settled in Chico, which is about an hour and a half north of Sacramento. And although the core of our story today does not take place in Chico,

it takes place still in that Sacramento area. But a little bit about Sherilyn. So she loved music and singing and was a very passionate piano and guitar player. From a young age, she was known for being bubbly, charming and sociable and was great at making friends quickly and easily throughout her life. In 1972, she graduated from Pleasant Valley High School, and a few years later, she married a man named Royal Hockley, who she would later go on to have three children with, daughters Melissa and Heather, and a son named Ryan.

Royal ran a successful heating and air conditioning business in Chico, but Sherilyn wanted to work as well, so when her children were still young, she went back to school to complete her college studies, attending Chico State University to pursue a teaching degree. As a mother, her children remember her as engaging, active, and kind, and her dad Robert agreed proudly, saying, quote, she was a real good mother. Sherrilyn especially loved to read and play music with her kids, and her daughters fondly recall singing along to Whitney Houston at the top of their lungs on many happy occasions.

And this is really part of why Sherilyn knew she would make a great teacher, and why everyone in her life agreed. She was such a positive influence and presence, so no doubt she was the perfect person to teach elementary students. Her daughter Melissa later said, When I think of mom, I think of butterflies, calligraphy, art projects. Mom is just super loving and so giving. I love that she reads us stories. We would read chapter books.

She was super involved in the community and church. Just an amazing, amazing woman. Though her closeness with her children never faltered, her relationship with her husband Royal was fading over time. So in 1991, after 15 years together, the couple divorced. the couple divorced. Sherilyn then went on to find a teaching job at an elementary school in Roseville, California, which is about 30 minutes northeast of Sacramento, where she also purchased a home. Her kids did live primarily with Royal and Chico while Sherilyn kind of established herself, because he was unable to move his lucrative business. So Sherilyn taught there for two and a half years before moving to

Eureka Elementary School in Granite Bay, which is about 20 minutes away from Roseville. 39-year-old Sherrilyn started teaching at Eureka in the fall of 1993, mere months before she died. But she settled in quickly and had even begun dating somebody new. Her good friend Sarah, who described Sherilyn as tender and sweet, sent her daughter to be in Sherilyn's class, actually, and said that she would trust no one more than Sherilyn to teach her. District Superintendent Ronald Feist agreed, saying, quote, "...this was sort of a new beginning for her.

She was an outstanding teacher. She was an amiable, lovable, very upbeat person and everything was going wonderfully for her here. Now on Friday, October 29th, 1993, Eureka Elementary School was just buzzing with excitement over Halloween and the upcoming holiday weekend because that year Halloween was actually on a Sunday. upcoming holiday weekend because that year Halloween was actually on a Sunday. The teachers worked tirelessly to plan every detail of the Halloween parties for the kids that Friday afternoon. That was really always the best time in school, especially when you were young, you know, you could dress up and a lot of the teachers really cared to make it fun for the students with like activities and parties and candy and all that good stuff. Yeah, and it was always the best when Halloween was on a weekend.

Like if it was on a Friday or a Saturday, you were super pumped. I mean, this was a Sunday, so the next day they did have to go back to school, but. So true. But yeah, so nice that still on that Friday before they wanted to celebrate it and have some fun with the kids.

Exactly, and Sherrilyn was definitely one of those teachers that was embracing this holiday and giving her kids just an absolute good time So that day Sherrilyn had lunch with another teacher in the lounge and Everybody that day said that she you know seemed to be in good spirits and that nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary Her fifth graders had an absolute blast at this party and after they were released for the weekend Sherrilyn decided that she needed to get her classroom back to normal for the following week and take all of these decorations down.

Yeah, cause like you said, Monday is November 1st. Exactly. We're moving on from Halloween. Yep. Well, multiple other teachers saw Sherrilyn cleaning up from this party with one custodian reporting that he saw her around 5.30. cleaning up spilled popcorn on the floor. Well, when he checked back about 30 minutes later around 6 p.m., he claimed that Sherilyn was gone.

One fellow teacher left the building at 6.30 p.m., so an hour after this custodian saw Sherilyn for the last time, and claimed that he no longer saw Sherlyn's car in the parking lot. So this just confirms that sometime after five 30 and before six, she left school. But concerningly, she also didn't make it home that night. Her boyfriend who was expecting her said that he began to grow concerned when it grew later than usual, even knowing that she had that mess to clean up. Like there was no reason this should have taken her more than a couple hours to tidy.

And she also hadn't called to check in with him. So when he couldn't get an answer at her extension on the school's phone, because he was trying to call her classroom, he grew increasingly more agitated and he decided to check on her at the school himself. He circled the parking lot and even walked the halls of the school looking for her, but found no trace of either her nor her car as the evening settled in.

Because the sun set at about 6 o 8 p.m. that day, so by the time her boyfriend got there, there was almost nobody there. All the teachers were gone. Everybody who had parties had already cleaned up and left for the weekend. So the only person that really was there when he arrived was that same custodian who spoke with Sherilyn's boyfriend at 7 30 PM, telling him that he hadn't seen her in about two hours. Sherilyn's boyfriend reported the strange circumstances to her ex husband, Royal and their young kids as well.

By the way, their daughters were teenagers and their son was about 10 at this time. All of whom agreed that this was extremely uncharacteristic behavior for Sherilyn. So as this word is spreading, they are all concerned and puzzled. So they're just waiting anxiously for any news, hoping that there was some simple explanation for her absence. But when the following morning arrived, still with no word or sightings, Sherilyn's boyfriend reported her missing to the Roseville police on that Saturday morning, which was October 30, 1993. And then the following evening on Halloween night, 39-year-old Sherilyn was found. A deputy named Jeff Adams spotted her van pulled to the side of a residential road just

off Elmhurst Drive located just over a mile away from the school she taught at. Sherilyn was still inside her van, which was a 1990 Dodge Caravan, when her body was found. She had been strangled with a rope or a cord. This is a detail that has never been revealed concretely. We do know it was one or the other. And this murder weapon was actually left in the van with her. So something I really wonder is just

knowing that Roper Cord is porous and there's so many nooks and crannies. I wonder if there was any DNA evidence on this of her attacker because we do not know this information but we we are gonna get into a little bit about what DNA evidence we do know that they have in just a second. Now tests to deduce whether or not she had been sexually assaulted were unfortunately inconclusive, but from the initial investigation of the crime scene, detectives believe that she was killed inside her own vehicle, likely from someone coming up behind her in the school's parking lot and surprising her, before discarding her body and the van on a quiet street nearby.

Which I feel like just knowing that this is a small elementary school, it's in a small little suburb, it's just so eerie to know that police are thinking that somebody could have been lurking in the area, either waiting for her on purpose, specifically her, or this is just, you know, a crime of opportunity that somebody just happened to be going by while Sherilyn is getting into her van to leave her job. Yeah, I mean, it's really kind of eerie when you think about what time she was likely taken. The fact that it was right before it got dark as you mentioned it was about 6 o 8 p.m That it that the Sun set that day so it was right before

Yeah, you know right before dusk that somebody kind of took that opportunity And that just like that just feels so eerie to me like you know what I mean Yeah, absolutely, and this is what placer County Sheriff Sergeant Bob McDonald had to say about this because he was equally as Confused and puzzled as everybody else was. So he said, quote, she worked at a rural school where there were not a lot of women and it was just not the sort of place a person looking for a random victim would go. And shockingly, soccer players on a nearby field as well as joggers traversing the area saw her van parked there on Saturday morning But no one noticed her body inside so in the area in which it was found

People saw her van just hours after she vanished which means it had been sitting there for nearly two days And can you imagine being one of those people that had jogged by this van and had no idea That there was a murder victim inside Yeah It is horrific and just remember this detail For the next case that we're gonna talk about in a little bit here that Sherilyn did not appear to be held hostage It does seem that shortly after she was killed she and her van were Transported to this residential

road where it wasn't found for over a day and a half. Now as you guys can imagine, this crime really rocked this small, normally safe community, especially due to the loss of one of their most prized and upstanding citizens. Yeah, I mean, Sherrilyn is this beloved, young, female teacher, and just to give you guys an idea, Granite Bay is a very affluent area. It is absolutely beautiful, located right on Folsom Lake. So this type of thing does not usually happen here. Well, one of the parents of her students said sadly that Sherilyn was, quote, Right up there with the best. She really cared about the children, not just as students, but as individuals.

She brought out her own mothering experience to the classroom. Even police were shocked by this crime, especially given the fact that it took place in this, again, normally safe haven of a quiet, suburban elementary school in broad daylight, and Sherlyn was known for being safety conscious and security oriented. There were no signs inside the classroom or her school, nor left behind in the parking lot that any foul play had occurred, which nudged police toward an eerie and devastating conclusion. Sherilyn likely knew her killer. Unless of course, like they had said before as well, she was ambushed and there was no

time for a struggle to even happen. Yeah, absolutely, and of course, Sherilyn's new boyfriend and her ex-husband, Royal Hockley, were questioned, but both of them were ruled out as suspects. For Royal's situation, he was actually just north in the state of Oregon at the time of the murder, and her boyfriend did pass a polygraph test. Though polygraphs have been known to be faulty, they can also lead detectives in the right direction, and in this case, they did not believe that the boyfriend had any knowledge of what happened to Sherilyn.

Another aspect of Sherilyn's life that was scrutinized by investigators was whether or not she was seeing anybody else on the side. Investigators concluded that she was not and did not feel that an affair was likely, so jealousy and retaliation were not considered to be credible motives for the murder. And law enforcement noted that she was not living what they would consider a high-risk lifestyle.

So they honestly just didn't believe that she would come across a seedy path. Yeah, and just to spell that out, she wasn't involved in drugs or anything like that. So this, it really didn't make sense who would want her killed. They can't find a clear motive here. And regarding that, Eureka Principal Rick Scrichfield

reported that there were quote, absolutely no areas of concern in Sherilyn's home or personal life. The probability of the crime being a robbery was also low because her purse was still in the car and her van had been abandoned instead of stolen. To the frustration of her family and community, the Placer County Sheriff's Department remained very tight lipped on details in the case, but revealed that there were fingerprints left behind on

the van. So that's what I was talking about earlier. There are certain details that have not been released to this day other than the fingerprints. So if they do have any other physical or DNA evidence, we just don't know about it and neither does the family or the community. So I'm sure everybody is wondering what else they have and if there is anything on that rope or cord. But luckily tips poured in and one even led to the description of a suspicious person who entered the school around the

same time that Sherlyn is believed to have disappeared. Police stressed to the public that this man was not being considered a suspect but obviously his arrival coinciding with Sherlyn going missing and being murdered was at the very least an incredibly strange coincidence, and they sought additional information about him and his vehicle. Because yeah, there is no reason for anybody on a Friday night that doesn't work at the school, even if you work there, there's really no reason for you to be going there on a Friday night. And here this eyewitness is watching this man striding into the school after parking his faded white Volkswagen Beetle in the parking lot. And this Volkswagen

Beetle was believed to be an older model that had black primer showing through beneath the white paint. that had black primer showing through beneath the white paint. So this kind of indicates that he may have, you know, painted his car. And not done a very good job. Yeah, apparently. But yeah, I agree with you. Why is he there? All the kids have been, you know, let out. It's not like he's picking up a kid from the school.

There would be absolutely no reason to be in that parking lot. Exactly, which is why the police just want some more information about the guy. But here is what else we know about his car. So the right headlight was broken, the left fender was dented, and the man was described as Caucasian and in his mid-30s with a muscular build standing at about six feet tall. He had wavy brown hair that covered his ears and apparently had very hairy arms and legs. So this person is, they're getting a good look at the guy.

He was wearing a pink tank top, which was faded and sweat stained, blue shorts, sandals, or maybe it was even barefoot. So this guy was just a dirty piece of shit. Yeah, well this is probably why he was standing out because he had this kind of messed up vehicle that had a shitty paint job. Yeah. He looks a little disheveled. He's sweaty. Yeah and around sunset he's walking into an elementary school that is like almost abandoned. Weird. Sheriff Sergeant McDonald said, quote, This is not a suspect.

He's a person who is seen at the school at about the same time she was last seen, and may be a potential witness. Despite heavy publicity, he has not come forward, and we cannot account for his presence at the school at that time. We're still assuming he may have been there innocently. We've followed up literally hundreds of sightings, and none of them have proven to be the right person. I mean, I feel like I would have to disagree here, because, again,

I don't know what the hell you're doing at an elementary school parking lot just before dusk, but the only kind of saving grace here is that if he was driving his own car, he would have had to have abducted Sherilyn, killed her, moved her and her car to a different location, and then came back and got his own car and drove away. Which you could say for anybody else as well, which is why in so many situations like this, we often say that some people do get help or there was at least a getaway driver because even if the person did Push Sherilyn into her own van maybe

incapacitate her drive her van to a secluded spot or killed her right in that very spot They would have needed to abandon her car and somehow get out of the area Since we know it was in a residential area, did he just simply walk away from the scene? Did somebody pick him up? How would he have gotten back to his vehicle or his home? There's always that question, you know? Absolutely. I think the fact that her van was not that far away from the school kind of says to me that, yeah, somebody could have walked back potentially to go get their car. Who knows?

Yeah, I mean it was just over a mile away. So you can walk a mile, right? Absolutely. It's definitely possible, but you know, something I always have issue with is when there's, just like the sheriff is saying, there is a ton, or sorry, Sheriff Sergeant was saying, that there was a ton of publicity surrounding this guy. A lot of people were talking about him because they wanted him found. He was a very important potential witness or potential person of interest

and they don't know who this guy is. He's not coming forward saying, hey, that was me. I was just there picking up, you know, what my job application or something, you know? Like there was no explanation, even though police were saying, Hey, we're not trying to say you did this, just please let us know who you are. And he didn't do that. So does that mean that he is guilty or does that mean he was a traveler

blowing through town and didn't see this, this news about himself? Yeah, I kind of feel like he would have seen this news about his vehicle and would have come forward. I mean, there's no reason to not come forward and say, yeah, that was me. Agreed, so police are thinking the exact same things and Placer County Police Captain Steve Cader said, he might be a suspect, we wanna talk to him.

Our gut feeling is that it was someone who knew her and knew about her, but we can't say for sure. The evidence at the scene suggests that her killer knew her or was concerned with her. Well, a composite drawing of both the man and his vehicle were broadcast repeatedly on Sacramento Local News and published in multiple Northern California newspapers

and resulted in hundreds of tips. But none of them led to the identity of this man or the location of his vehicle. And this composite on this guy is a really good one. We're gonna post it all over our socials so everybody can see, because I don't know, I think it's pretty specific. Yeah, I'll just have to say,

I've seen some pretty bad composite sketches you know doing this show for as long as we have and this one is very detailed. The artist is very talented I think he has a very specific nose, jawline, hairstyle, etc. Like if you knew this man you would know this picture. Yeah exactly. Well detectives felt confident that they had eliminated everyone in Sherilyn's immediate circle, amused that it was likely a sexually motivated abduction, but who had been at the bottom of it remained a mystery. Sherilyn's dad Robert said, quote,

We certainly don't have any idea who it could be. She didn't have any enemies that I knew of. To this day, the Placer County Sheriff's Department has remained quiet on the case, and continues to do so, hoping that DNA will bring it to its rightful conclusion. Sherilyn's murder shocked her students and fellow teachers, and the whole school reeled from the grief. A counselor was also stationed at the school for grieving students and coworkers. Eureka Elementary School parents established a fund to help pay for additional investigative efforts when the detective's efforts stalled.

Which is really amazing that they pulled together to do that. Oh, absolutely. But it wouldn't take long for Sherlyn's murder to draw comparisons to another unsolved murder in the area from two years prior, and for the murders of both women to be considered in connection with perhaps the most prolific serial killer of recent years, the Golden State Killer. Get ready for Las Vegas style action at BenMGM, the king of online casinos. Enjoy casino games at your fingertips with the same Vegas drift excitement MGM is famous for when you play classics like MGM Grand Millions. Or popular games like Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette. Download the Bet MGM Casino app today.

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in the same area just a couple years earlier. And as we'll get into it, police investigated a connection. So before finishing up Sherilyn's portion of the story, let's talk about a woman named Cynthia Stroh. Cynthia K. Stroh or Cindy was born on May 8th, 1956 to parents Helen and Al in North Dakota and grew up alongside two brothers, Gordon and Gary, and two sisters, Elaine and Susan. Growing up, her family were devout churchgoers and very close-knit, but after graduating from Dickinson High School in Dickinson, North Dakota, the family scattered. Her parents moved to Arizona, her parents headed to

Montana, and her sisters settled in California. Cindy met a man named Bob Wanner eventually, and in the early 1980s they settled in Denver, Colorado, which then led to the birth of their first daughter Carly in the late 1980s. But their tenure in Denver ended abruptly when both Cindy and Bob lost their jobs. So kind of destitute and in desperate need of a fresh start, the Wanners headed to California to be closer to Cindy's sisters. You know, her whole family was in the West. So this move made sense. So they settled in Rancho Cordova, which is just east of Sacramento.

After the move, Cindy gave birth to their second daughter, who they named Ashley. And although this was a very joyous time for them, their financial woes persisted. Bob had taken work as a truck driver, and Cindy was picking up odd jobs where she could, including getting paid by her sisters to clean their houses every Monday. Her mom Helen described her as an absolutely perfect mother, a deeply spiritual woman and a devoted wife with no enemies.

In November of 1991, Cindy's sister Susan and Susan's husband Phil had just moved into a beautiful new home in Granite Bay, California, about 30 minutes from Rancho Cordova by car. And remember, this is the suburb where Sherilyn worked as a teacher at Eureka Elementary. And when Cindy would go there to clean, she started bringing her 11-month-old daughter Ashley along with her while Carly attended preschool. On Monday, November 25, 1991, so just under two years before Sherrilyn was murdered. Cindy reported to the 8200 block of Auburn Folsom Road in Granite Bay just two and a half miles

from Eureka Elementary School where Susan and Phil's home was located. And we will include photos of this road for you guys to see because it is a main road so this isn't some quiet quaint spot there's a lot of cars driving down that street. Well that day the couple left the house for the afternoon between 12 15 and 12 30 p.m and when they did they remembered that Ashley was in her high chair

happily eating a snack while Cindy started to clean. Just 45 minutes later, Bob and Carly arrived at the house. Now it was Bob's day off and he agreed to pick Carly up from the Capitol Christian Center Day School and stop by Susan and Phil's old home to retrieve some firewood that had been left behind from their move. Bob knocked and rang the doorbell at the house and although no one answered, he could hear Ashley crying inside. And remember Bob is Cindy's husband so this is his baby that he hears crying. Bob realized that the door was unlocked so he let himself in and tended to his youngest

daughter who was still in her high chair. Cindy's shoes had been left by the door and the cleaning supplies that she had been using were still left out. Her car was sitting in the driveway, but strangely, her purse was missing. And this was additionally strange because there were no signs of a struggle or foul play. Phil happened to call the house a few minutes later and when Bob answered, they agreed that the situation was concerning and this seemed too odd to be considered an

elective disappearance because Bob just knew that his wife would never purposefully leave their daughter alone and why would she do it while she is cleaning her sister's house like and where how would she have gotten away her car was in the driveway like why would why would she do that? Yeah, again, also her 11-month-old baby is right there. Yeah, and in a high chair, not, like, down for a nap. Exactly. So Bob quickly called the police to report his wife missing. Phil remembered, quote, I thought maybe she'd walked around the house or something. We're just hoping that she's still alive But there's no reason to think anything criminal was done

There's nothing in that house that was damaged and she would have put up a fight for that baby Family and friends remember that Bob was beyond distraught laying in the backyard face down in the dirt and sobbing uncontrollably at the thought of losing his wife. He was investigated as a suspect naturally, but he was cleared very, very quickly, and he told police that their marriage was quote, solid. And remember, this is such a safe area, this kind of stuff does not happen there, so the police were extremely confused, they're combing the scene for signs that, you know, someone else had been there that day and there were none.

It was as if 35 year old Cindy had just walked away with the only witness being her 11 month old daughter Ashley. Unfortunately, there was no evidence left behind at the house except for a cigarette that was left on the front porch. The whole family maintained that Cindy would never have left Ashley willingly and would have happily put herself in harm's way to protect her child. So maybe Ashley was threatened in the exchange and Cindy offered herself up to save her daughter.

Police began to fear that they had a true stranger abduction on their hands, meaning the culprit could strike the area again at any time. Over 20 searches of the vicinity of the home were conducted on horseback, by car, and on foot, but they found no trace of her. And just like in the case of Sherilyn's murder, detectives quickly ruled out family members and past relationships. As the investigation became public, tips poured in with sightings, but none of them led back to Cindy.

But it did lead to one credible tip coming in about two men driving a white, dirty van that had no side windows. And this witness actually had enough foresight to record a partial license plate number that read IP82 and describe the men as having dark scraggly hair, which by the way did not match the composite in Sherilyn's case. But it was later announced that the tip was discredited and discontinued so I guess just disregard that. So as new leads and tips petered off one final sighting led them to Cindy. On Saturday December 14th 1991 a quail hunter happened upon the nearly naked body of a woman, thinly veiled in brush

alongside a hiking trail near Forest Hill, California, which is 32 miles or 51 kilometers northeast of Granite Bay, and she was clad in only a bra. Though she needed to be formally identified, investigators were nearly certain, just based on her description and tattoos, that they had found the missing mom. And this is crazy because Cindy's bank actually held a piece of the puzzle, and they failed to alert police with enough time to chase down a very important lead. Because in the immediate aftermath of her disappearance Police verified with her bank to make sure that there had been no activity on her card Which they confirmed because remember she did have her purse

So they're wondering if she is alive and she went off on her own or if somebody stole her purse That they could help track either her or somebody else down using her bank card, but either her or somebody else down, using her bank card. But, Detective also ordered Wells Fargo to freeze the card and reach out to police immediately if an attempt was made to use that card. And less than an hour later, Cindy's card was used at the ATM of an AMPM convenience store in Citrus Heights,

just nine miles or 14 kilometers from where Cindy disappeared. This transaction was approved and whoever was using her card withdrew $40. So this being less than an hour later, seeing whoever this person was is incredibly important. Completely agree and the reason why this is important, especially after her body was found, and it was clear that she had been murdered, is because it wasn't until over a week later,

by the time detectives discovered the transaction had taken place, because the bank didn't notify them. And by then, the AMPM had recorded over the surveillance video. Ugh, that just makes you so mad. It's like they almost had him. Seriously. Well, Wells Fargo blamed it on a misunderstanding between the bank and the police, but

frustrated still, detectives searched the vicinity of the convenience store and they found no more evidence than what was left behind at the crime scene. The day after Cindy's body was found, which was December 15th, 1991, the identity of the woman found on the hiking trail was confirmed to be 35-year-old Cindy Wanner.

Strangely, her body showed very little evidence of decomposition despite having been missing for nearly three weeks, which is why police began to suspect that someone had been holding her She also had no visible lacerations or signs of a struggle aside from her cause of death, which was strangulation Just like Sherlyn she had been strangled with a rope or a cord and from her outward appearance She looked clean but malnourished So detectives believed that she had been given food and water, and also allowed to bathe. Based on what little decomposition had taken place,

investigators surmised that she had been held for about two weeks, and had only been killed between three and five days prior to the discovery of her body. So she was held captive for a very long time. Well imagine if we had that footage of whoever was at the ATM if that was her abductor and killer if The bank had notified the police and they were able to find this person. She could have lived Yeah, I mean I absolutely agree with you. It's it's devastating, but it's also Just so terrifying to know that she was being held captive just somewhere out there Nobody knows where but and and what was happening to her during that time? terrifying to know that she was being held captive just somewhere out there, nobody knows

where, but...and what was happening to her during that time? And because there was no sign of a struggle at the scene of the discovery of her body, they also concluded that she had been killed elsewhere and then discarded there, and that she was likely carried to her final resting place in the brush beside that hiking trail. There was no seminal fluid present on her body at the time, though it was unfortunately possible that she had been assaulted at some point during her capture. Like we said, this guy most likely allowed her to bathe. Also, there were no drugs or alcohol in her system when her body was discovered either.

Police staked out near the home of Cindy's sister and watched the area closely, believing that someone nearby had committed this crime and may travel that route frequently. After Sherilyn's murder less than two years later, the Placer County Sheriff's Office did publicly announce that there were eerie similarities between Sherilyn's case and Cindy's case and claimed that they were investigating a possible connection. Aside from the obvious cause of death and the proximity of course both being in Granite Bay, Placer County under Sheriff Ed Bonner admitted quote,

the rope or cord is similar. Gerald Arenberg who is the executive director of the National Association of Police Chiefs in Miami, noted that Cindy's case had the markings of a serial killer, meaning he may have struck again after he went after Sherilyn, and perhaps again after that when he managed to evade arrest for either crime. Gerald said, quote, "'If this case is ever solved, it may turn out to be a guy like Bundy who moves from area to area.

That's one of the things that make crimes like this so hard to solve. Their next victim could be in Omaha.'" So naturally, there has been a lot of speculation that if these two cases are connected, which we can't possibly know without more evidence, an infamous serial killer could be involved. Some even suspect the notorious Golden State killer, also known as Joseph D'Angelo. He was arrested in the summer of 2018 after committing

over a dozen murders and even more rapes and burglaries. Yeah, this is the serial killer that we were telling you guys in the beginning that you'll probably recognize. Well, according to timelines of his official criminal activity, Joseph was no longer active by the time Cindy and Sherilyn were murdered, supposedly having stopped committing

his brutal rapes and murders in 1986. And remember, Cindy was murdered in 1991, Sherilyn in 1993. However, it is a common belief that he had more than the 13 murder victims to whom he admitted killing. In 1993, Joseph was working at a save mart in Roseville, which is only a half mile, or eight tenths of a kilometer kilometer from Sherilyn's home. He and his family also lived in the Sacramento area during the time both women were killed. After Joseph D'Angelo's arrest in 2018, Lieutenant Andrew Scott with the Placer County Sheriff's Office stated,

quote, We're going through them to see if any could be remotely connected. When something as monumental as this happens, you want to do that." But he also admitted, quote, "...I think given the time frame, it would not normally be reasonable." But he also acknowledged that, quote, "...weird things have happened," and said that the cases of the women would absolutely be investigated in connection with Joseph D'Angelo's unparalleled reign of terror in California.

Just last year in 2023, marking 30 years since Sherilyn's murder, the Placer County Sheriff's Office said, quote, This case remains open and our detectives continue to search for leads in hopes of bringing closure to her loved ones. The children of both women continue to wait for answers to this day, which is why it's so important to share stories like this because whether they're connected or not, whether they're connected to a major serial killer or not, they deserve resolution. Detective Chris Joyce with the Placer County Sheriff's Office, claimed in a recent interview

that he believes that they have confirmed who killed Sherilyn, but they're just waiting for hard-and-proof to be able to make an arrest. The family is hoping that advances in DNA technology will bring them closer to answers, because remember, they have fingerprints and potentially more evidence. Sherilyn's daughter Heather said hopefully, quote, I'm excited for these advances in technology that these cases can be solved. And going forward, it's easier to solve these cases and it doesn't take so long. Sherilyn's former elementary school, the Durham Intermediate School, began giving out

the Sherilyn Hockley Memorial Award on an annual basis, explaining, quote, she had a magical gift. Sherilyn could bring out the artist in each student. The award is given to the student that the staff feels best exemplifies Sherilyn's spirit for the artistic and Sherilyn's passion to pursue life goals. Her class at Eureka Elementary memorialized her with a plaque at the school that remains there to this day.

If you have any information about the murders of Sherilyn Hockley or Cindy Wanner, please call the Placer County Sheriff's Office at 530-889-7800. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. As we mentioned in the beginning, please remember to share this episode because both of their families are still waiting for answers and it's been over 30 years.

Yeah, it's crazy to hear that they believe that they know who killed at least Sherilyn and that they can't really do anything about it until they have more evidence. That is wild. Also crazy that they do kind of believe that these two cases could be connected and possibly even connected to Joseph D'Angelo, that disgusting sack of shit. I mean, DNA technology is getting so good, so hopefully they can close both of these cases very soon and give the family some much needed closure.

So make sure you share again. Thank you guys so much for tuning in and we'll see you on Tuesday. Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. I'm just a little bit of a wimp. Thanks for watching!