Missing Since
04/25/1986
Missing From
Modesto, California
Classification
Non-Family Abduction
Sex
Female
Race
Biracial, Hispanic, Native American, White
Date of Birth
11/27/1970 (50)
Age
15 years old
Height and Weight
5'5, 130 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description
A light blue skirt with multi-colored dots, a light-colored blouse, a white vest and a gold bracelet.
Distinguishing Characteristics
Multiracial female. Black hair, brown eyes. Susan has freckles. Her ears are pierced. She is of Caucasian, Hispanic and Native American descent.
Susan left her family's home in Modesto, California on April 25, 1986 to stay with friends in Carmel, California. She was last seen at the former Greyhound bus depot on 10th Street and G Street in Modesto, making a phone call. Susan did not board a bus; instead, she was seen entering an unidentified full-sized olive-green 1977 Ford van outside of the station during the day. Susan has never been seen again.
Susan's diary, address book and some items of her clothing were located at a suspect's home after she vanished. The person was questioned by investigators, but released due to a lack of evidence.
Wesley Howard Shermantine Jr. and Loren Joseph Herzog, the so-called "Speed Freak Killers," are possible suspects in Susan's case. They were arrested in 2000 and ultimately convicted of murdering several females in the 1980s and 1990s; authorities believe they had as many as fifteen victims. Photographs of both men are posted with this case summary.
Shermantine is on death row. Herzog's sentence was reduced from 78 years to 14 years after the court ruled his confession had been coerced. He was paroled in 2010 and then took his own life in January 2012, after he found out his former partner had begun cooperating with authorities and had offered to reveal the location of victims' bodies in exchange for a payment of $33,000.