HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Police have been overwhelmed since they released more than 100 photos found in a serial killer’s storage locker, pictures of unidentified girls and women in bell bottoms, bikinis and Farrah Fawcett hair, all more than 30 years old.
They look like long-lost sisters, mothers and daughters to bereaved callers across the country and from as far away as Denmark. Police have gotten more than 400 phone calls in a little more than a week.
The photos had been in the possession of Rodney Alcala, who has been in custody since 1979 and was recently convicted of murdering four young women and a 12-year-old girl. Jurors recommended the death penalty this month.
Prosecutors say Alcala used his camera to lure his victims, and he was seen taking pictures of the girl before she disappeared.
They fear some of the unidentified people in the photos released last week might have fallen victim to Alcala as well.
“The first thing is, ‘Oh, my God, I hope these girls are OK,’ and the next thing is, ‘I wonder if any of them are victims?’ Everyone has that question,” said prosecutor Matt Murphy.
The photos, available on the Orange County district attorney’s website, are just a fraction of the more than 1,000 images investigators found in Alcala’s storage locker when he was arrested for the 1979 murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe in Huntington Beach.
