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Did a woman fall to her death off a cliff or was she murdered?  Jane Doe Victim: Gender: Female CASE DETAILS When a coroner is called to the scene of an unexplained death, it is his job to identify who the “John and Jane Does” are and how they died. This is a story about the unheralded heroes of law enforcement.  Searching for clues On the morning of October 5, 1983, two lifeguards discovered the body of a young boy. He was floating in a channel near the ocean at Seal Beach, California. According to the lifeguards, the body was so badly decomposed, that it made identification impossible. Coroner’s investigator, Joe Luckey, was sent to the scene. He found no evidence of foul play. In fact, an autopsy later revealed that the young boy had drowned. But who the boy was and where he came from posed a baffling mystery:
Joe sent a description of the boy to every law enforcement agency in the area. Only one possible match turned up. It was of a boy who had disappeared from Fullerton, California. Fullerton was sixteen miles from where the body was discovered, but Joe still met with the boy’s parents. They told him that their son had vanished shortly after leaving for a neighborhood park. Joe searched the park for any possible clues:
Tragically, the young boy had fallen into the flood channel and was swept sixteen miles to Seal Beach. Blood samples later provided a positive identification. The mystery had been solved. Cullen Ellingburgh was a coroner in Orange County at the time of the boy’s disappearance:
 Cullen Ellinburgh, Coroner Cullen Ellingburgh has worked on literally thousands of cases. Some take months of painstaking research and legwork. Others are solved solely on the basis of one small piece of evidence. One case, in particular, has haunted Cullen Ellingburgh since May 18, 1987. That morning, the body of a woman in her early 20s, was found at the bottom of a steep cliff in Southern California. According to Ellingburgh, the woman had apparently fallen to her death sometime during the night:
Strangely, there was nothing else in her purse. But the map led Cullen to the last person who saw her alive:
 Clues were found at the top of the cliff When Cullen interviewed the cab driver, he described a woman who fit the Dana Point “Jane Doe.” She had wanted to go to Laguna Beach, but didn’t have enough cash. According to Cullen, the cab driver agreed to take her as far as the money would go:
The next morning, the young woman’s body was found at the base of the cliff. She was 5’8” tall and weighed 127 pounds. She had light brown hair, brown eyes, and was wearing what appeared to be second-hand clothing, including a pair of men’s underwear. For Cullen Ellingburgh, the case of the unidentified Jane Doe has never left him:
Update: After remaining a mystery for 26 years, this case has finally been solved. The remains have been positively identified, thanks to DNA testing, as those of Holly Jo Glynn. Holly was 21 years old when she died. Her death was ruled a suicide. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season seven with Robert Stack and in season three with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. |
Anonymous
That Taxi was expensive. Even today you can get an Uber for cheaper than that. It is unfortunate her life ended the way it did. There are resources in that area that would have helped her. I just feel bad for her going through that state of mind.
dian
How come her parents didn’t report her missing and why didn’t they look for her all these years?
Charles
Suicide is a very real thing, but I don’t think it can be ruled out that she may have been thrown off the cliff. She was wandering aimlessly at 4 AM; that alone can be quite dangerous. I doubt we will ever know what truly happened? I do wonder if her friends who were searching for her ever gave any information as to what her personality was like, which could maybe give some ideas as to if she was prone to depression etc.
Me
Really weird how she was from nearby Whittier and she remained unsolved for all these years. Honestly living here in Orange County all my life I feel like it truly is a little bubble and a murder in one of the rich areas like Dana Point is always a big shock (no so much when the murder is here in Anaheim or Santa Ana or another area full of Mexican gangs). Anyways, the girl (According to Google) was ffrom Whittier which isn’t far from Dana Point (an hour or so); I’m surprised nobody here in SoCal identified her earlier, I’m sh ocked it took almost 30 long years.
Pam
I lived in Whittier from 1973 until I graduated high school in 1977. During that period, I was pretty much a loner. If Holly was like myself, no man in her life, and had only one or two really good friends she kept in touch with, I can see her not being missed if she had left the area to move somewhere else. (if that’s what she told any friends she had). She wouldn’t have been missed for at least a month or two.
Jonathan
It is possible the taxi driver had lied about the details he gave or he’s telling the truth and dropped her off at the spot he claims. One theory is that someone attempted to abduct her and she climbed the fence to get away and either fell or was pushed off. Or she was done with life and took her own life. Sadly only her and God knows what transpired that morning. My thoughts and prayers are with her family .
Picketwire
I know dana point very well and the location that she was reportedly dropped off doesnt make sense to me. The Charthouse restaurant is out on the point, well away from Pacific Coast Hwy…the route to Laguna Beach. Why would the taxi driver turn off of PCH and drive about 1/3 of a mile, down Green Lantern Street, driving right past Cannons (another popular restaurant that was there at the time) and drop her at a virtual dead end with nothing around except the Charthouse and a dirt road along the point? It seems pretty confirmed she killed herself but I think the Taxi guy lied.
Picketwire
btw I’ve been following this story for years…am into mysteries…there are two other interesting unsolved cases in Dana Point…the Original Night Stalker killing of the Harringtons, and the Arlene Hoffman case – she was killed in her own home my an arrow and the killer took the arrow!
nought
I’m troubled by all the unanswered questions. It looks like Glynn’s family is refusing to talk about her to anyone, and I haven’t been able to find information on what she was doing in the midrange time preceding her death. Why was she carrying a purse stolen in 1975? Why did she phone for a taxi to pick her up at a hotel she wasn’t staying at? Why did she want to take a taxi to Laguna Beach in the middle of the night instead of taking a much cheaper bus in the morning? Why were her remains cremated and the ashes scattered at sea when the remains hadn’t been identified? There are a thousand other questions that cause this case to make no sense at all.
Chanita
Did She Really Committee Suicide Or Was She Really Murdered?
Karen Oberbroeckling
The jane doe looks like my missing sister Theresa Vernell Jones d.o.b February 2 1964 date missing from Alvin Texas unsolved 1980
unsolved
Hi Karen – thank you for the information, but this case has been solved. Jane Doe was identified as Holly Glynn.
kelly
I hope someday you & ur family finds out what happened to ur Sister. I wanted to leave a reply since I saw the UM stated that the Jane Doe was Identified & not your Sister.
I cannot imagine what you all must go thru.
I have ALWAYS loved unsolved Mysteries since I was a kid & I hope that ALL PEOPLE who have been affected by the stories on this show, find Peace <3
DeAnna
please look at this, it’s sad but she reminded me in looks of ur sister. also vernell is the middle name of her neighbor/boyfriend. Maybe false names…her name is Teresa but spelled differently. sorry for the content of this case. I’m terribly sorry for the pain u have lived with in regards to your sister.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://murderpedia.org/female.R/r/ritchie-therressa.htm&ved=2ahUKEwj71PDCqpHYAhUQ12MKHcHHAWk4ChAWMAV6BAgAEAE&usg=AOvVaw3pV9oLt1MfGe-YrP6BCDAw
redpillneo
aww thank you francine. still so many questions remaining though. and yes i saw her story on UM here first
Francine McMillen
First thing I wanna Thank Red Pill Neo
Without whom Dana Point Jane Doe would still not have her
name Holly Glynn.Unidentified almost 28 years.Might not have
ever been Identified if it wasn’t for his relentless persistance.He is
a great investigator and Slueth .I haven’t got the words to say how
much I appreciate all his work and effort.
I met Holly about 1980 thru Denise a friend from
La Serna High School when she invited me to go to Hunington
Beach with her and Holly and Jeanette we took the bus I remember
we saw a dead seal washed up on the beach.
On the way back we took a wrong bus and got lost…………
after that I started hanging around “thier group” at lunch.
Jeanette and Holly had been best friends since 2nd grade.
My thoughts of Holly: she had what we said back then
“Bitchen” hair! She was very pretty and had a smoking hot body!
She was mello she din’t get loud or cause scenes she embarassed
easily she was a little dramatic emotionaly she took things hard
too hard she was sensitive, delicate and frail not sickly,
but not strong or tuff.
She always looked almost perfect never looked dissheveled or
unkempt. We had a group of friends that hung out on the week
ends too and that have over the years kept in touch or reunited
that miss her not being arouund and growing old with us.
She has many people who miss her.
She was cared about by many.
May she rest in peace.
Okori
Interested
okoro
Interested