Rene Sailing, 30, of Santa Cruz, California, was killed on December 6, 1980. She was last seen leaving a Watsonville bar with Billy Mansfield Jr., described as a Florida resident then living in Santa Cruz County. The next morning her partially clothed body was found near a county dump; she had been strangled with a black cord that was wound so tightly it had cut into her neck, and her clothing was in disarray with underwear and jeans on one leg and her blouse torn.

Billy Mansfield Jr. was arrested days later in Winnemucca, Nevada, while driving with his younger brother and was charged in Sailing’s murder. His first trial on the charge ended in a mistrial; a second trial resulted in conviction and a 25 years to life sentence in California. Investigators later linked Mansfield to additional killings: four women were found buried in a Florida family backyard, and he pleaded guilty to those murders in Florida, receiving multiple life terms to run concurrently with his California sentence. Parole bids have been repeatedly denied, with the Board of Prison Terms citing lack of remorse and public-safety concerns.

Does anyone have memories of Rene or details about the Watsonville bar she left that night that could add context to her last hours?