Florence Evelyn Richina was found dead near Markleeville, California, on October 3, 1980. She was 49 and a former special education teacher. The cause of death was a gunshot wound from a .38 caliber pistol.

Nearly a mile from Richina’s body was the pickup truck of James Carlin Toliver, a known associate. Toliver’s footprints were traced from the crime scene to his truck. Richina had recently sold land and withdrawn $98,000 from her bank; that same sum was found in a bloodstained pillowcase with Toliver’s body, who had died of a heart attack at the scene. Investigators concluded Richina had been coerced into withdrawing the money, which appears to have been the motive.

Toliver, a forklift operator and cannery worker from Ceres, California, used the alias Jim Joy, was a heavy gambler, and had been linked to several suspicious disappearances in the Modesto area, including his wife Patricia Toliver, who vanished in 1978. With Toliver dead, questions about whether others were involved and the full scope of his activities remain.