On March 2, 1975, a shooting spree at a Smith River, California motel left multiple people dead and others wounded. The gunman fired from a balcony overlooking the ocean, fatally wounding Barbara Harmon, 58, and critically wounding her husband Percy Harmon. The motel manager, Gordon Knott, 42, and his wife Shirley Gail Knott, 31, were killed when the assailant entered the office. Maid Ella Beam, 22, from Brookings, Oregon, was shot and killed after coming out upon hearing the first shots. Seventeen-year-old Denise DeGraff of Smith River was wounded in the attack and later died of her injuries. A young girl, Carla Brough of Brookings, suffered minor injuries from flying glass.

About three hours after the shootings, law enforcement arrested 21-year-old Robert Paul Sander of Cincinnati on the Redwood Highway near Grants Pass, Oregon; he was booked on four counts of murder. Does anyone have memories of that night or information about Denise DeGraff that could help document her life and loss?