On the night of March 2, 1975, four people were killed in a shooting spree at the Ship Ashore motel in Smith River, California. Ella Beam, a 22-year-old maid from Brookings, Oregon, was among the victims; she was shot after coming out of a door when she heard the initial shots. Other victims named in the incident were manager Gordon Knott and his wife Shirley Gail, and guest Barbara Harmon, while Barbara’s husband Percy was critically wounded.

The suspect, 21-year-old Robert Paul Sander of Cincinnati, Ohio, opened fire from a balcony with a high-powered rifle before entering the motel office to shoot. He was arrested about three hours later on the Redwood Highway near Grants Pass and was booked on four counts of murder. Deputies recovered a new rifle box and ammunition in his motel room; Sander’s mother later said he had recently quit his job and had a prior robbery-related probation term from 1970.

Smith River residents described the scene as chaotic and terrified, with multiple people hospitalized and a child slightly injured by flying glass. Does anyone have additional details about Ella Beam’s life in Brookings or who might remember her at the motel?