Shirley Lynette Ledford was 16 when she was abducted, assaulted, and murdered on October 31, 1979. On Halloween night she was hitchhiking home from her job as a waitress when Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris picked her up in the van they called Murder Mac. Within minutes of entering the vehicle Shirley was subjected to repeated torture and abuse; the men took turns assaulting her with fists, hammers and pliers and ultimately strangled her with a coat hanger. After her death they discarded her body on a stranger’s front lawn in Hermosa Beach.

Investigators recovered an audio recording the men made during Shirley’s murder; the tape, containing her screams and pleas, was introduced at trial and was a central piece of evidence. Norris was arrested after boasting to a friend who notified police, and Bittaker was arrested soon afterward. Both men were convicted. If anyone knew Shirley, saw her that Halloween night, or has information about her last movements, please come forward.