Catherine Medina, 50, was murdered on August 18, 1974. She was last seen in San Pedro, California, drinking at a local bar after an argument with her husband. The husband tried to escort her home; she ran off in an inebriated state and reportedly got into a cab driven by Adolph Laudenberg. The next day her naked body was found beside bushes in Harbor Lake Recreational Park. Medical examiners determined she had been raped and strangled.

Adolph Laudenberg, a San Pedro cab driver active in the late 1960s and 1970s, has been identified in connection with Medina’s killing along with several similar crimes. Laudenberg reportedly targeted vulnerable women who reminded him of his ex-wife, and he denied involvement when questioned during the initial investigation. Decades later, investigators reopened several 1970s cases; DNA testing linked Laudenberg to multiple attacks, and he was arrested in 2003.

Anyone who knew Catherine, her last movements that night, or who saw a taxi in the Harbor Lake area on August 18, 1974, is asked to come forward with information.