Averill Deanna Weeden, 48, was murdered in late May 1985 after renting a room in Redding, California. She disappeared suddenly in late May; investigators first interviewed her tenant, Robert Edward Maury, who denied involvement. An anonymous caller to the county Secret Witness Program began contacting authorities in June and August, eventually directing investigators to a wooded site along Bechelli Lane near South Bonnyview Road where Weeden’s body was found partially buried and wrapped in cardboard.

An autopsy on August 23 determined Weeden had multiple skull fractures and a fractured throat bone, injuries consistent with strangulation. The anonymous caller alternately claimed to have found the body, suggested the killer’s name was Robert or Bob, and later described Weeden being picked up at dusk and killed with a six- to eight-inch rock on May 23. Maury denied involvement again when reinterviewed on September 4.

Authorities later identified and arrested Robert Edward Maury; he was convicted of first-degree murder and linked to other strangulation deaths. Does anyone have information about Weeden’s life in Redding or about the area around Bechelli Lane in 1985?