Crime Solvers Central
Crime Solvers Central
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Forum Posts for Martha Bess Young:
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Martha Bess Young, 27, originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was found dead on May 2, 1987, in a ravine near Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, California. The county coroner estimated she had been dead about three weeks when discovered. Her body was fully nude and positioned spread-eagle, and the autopsy determined the cause of death was a lethal dose of amphetamines administered while she was being strangled.

Young had a history of drug use and prostitution and was one of several victims found in the region with similar injuries and circumstances—nude or partially clothed bodies, signs of strangulation, drug use, and in some instances mutilation—patterns that investigators linked to a serial offender operating in Riverside County in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The man later identified in connection with Young and multiple other victims was William Lester Suff, known as the Riverside Prostitute Killer or Lake Elsinore Killer; he was arrested in 1992 and later convicted of multiple murders.

Did anyone who knew Martha Bess Young or who worked in the Lake Elsinore area in 1987 have information that could shed light on her last days?