Ramona Gartner, 74, was found murdered in her Los Angeles apartment on December 4, 1974. Her death occurred during a string of violent attacks on older women in their homes across the city between 1972 and 1976. Investigators believe the assailant entered her residence, staged a sexual assault, and strangled her, a pattern that matches other victims from that period.

Decades later, law enforcement identified John Floyd Thomas Jr. as the prime suspect in a series of killings attributed to the so‑called Westside Rapist and charged him in 2009 for multiple mid‑1970s murders. Thomas is suspected in several additional elderly victims’ deaths, and prosecutors point to similarities in victim profile, method, and location when linking him to Gartner’s case. She was never specifically confessed to by Thomas, and no arrest or trial for her murder was ever recorded.

If anyone knew Ramona Gartner or has information about her case or the events of December 4, 1974, please come forward.