On September 9, 1979, the body of 19-year-old Coast Guard petty officer Ricky Dale Hemphill was found at a gravel bar near the Chetco River, about 16 miles east of Brookings, Oregon. Hemphill, from Riverside, California, was stationed in Brookings as a boatswain’s mate third class. He had been shot twice in the back. He was last seen in his pickup truck with his 18-year-old girlfriend, Charla Toma, of Lincoln City.

The next day, another body was discovered about 24 miles upstream and later identified as Charla Toma; she had been shot three times in the back. A swift investigation led to a traffic stop in Port Orford on September 10, 1979, where officers detained a vehicle with three men. Two occupants, 26-year-old Edward Delon Warren and 34-year-old George Rose, fled into the woods and were captured after a pursuit. Warren, a Brookings resident with a prior criminal history, was charged in the killings; he later admitted ordering Toma to drive Hemphill’s truck and said he shot both victims after a remark by Hemphill.

The case raises questions about motive and the role of the third, unidentified occupant. If anyone knew Hemphill, Toma, or the men in that car, what information could help clarify what happened that weekend?