Andrew Elam

A 19-year-old is killed while on a family outing
Andrew "Andy" Dean Elam was a bright and hardworking 19-year-old with a promising future. A Cathedral City resident, Andy was known for his positive attitude and for making friends easily. In 1988, he graduated from Palm Springs High School as a member of the Honor Society and a dedicated cross-country runner. His love for running was a passion he shared with his father, Billy Dean, and the family had even moved to Cathedral City so he could join a strong team. After his first year of college at California State University, where he was a nearly straight-A student, Andy was pursuing his aspiration of becoming a veterinarian. Friends and family remembered him as a "good kid" who was a "live and let live person," always doing his best for himself, his family, and his fellow man.

The morning of Saturday, June 17, 1989, found Andy, a Caucasian male, enjoying a family outing in the San Jacinto Mountains. His father was an ultramarathoner who often trained on the Pacific Crest Trail, and Andy would frequently join him on weekends. That day, the family parked their car along Highway 74 near the trail. Andy planned to run with his father for a short while before turning back to the car to let their dog out, while his mother went for a longer, 10-mile run. After about 20 minutes of running together, his father gave him a hug goodbye. It was the last time he would see his son alive.

When his parents returned from their runs, they were met with a disturbing scene. Their dog was running loose, and their car had been broken into. The left rear tire was punctured, and several items, including a purse, car keys, and a garage door opener, were missing. Most alarmingly, Andy was nowhere to be found. His parents reported him missing around 9 a.m. A frantic search began, which ended in heartbreak about six hours later. Deputies discovered Andy's body in a brushy area approximately 300 yards from the trailhead. An autopsy later determined he had died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Investigators with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department believe that Andy likely returned to the car and interrupted a burglary in progress. Despite a thorough search of the area, no murder weapon was ever recovered. The senseless killing of the promising young man shocked the mountain communities of the area. In the months that followed, friends and family, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, worked to improve safety on the trail and built a memorial in Andy’s honor. His father later reflected, "It's nice that he is still in the world somehow, I like that."

For decades, the case grew cold, but it never faded for detectives or for Andy’s family. His mother passed away without ever knowing who was responsible for her son's death. His father, Billy, has carried the weight of the loss, stating, "Sometimes it's like a million years ago you know, and sometimes it's just yesterday or two hours ago." The Riverside County Sheriff’s cold case unit has continued to work on the homicide, expressing hope that advances in forensic technology could provide a breakthrough.

As of February 2015, investigators confirmed they have preserved a significant amount of physical evidence from the crime scene. They remain hopeful that re-testing this evidence with modern techniques could generate a DNA profile and a match in law enforcement databases. A sketch of a person of interest, a man seen in the area around the time of Andy's death, was created, and investigators have stated that he remains a person of interest. "Definitely in my heart I feel that it is a very solvable case," said Riverside County Sheriff Investigator Lester Harvey in 2015. The case remains unsolved, and the identity of the person or persons who ended a life full of potential is still unknown.

Andrew's father has expressed his yearning for justice, imagining the day he could be in a courtroom and see the perpetrator held accountable. "I think the world lost a good guy," he said of his son. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department continues to seek information that could finally bring answers and closure to the Elam family. Anyone with information regarding the murder of Andrew Elam is urged to contact the Homicide Hotline at (951) 955-2777.