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The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office recently marked the somber anniversaries of two cold-case homicides that occurred almost exactly one decade apart in the Tri-Valley, shining a spotlight on the long-unsolved cases while also making a renewed call for new information to help them solve the murders.
Dec. 2 was 37 years to the day since 14-year-old Kellie Jean Poppleton was found dead on the side of Kilkare Road in Sunol.
A student at Conrad Noll School in Fremont, Poppleton was last seen alive on the corner of Darwin Drive and Fremont Boulevard, sheriff’s officials said on social media this month. Her body was discovered in Sunol on Dec. 2, 1983.
Witnesses reported seeing a black Pontiac Trans Am near the scene prior to the teen’s body being found, investigators said. Poppleton’s death has remained unsolved over the decades.
Sheriff’s officials often acknowledge cold-case homicide anniversaries through posts on social media, along with the message, “Our victims are never forgotten.” They released a photo of Poppleton as part of their post.
The department also highlighted that Dec. 3 marked the 47th anniversary of the unsolved double murder of Michael Marie Shane and Kathy Sue Pethel, whose bodies were discovered on the west side of Fallon Road north of Interstate 580 in Dublin.
Friends said both women were planning to hitchhike to the Los Angeles area on Dec. 3, 1973 for a custody hearing, according to the sheriff’s office. The pair were last seen alive in San Francisco between 12:30-2 a.m. that morning, walking on Oak Street toward Ashbury Street, a major hitchhiking corner in the city.
Their bodies were found in Dublin later that day. Shane was 30; Pethel was 27.
Anyone with pertinent information about either case can contact the sheriff’s Cold Case Homicide Unit at 510-667-3661 or the anonymous tip line at 510-667-3622. Reference case No. 73S-3974 for the Shane/Pethel homicides. Reference case No. 83-13639 for the Poppleton homicide.
