True Crime On This Day December 5th

Last Updated on September 19, 2022 by Ben Oakley

December 5th

On December 5th in true crime, a macabre discovery, cold cases, unidentified remains, killed in the line of duty. and genocide.

1978

In Colwyn Bay, Wales, the skull of a man aged between 50 to 70-years-old was washed up on the shoreline.

The identity of the man remains a mystery to this day as no-one in the age range had been reported missing in the area.

The likelihood of a skull being carried around the country before washing up in the Bay was considered unlikely.

1979

In Escambia County, Florida, 20-year-old accounting major Barbara Ann Bockwith vanished without a trace. She had left home for class at the University of West Florida but never arrived.

She was last seen having breakfast in a McDonald’s the same morning. One week later, her car was found at Pensacola Regional Airport with her books and belongings still inside.

Her boyfriend, Robert Deaver, was questioned by investigators but took his own life five days after Bockwith’s disappearance. Bockwith’s body has never been found but it is suspected she had been a victim of foul play.

1980

In New York, investigator Robert Van Hall was shot dead as he and his partner attempted to arrest two brothers, 35-year-old Joseph Comfort and Larry Jay Comfort.

Hall was the passenger in an unmarked patrol car as they approached the vehicle of the two brothers, who were wanted for trafficking cocaine and marijuana. Joseph grabbed his shotgun and fired into the window of the car.

Van Hall died instantly of his wounds while his partner had to have three hours of surgery to remove shrapnel from his face, shoulder, and hip. Both brothers were arrested shortly after.

Larry was sentenced to life but had his conviction overturned and resentenced for drug offences. Joseph was sentenced to life and died in his prison cell on January 16^th 2019.

1981

In Pecos County, Texas, the skeletal remains of an unidentified Latino girl aged seven to nine, were found in a remote location.

She had been found near Bunger Cameron Ranch at Fort Stockton, which is a very remote area. Despite her age, no missing person case has been linked to her in the forty years since the discovery.

It has been suggested she might be of Mexican descent as the body was found within driving distance of the Mexican border. It would also be why she hasn’t been linked with an American missing person case.

Her identity still remains a mystery and her case remains unsolved.

1982

In Guatemala, the Dos Erres massacre took place leaving 200 villagers dead. Dos Erres was a small village in the municipality of La Libertad. General Efraín Ríos Montt ordered the attack as part of the government’s scorched earth policy which was a process of ethnic cleansing.

During this era, an estimated 200,000 indigenous and Mayan people were killed as a result of the policy. In December 2011, President Álvaro Colom made a formal apology for the massacre on behalf of the Guatemalan Government.

In later years, six military personnel have been sentenced for their part in the massacre.

1983

In Orange County, California, 19-year-old Anna Marie Anderson vanished without a trace. She was last seen at her home in Cypress, wearing blue jeans, a white shirt, and black suede shoes.

She also had an 18-inch gold chain, diamond stud earrings, and a yellow metal watch. She had recently got a tattoo of a cross on her right thumb.

Anna wasn’t reported missing until January 4^th, 1984, which impeded the subsequent investigation that followed. No trace of her has ever been found, but foul play has long been suspected.

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