DUBLIN — The anniversaries of two decades-old murder cases in Alameda County prompted the Sheriff’s Office to issue a reminder that neither has been solved and that detectives still need the public’s help
Detectives are seeking any information available regarding the deaths of 14-year-old Kelly Jean Poppleton, 30-year-old Michael Marie Shane and 27-year-old Kathy Sue Pethel.
Shane and Pethel were found dead on the west side of Fallon Road, north of Interstate 580 in Dublin, on Dec. 3, 1973. Both women told friends they were going to hitchhike to the Los Angeles area for a custody hearing, and they were last seen sometime between 12:30 and 2 a.m. that morning walking on Oak Street toward Ashbury Street in San Francisco.
Authorities found Poppleton dead by the side of Kilkare Road in Sunol on Dec. 2, 1983. She had been a student at Conrad Noll School in Fremont and was last seen on the corner of Darwin Drive and Fremont Boulevard.
According to authorities, witnesses reported seeing a black Pontiac Trans-Am near the crime scene before Poppleton’s body was found.
The Sheriff’s Office encouraged anyone who may know anything to call cold case homicide investigators at 510-667-3661. Anonymous tips may be left at 510-667-3662.