Murder of Cosette Ellison near Walnut Creek

On March 3rd 1970 the young Cosette Ellison disappeared from her 423 Canyon Road, Moraga, it was believed that the young 15 year old had been abducted from her home as she got off the school bus around 3.20pm. The Bus Driver Eugene Yee saw Cosette walk up to her driveway and collect the mail. The bus driver had noticed a man sitting in a truck near the residence, on his return journey 10 minutes later, the truck had edged closer to the driveway of the Ellison household but he saw no one sitting inside the truck.

Half an hour later, at approximately 4 pm, Mr and Mrs Richard Ellison returned to an empty house. Cosette's school books were not in their usual place and the mail had not been brought into the house, suggesting something had happened close to the time Eugene Yee dropped Cosette off the School Bus.

There had been reports of School Girls being followed around this time, often following School Buses, with attempts to get inside the home of these young girls by saying he had broke down and needed to use their phone. The previous abductions of Elaine Louise Davis and Lorna Larell Roberts in 1969 are reminiscent of this young girls disappearance and are within the same areas.

On the 1st of January 1971, nearly a year after Cosette Ellison's disappearance, her body was found in a ravine of the Mount Diablo foothills at Morgan Territory Road near Clayton. No details were given as to how Cosette had died, the Coroner at the time stated it was not known how she died possibly due to the decomposition.

The homes of Canyon Road and North Gate Road are extremely rural and spread out giving a reduced chance of being seen in the commission of an abduction. This may have been a consideration for the perpetrator, who likely followed school buses to a more remote area. The risky nature of forcibly removing someone from outside their home necessitates a lack of eyewitness, plus during daylight hours the offender really was taking a great risk.

This abduction has often been attributed to convicted Serial Killer Philip Joseph Hughes Jr who is serving a life sentence and as of today there have been no charges against him in connection to Cosette's murder.

This case could possibly be attributed to GSK/Zodiac, there are a few similarities in the previous cases of Lorna Larell Roberts and Elaine Louise Davis and we know JJD was caught trying to kidnap several young women as the Visalia Ransacker and later as EAR, I do think GSK began murdering his victims before the 70's and these are possibly some of the first in this area. I do find it interesting that Cosette was found near Clayton where I mentioned the previous Bombing/Fire at Clayton in 1968 where 5 children were killed.

The next thing to note is that this offender struck in the daylight hours which is what Zodiac had threatened to do, kill by day and night. The GSK would also strike in the morning and daylight hours. That Cosette was found at Mount Diablo is also in the Zodiac/GSK's make up, collecting slaves, the reference to Mount Diablo in Zodiac's Letter.

It is possible they may be able to solve this crime as I believe Law Enforcement have a spot of blood which may belong to the killer from Cosette Ellison, only time will tell.