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FBI Seeking Possible Witness To Gypsy Hill Murders On Peninsula

SAN MATEO (KCBS) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation has received information and is seeking a possible witness to the so-called Gypsy Hill murders in 1976.

"A white male in his 20s to early 30s who was in San Mateo County between January and April 1976, with [an automobile with] Nevada license plates" said FBI spokesman Peter Lee. "Any tip is not too small. If someone may have seen something that was out of the ordinary, or someone that wasn't a familiar face in the neighborhood."

In the first four months of 1976, Veronica Ann "Ronnie" Cascio, Tatiana Marie "Tanya" Blackwell, Paula Louse Baxter, Carol Lee Booth, and Denise Lampe were murdered in San Mateo County. In January of that year, Cascio was discovered in a creek on the grounds of the Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica, having been stabbed 30 times.

A few weeks later, Blackwell was reported missing from her home in Pacifica. Her body was later identified off Sharp Park Road in the Gypsy Hills section of Pacifica.

Baxter went missing the next month, and her body was found in Millbrae. Lampe was found dead in April in the parking lot of the Serramonte Center. Booth was reported missing in May of that year, with her body found near Colma Creek in South San Francisco.

Earlier this year, the FBI said they believed the murder of 19-year-old Michelle Mitchell in Reno may be linked to the Gypsy Hill murder investigation, and that a joint task force involving the FBI and San Mateo County law enforcement agencies was created to focus on the cases.

No suspect has been identified in the Gypsy Hill cases. Anyone with information should contact the FBI San Francisco Field Office at 415-553-7400 then press 0 and advise it is in regards to the Gypsy Hill cases.

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