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breathtaking beaches and beautiful
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bodies explain why southern california
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is often the first choice for motion
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picture and still photographers
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in 1995 linda sobek a busy model with a
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growing reputation
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vanished on her way to a photo shoot
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linda's photographic images helped
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launch her career
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and would also solve the mystery
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of her disappearance
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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hermosa beach california is just 15
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miles south of downtown los angeles
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the sun surf and sand
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attract the young and beautiful
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linda sobek a 27 year old blonde model
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and actress lived right off the
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boardwalk
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she was a cheerleader for the los
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angeles raiders football team and was a
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popular bikini lingerie and calendar
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model
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she also aspired to be an actress
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at five foot three 103 pounds and 24
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inch waist she was too short and
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athletic for high fashion work
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but her good looks and well-toned body
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brought many assignments
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on thursday morning november 16 1995
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linda was paged for a last-minute photo
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shoot
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linda grabbed some clothes left a
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message with her mother that she'd call
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later
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and headed off
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she was never seen
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or heard from again
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hey don't worry you know linda's got
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things to do she's out working she
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probably just took off and was doing
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something and mom kept saying no no i
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know
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something else is wrong
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later that day
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linda had an audition for the married
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with children television series but she
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failed to show up
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anyone that knew linda knew there's no
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way she would ever have missed that
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interview or that audition and that
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really was a signal to her parents to
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start an intensive search
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the family had been distributing
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numerous flyers i think like 53 000
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flyers with a 20 000 reward
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i had one of her address books and i
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just started making phone calls to all
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of the girls
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apparently linda had broken some of her
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own rules about modeling assignments no
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one knew where she was or the name of
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the photographer
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since she took this assignment outside
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of her modeling agency they had no
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information either
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two days later in a trash bin
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a worker in the angelus national forest
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found some pictures of a beautiful woman
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he took them home because they were so
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well done
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he went home he had the pictures in his
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in his backpack and he forgot about it
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until
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monday night
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and he was watching television and he
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saw the tv coverage of the sobek
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investigation
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when the man realized the photos were of
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the model reported missing he
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immediately called police
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two years earlier just a short distance
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away
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the skeletal remains of another blonde
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model
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twenty-year-old kimberly pandelios were
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discovered
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like linda
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kim had been called at the last minute
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for a modeling assignment with an
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unknown photographer
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her murder was never solved
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but the thought that linda was somewhere
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in the angelus national forest was
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daunting it's an area approximately a
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thousand square miles about the size of
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the state of rhode island
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[Music]
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as the days passed
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investigators suspected foul play
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[Music]
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a few days after linda sobek's
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disappearance
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charles rathbun a commercial freelance
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photographer called police with some
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information
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[Music]
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he said he was with linda at a denny's
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restaurant on the morning of her
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disappearance
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[Music]
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he said they discussed her portfolio and
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after the meeting rathbun said the two
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went their separate ways
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linda's car was found in the parking lot
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of the restaurant
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tests on the vehicle found
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no evidence of foul play
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but police were starting to get
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suspicious
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among the items found in the trash bin
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and angelus national forest along with
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linda's photographs and date book
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was a rental agreement for a lexus
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sports utility vehicle
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the name on the document
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was charles rathbun
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rathbun said the rental agreement
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probably got mixed up with linda's
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portfolio during their meeting
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[Music]
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rathbun shot photographs of the lexus
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later that day for auto week magazine
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and he returned the car the next day
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even though the lexus had been washed
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thoroughly inside and out police found a
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number of clues
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in the back seat
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was a suspicious red stain
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a phenolphthalein test revealed the
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stain was blood
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further tests showed it was human blood
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[Music]
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in the cargo area was a car cover which
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tested positive not only for blood
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but traces of human saliva
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with no other leads
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investigators wanted to know if the
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lexus had been in the angelus national
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forest where linda's photographs were
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discovered
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basically we put vaseline on a tire
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roll it across poster board
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and then
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use magnetic fingerprint powder to
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enhance that tire track that's on the
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poster board
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and it essentially makes a tire print on
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this
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board that's indicative of the tire
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tread that might have been left back at
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a particular scene
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but finding a tire impression in a
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forest covering over a thousand square
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miles wouldn't be easy
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not surprisingly
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charles rathbun was interrogated again
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and this time
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he changed his story
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rathbun now said he hired linda to model
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for him in the photo shoot with the
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lexus sports utility vehicle
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rathbun and sobek drove to el mirage a
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dry lake bed about two hours north of
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hermosa beach
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[Music]
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linda's assignment was to drive the
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vehicle in tight circles while rathbun
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took photographs
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can you show me do you think i got a
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feel for it aren't you no you want me
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all right yes i'll take a second
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[Music]
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rathbun demonstrated the maneuver while
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linda stood by and watched
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[Music]
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rathbun said he lost control of the
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vehicle and accidentally hit linda
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killing her
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[Music]
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according to rathbun he panicked
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put linda's body in the vehicle drove to
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a deserted location in the angelus
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national forest
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and buried the body somewhere there
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he was very vague he kept saying i can't
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remember he would break into tears and
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say i'm not sure i'm not sure i don't
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know where she is exactly but i can take
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you there
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alexa showed no signs of exterior damage
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consistent with an accident
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investigators thought linda might still
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be alive and pressed rathbun to lead
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them to her grave
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but the search
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was unsuccessful
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he's leading him on a wild goose chase
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he knew exactly where she was and he was
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trying to stall to buy more time hoping
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that linda's body would be decomposed by
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the time we did find it
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investigators pushed rathbun yet again
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for information this time
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touring the forest in a helicopter
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after a number of failed attempts
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rathbun finally led them
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to linda's body
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she was buried next to a tree
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in a shallow two-foot grave
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the left tire impression of the lexus
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was found in the soft sand nearby
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she surprisingly was perfectly preserved
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for a nine-day burial i was i was not
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optimistic that we would have a lot of
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soft tissue left to diagnose exactly
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what happened and i was i was surprised
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a forensic archaeologist was brought in
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to retain anything of evidentiary value
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the autopsy would reveal the true cause
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of death
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whether it was an accident
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or homicide
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linda sobek's autopsy revealed an
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enormous amount of information about her
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death
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except for blood above her right ear her
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body showed no external signs of an
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automobile injury
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her blood alcohol level was .13
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well above the state limit for
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intoxication
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she died not from an automobile accident
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as charles rathbun claimed
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but by asphyxiation
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[Music]
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she struggled against it it caused a
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hemorrhage in the lungs as well as all
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in the neck and the eyes which is
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typical for somebody who's being
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asphyxiated against their will so she
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was aware awake struggling for her life
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at that time
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asphyxiation is the
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most common mechanism used in homicidal
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sexual assault
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and there were other injuries
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bruises
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a twisted wrist
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and ligature marks on her ankles
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that showed that her legs had been
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forcibly spread apart
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and and held in that position
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she struggled against those restraints
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because there were abrasions up and down
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her legs indicating a struggle
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and the body appeared to have been
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washed
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she was not wearing makeup
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and it appeared that her clothing had
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been changed before burial
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i call this a girl thing but i was very
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troubled with the position of her
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clothing
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the position of her zipper was such that
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it was all the way up to her neck
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and this concerned me because i don't
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think that's a natural position most
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women wear
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clothing sort of in the in the mid chest
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region
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and this was an unnatural position
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there was also evidence of forcible
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sodomy
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a look into charles rathman's past
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revealed a man with a mercurial
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personality which had cost him a number
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of freelance projects
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he could
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be very personal and charming
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he could lose his temper and
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almost go ballistic throw things around
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a photo shoot
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he
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could
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talk to models and be very personable
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and polite to them and then go behind
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the camera and say very derogatory
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things about them
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a few years earlier in columbus ohio
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charles rathbun was arrested and charged
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with the rape of a married co-worker
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rathbun claimed the encounter was
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consensual
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and he was acquitted
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the search of rathbun's home
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revealed a collection of over 200 guns
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of particular interest was a 45 caliber
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semi-automatic pistol
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the gun was examined for the presence of
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blood
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due to the
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the hypothesis that the sexual assault
00:13:18
expert had that this was used in the
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sexual assault of the victim
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in doing so you initially examined the
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weapon with just regular
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room lighting
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and no blood was observed
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but when i tested the
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gun chemically or i used presumptive
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blood tests and examination of the gun i
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did detect a positive presumptive test
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for blood on the breach face surface of
00:13:43
that weapon
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well we found a lot of evidence from his
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house and from talking to his friends
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that he did have a dislike for blondes
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and that he did have
00:13:53
a dislike for some women in particular
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that he had referred to linda as a
00:13:56
little [ __ ] and being difficult to work
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with
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charles rathbun was arrested and charged
00:14:02
with first degree murder and sodomy with
00:14:05
a foreign object
00:14:07
rathman continued to maintain that
00:14:09
linda's death was an accident
00:14:12
he said linda was drinking that day and
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after striking her accidentally with the
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lexus she began kicking and screaming
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while trying to subdue linda rathbun
00:14:22
accidentally suffocated her
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almost ludicrous to think that she would
00:14:27
drink while on a photo shoot especially
00:14:30
when you think that she had an interview
00:14:32
with a television program scheduled for
00:14:35
later that evening
00:14:38
that she would compromise
00:14:40
herself
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then
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rathbun delivered a bombshell
00:14:46
he claimed his sexual encounter with
00:14:48
linda that day wasn't forced at all
00:14:52
that it was consensual
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and he claimed to have
00:14:56
nude photographs to prove it
00:15:03
charles rathbun claimed that linda sobek
00:15:05
willingly engaged in sex with him before
00:15:08
the automobile accident and had taken
00:15:10
photographs of linda that day which
00:15:12
would prove it
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[Music]
00:15:19
the defendant told his brother that
00:15:20
there were some photographs in the
00:15:22
desert that would prove his innocence
00:15:24
and prove that linda consented to
00:15:26
sexual relations with him
00:15:28
drew him a map of where to find these
00:15:30
rolls of film and that the defendant's
00:15:32
brother robert rathbun and his
00:15:34
girlfriend
00:15:35
drove out up into the mountains and were
00:15:37
able to find these five rolls of film in
00:15:39
the middle of the desert after
00:15:41
months of exposure to the sun and the
00:15:43
wind and the rain
00:15:45
robert rathbun found five rolls of film
00:15:49
but instead of turning them over to
00:15:51
police
00:15:52
he developed the film himself
00:15:55
four roles contained g-rated pictures of
00:15:59
linda posing at el mirage in two
00:16:01
different outfits
00:16:04
in some of the pictures linda's outfit
00:16:06
looked disheveled
00:16:08
and there was a hole in her thigh-high
00:16:11
stockings
00:16:12
raising questions about whether linda
00:16:14
posed willingly
00:16:18
the fifth roll was water damaged double
00:16:21
exposed
00:16:23
and pornographic
00:16:25
the fifth roll of film
00:16:27
was a series of double exposed pictures
00:16:31
12 images of a dashboard of a vehicle
00:16:34
and 11 images which were fairly x-rated
00:16:37
and pornographic of female genitalia you
00:16:41
could see no head no face really no body
00:16:44
just
00:16:45
hands and a couple shots and primarily a
00:16:47
close-up of a female genitalia
00:16:51
[Music]
00:16:53
the mystery of this was it was clouded
00:16:55
by the water damage so we're only seeing
00:16:58
bits and pieces
00:17:00
of these various frames or various
00:17:02
photographs
00:17:03
according to the defense those pictures
00:17:05
indicated that linda sobek had engaged
00:17:07
in
00:17:08
consensual sexual behavior with the
00:17:10
defendant on the day that
00:17:13
they took the pictures in the vehicle
00:17:14
and the day she disappeared and died
00:17:17
but were the photographs
00:17:19
of linda sobek
00:17:22
with the help of the sheriff's photo lab
00:17:25
and an aerospace company the pictures
00:17:28
were enhanced
00:17:30
the aerospace corporation scanned these
00:17:32
images in and assisted me for three days
00:17:36
going over pixel by pixel the
00:17:39
significance of what we were seeing
00:17:42
in the background you could see some of
00:17:44
the elements of the automobile's
00:17:45
dashboard
00:17:47
but the logo on the steering wheel
00:17:50
was not that of a lexus
00:17:53
it was an oldsmobile prototype rathbun
00:17:56
photographed on a previous project
00:17:59
the steering wheel on the question
00:18:01
vehicle has an entirely different logo
00:18:04
than the lexus it has cruise controls
00:18:06
that are in the steering wheel that the
00:18:08
lexus vehicle does not have
00:18:10
but were the nude pictures of linda
00:18:15
investigators compared the body of the
00:18:17
woman in the photographs to pictures
00:18:19
taken during linda's autopsy
00:18:22
it was clear
00:18:23
that
00:18:24
this was not linda sobak and in no way
00:18:27
did it show any type of consensual act
00:18:29
the dress was wrong the car seat was
00:18:32
wrong the hands that you see within the
00:18:34
pictures have a very masculine
00:18:36
appearance and don't appear to be
00:18:38
consistent with our victim
00:18:41
you know the list goes on and on
00:18:43
and prosecutors did not believe
00:18:46
rathbun's accident scenario
00:18:50
they suspected that when rathbun was
00:18:52
taking photographs that day for linda it
00:18:56
was a job
00:18:57
directon
00:18:59
an opportunity
00:19:00
[Music]
00:19:23
the forensic evidence suggested that
00:19:25
rathbun struck her on the right side of
00:19:27
the head twisted linda's arm tied her
00:19:30
ankles
00:19:32
and sexually assaulted her
00:19:34
possibly with his gun
00:19:37
he may have forced her to consume the
00:19:39
alcohol
00:19:42
the deep bruises on her ankles indicated
00:19:44
linda desperately tried to escape
00:19:47
after the assault
00:19:49
rathbun caused linda's death by
00:19:52
asphyxiation
00:19:54
linda's blood and saliva were found on
00:19:56
the car cover in the cargo area
00:20:00
and evidence suggests rathbun washed
00:20:02
linda's face
00:20:04
and redressed the body in an effort to
00:20:06
conceal what happened
00:20:09
he later disposed of linda's personal
00:20:12
items in a dumpster
00:20:14
but made the mistake of including the
00:20:17
lexus rental agreement in his name
00:20:20
[Music]
00:20:21
charles rathbun was convicted of
00:20:24
first-degree murder and sodomy
00:20:27
and was sentenced to life in prison
00:20:29
without parole
00:20:31
i think mr rathbun had not emotionally
00:20:34
matured past probably the age of 18 or
00:20:37
19 years old and was able not able to
00:20:39
handle rejection by women and acted out
00:20:43
those poor feelings in very
00:20:44
inappropriate ways ranging from
00:20:46
inappropriate comments to sexual
00:20:48
advances to touchings to actual rapes
00:20:51
and finally culminating in linda's
00:20:53
murder the forensic evidence in this
00:20:55
case i think was all important
00:20:57
those photographs that he introduced to
00:21:00
to save him and provide his defense were
00:21:03
in fact
00:21:04
what caused his
00:21:06
conviction
00:21:08
the sobek family believes that robert
00:21:11
rathbun should have been charged with
00:21:13
evidence tampering for his role in the
00:21:15
discovery of the film
00:21:18
robert rathbun admitted on the stand
00:21:20
that he had destroyed
00:21:22
the map
00:21:23
that his brother had drawn and that had
00:21:25
led him to these canisters of film
00:21:29
of its own accord he is admitted to his
00:21:32
own guilt
00:21:34
prosecutors suspect
00:21:36
that charles rathbun also may have been
00:21:39
involved in kimberly pandelios's death
00:21:43
kim
00:21:44
met an unidentified photographer at a
00:21:46
denny's restaurant on the day she
00:21:49
disappeared
00:21:50
and her remains were discovered just a
00:21:53
few miles from linda sobeks
00:21:56
to date
00:21:57
no one has been charged with kim
00:22:00
pandelios's murder
00:22:03
[Music]
00:22:13
[Music]
00:22:27
[Applause]
00:22:34
you
