Carol Jeanne Lubahn was a 26‑year‑old mother of two, residing with her husband Michael at their Torrance, California home on Cranbrook Avenue. She disappeared in the very early hours of March 31, 1981 . Standing about 5′6″ tall, she had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a small mole on the left side of her chin and weighed approximately 117 lbs. At the time she was studying architecture at El Camino College and working part‑time, juggling college, job, and raising two young children.
Family reported that on March 29 she joined her mother for lunch to help plan her sister’s upcoming wedding shower; tension with her husband was noted at a gathering the following evening. The last time Carol was seen in person by family was the evening of March 29; on March 31 Michael said she stormed out of the house around 10:30 pm after a heated argument about selling their home and never returned. He went to bed and only awoke hours later to find her gone, the garage door open, and their car missing.
Her husband did not report her missing for several days. Carol’s red 1979 Audi Fox was located on April 6, 1981, abandoned at the now‑defunct Red Onion Restaurant parking lot in Redondo Beach; the restaurant manager said it had been there the entire week. Family and investigators grew suspicious because Carol left behind personal belongings, did not retrieve her paychecks, and had not accessed her credit cards or Social Security number since her disappearance—a pattern inconsistent with voluntary departure.
In the decades that followed, authorities experienced frustration over Michael’s inconsistent stories. Initially, he maintained Carol had left on her own. Later, he changed accounts: first claiming she returned late, then acknowledging he pushed or punched her after discovering she had affairs, and finally confessing to causing a fatal injury during their March 31 argument. Physical searches, including radar sweeps of the family home and a dive team following later tips, failed to recover her remains.
In April 2011, after Torrance Police reopened the case, Michael was arrested. In October 2012 he was found guilty by a jury of second‑degree murder, based primarily on his ever‑changing versions and contradictions, rather than physical evidence. At sentencing in January 2013, he formally confessed that during the argument on March 31 he fatally struck Carol, panicked, and disposed of her body—first claiming he dumped her offshore weighted with cinder blocks, later saying he buried her—but her body remains undiscovered to this day.
He was sentenced to fifteen years to life in prison. Despite leading investigators to a search area off Rancho Palos Verdes, no remains have been recovered. Carol Lubahn’s case remains one of unresolved loss—a devoted mother, student, and daughter whose disappearance and tragic death left a family seeking final closure.
Last Seen: Mar 30, 1981
