Elaine Salomon, 39, disappeared from her Northridge, California, home on October 12, 1982, along with her husband, Sol Salomon, 35, their 9-year-old son, Mitchell, and Elaine's 15-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, Michelle Hochman. The family's disappearance remains unsolved, and they have not been seen or heard from since that day.
On the evening of October 12, 1982, Elaine's parents were visiting the Salomon home on Lassen Street. Sol Salomon, a former Israeli commando who ran a fire extinguisher repair business, left around 6:00 PM, telling his family he was going to a car auction with a business associate named Harvey Rader. Later that evening, at approximately 11:30 PM, Elaine was on the phone with a friend when the doorbell rang. She told her friend, "Harvey's at the door," before ending the conversation, which was the last time anyone is known to have heard from her.
When police were notified that the family was missing, they found the Salomons' two other vehicles, a Rolls Royce and Sol's work van, parked outside their home, but their Mercedes was gone. Inside the house, investigators discovered unsettling signs. In Michelle's bedroom, the bed was broken, and the pillowcases, sheets, and bedspread were missing. Blood spatters were found on the mattress and the wall, and a section of the carpet had been cut out and covered with a bathroom rug. Despite these findings, there were no overt signs of a violent struggle in the rest of the house, and valuables such as jewelry and cash were left behind, suggesting robbery was not the motive. Five days after the family was last seen, some of their personal belongings, including passports, wallets, and photos, were found scattered along the Antelope Valley Freeway near Acton, California.
The investigation quickly focused on Harvey Rader, a British citizen with a criminal history who owned a car dealership in which Sol Salomon had invested $20,000. The family's missing Mercedes was later found at Rader's garage. Rader was tried three times for the murders of the Salomon family, but after two mistrials, he was acquitted in 1992 due to a lack of concrete evidence; no bodies, witnesses, or murder weapons were ever produced. A key witness to emerge was Rader's cousin, Ashley Paulle, who claimed he witnessed Rader murder the family and helped him bury the bodies in the desert. However, Paulle's credibility was questioned by authorities after he failed a polygraph test. To this day, the fate of Elaine Salomon and her family remains a mystery.
Last Seen: Oct 12, 1982
