In the early summer of 1984, Lynda May Burrill, an 18-year-old woman, was embracing a new chapter of her life in the Sierra Nevada foothill town of Placerville, California. A recent high school graduate, she had moved out of her parents' home and into a house with roommates, enjoying the independence of adulthood. Lynda was known to frequent the popular teen hangouts on Main Street, including an arcade called The Oz and a spot known as The Bell Tower.
Having faced bullying in high school, she was in the process of reinventing herself, though some who knew her perceived a deep desperation for friendship.
On the evening of Friday, June 29, 1984, Lynda was on Main Street when she was seen with 27-year-old Michael Anthony Cox. Her roommate later told police she saw Lynda walking toward a parking garage with Cox, saying she would be right back. It was the last time she was seen alive. When she didn't return, her concerned roommate contacted her father, Donald Burrill, who promptly reported his daughter missing. He even called Cox's workplace to ask what he had done with his daughter, but Cox denied knowing her.
The search for Lynda ended in heartbreak more than a month later. On August 4, 1984, her skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area within the Eldorado National Forest. The discovery came just five days after the partial remains of another missing teenager, 14-year-old Denise Galston, were found in the same forest. The grim findings sent a wave of fear through the small community as investigators concluded a single killer was responsible.
The investigation into the disappearances and murders of the local girls soon focused on Michael Anthony Cox, a man who worked at a local convalescent hospital and was known to associate with the teenagers in downtown Placerville. He had a history of making rude and threatening comments toward Lynda and the other victims. The case against him solidified when two teenage girls provided crucial testimony. One was a 17-year-old who claimed she witnessed Cox stab Denise Galston to death on June 12. The other, Cox's girlfriend at the time, testified that he had confessed to killing all three girls.
Based on this testimony, Michael Anthony Cox was arrested on November 10, 1984. He was charged with the first-degree murders of Lynda May Burrill, Denise Galston, and Denise's 14-year-old twin sister, Debbie Galston, who had vanished on August 8. The media dubbed him "The Forest Killer" for his method of leaving his victims' bodies in the vast national forest.
In July 1985, Cox's trial began. Despite the lack of physical evidence connecting him to the crimes, the testimony of the two young women proved compelling to the jury. He was found guilty on three counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders. On November 26, 1985, Michael Anthony Cox was sentenced to death. He remains on death row in California. Years after the trial, some of the key witnesses recanted their testimony, raising questions about the conviction, but the legal outcome has remained unchanged.
