On January 3rd, 1960 Mary Lou Olson, 10, went missing from her National City neighborhood. The little girl got permission from her father to go to the South Bay Mall. She disappeared shortly after 2 p.m. prompting a house to house search. Meanwhile a dragnet was conducted by air, sea and ground. The search included sailors from the Naval Training Center, sailors and marines from the Naval Station, in addition to the National City Police Department, the National City Reserves and the police volunteers from Coronado, Imperial Beach, sheriffs deputies, a Coast Guard helicopter and Civil Air Patrol planes.
Nine days later, her body was discovered 14 miles south of Tijuana in a gully, one mile east of Rosarito Beach, B.C., Mexico. Her body was found in the Arroyo Seco Wash by two brothers, Lucio and Rumoaldo Iniguez. A daylight search of the area led to the finding of her red pedal pushers and her under clothes, worn on the day of her disappearance.
It soon became an international investigation. Authorities questioned up to 12 people of interest. Then the case went cold. No arrests were ever made.
In March of 2016, we set out on an on our own investigative journey to see what we could find out about this case. This is what we found.
investigativereporting143 