Human Remains Found Off Ortega Highway Tied To Cold Case

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — Partial remains found more than 35 years ago off the Ortega Highway near Lake Elsinore have finally been identified as those belonging to a Tustin woman who was likely murdered in 1977, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office announced Friday.

Earlier this week, it was determined that the remains found in 1986 were those of Linda Louise LeBeau, maiden name Durnall, who was 27 when she vanished Oct. 6, 1977.

The Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team made the identification through a familial DNA match in the Department of Justice’s Missing Unidentified Persons database, according to the DA's office.

Partial skeletal remains, including a skull, were found in 1986 down an embankment along the Ortega Highway by a Caltrans crew doing survey work. Riverside County Sheriff's investigators determined the victim had been shot in the head, but they couldn't identify the remains or any suspects in the apparent homicide.

Last August, the Cold Case Homicide Team, which includes the Riverside County Coroner’s Office, exhumed several skeletal remains from cold case files. The skull found in 1986 was among them and it was sent to a Department of Justice lab for possible DNA comparison.

A match was made: Linda Louise LeBeau, who in 1977 was reported missing by her boyfriend to the Tustin Police Department.

Tustin police have been investigating the LeBeau case for more than 40 years but had not been able to bring a resolution. Now they have some answers, but it's unlikely an arrest will ever be made because the primary suspect is dead.

The day of LeBeau's disappearance, she was supposed to meet her ex-husband, Phillip LeBeau, at a Love's Restaurant in Tustin to collect money he agreed to pay her for maliciously damaging her boyfriend's car. Witnesses reported seeing her at a nearby Texaco gas station arguing with a man, believed to be her ex.

It was the last time anyone saw her.

Three days later, Linda LeBeau's 1971 Volkswagen van was found abandoned along Interstate 5, with all of her belongings inside.

Linda and Phillip LeBeau once resided off Ortega Highway in the San Juan Capistrano area, according to Tustin police.

Phillip died in 2008, but remained a primary suspect in the case, according to a 2013 article that appeared in The Orange County Register.

The couple's relationship was damaged, with allegations that Phillip was physically abusive toward Linda.

Police learned that the night of Linda's disappearance, Phillip LeBeau returned home wearing wet clothes. He told police he had gone to the Ortega Highway residence he once shared with Linda to reminisce, and then he stopped for a swim.

Even after Phillip LeBeau's death, Tustin police were still searching for answers. In a 2013 social media post, the department wrote, "Tustin PD needs the public’s help to find closure for the family and bring a suspect to justice."