Long Beach police seek to identify woman killed in 1974

Long Beach police on Wednesday were seeking the public’s help in identifying a woman who was raped and strangled before her body was dumped on a city beach 39 years ago.

The woman, known to investigators as Jane Doe 40, was killed in May 1974, and her body was found on the beach near Alamitos Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, the Long Beach Police Department said.

Police said the case had gone cold for 38 years, but it was revived by homicide investigators who found an alleged witness in Texas. He admitted that he helped the killer dump the body at the beach, according to police.

Detectives last month arrested Gary Stamp, 61, who allegedly admitted killing the woman, police said in a statement.

Stamp has been charged with murder and is scheduled to be arraigned June 12 in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Long Beach. He had no information on the victim’s identity other than her name might have been “Anna,” according to police.

Stamp said he might have met the victim at a bar in downtown Long Beach, police said.

Police said the victim was white or Latina in her teens or early 20s. She was about 5 feet, 2 inches tall, weighed about 132 pounds and had brown eyes and long brown hair.

The victim was wearing a two-piece pink pantsuit and black waist-length faux fur coat and black boots, according to police. She had a 14-karat white gold ring with a small diamond solitaire.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Todd Johnson or Det. Malcom Evans at (562) 570-7244.

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