Cold case: Cedar Rapids teen may have been victim of California serial killer

CEDAR RAPIDS — Investigators using genetic genealogy have identified a teen believed murdered 49 years ago by a notorious California serial killer as being from Cedar Rapids, authorities said Tuesday.

Michael Ray Schlicht, 17, of Cedar Rapids, previously known as a “John Doe” homicide victim, was found Sept. 14, 1974, in what is now the city of Aliso Viejo, Calif., northeast of Laguna Beach, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in California. He was estimated to have died three to five days before his body was found by two people who were off-roading and spotted a body over the side of the trail.

John Doe’s death initially was determined to be accidental due to alcohol and diazepam intoxication, a sheriff’s news release stated. At the time, California authorities released information to the media in hopes that someone would come forward with enough information to help them identify the man.

His fingerprints were submitted to the California Criminal Identification and Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Identification and Canadian authorities with negative results, according to officials. After those and other efforts were made to identify him, he was buried in an unmarked grave at El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest, Calif.

In 1980, Orange County homicide investigators noted there were other deaths in 1978 also due to alcohol and diazepam — sometimes known by brand name Valium — intoxication in Southern California. These deaths were classified as homicides.

Over the years, multiple young men were found dead throughout Southern California, including several within a few miles of where John Doe’s remains were discovered.

In May 1983, Randy Steven Kraft was arrested on murder charges after a California Highway Patrol officer conducted a traffic stop, according to the news release. In the front passenger seat was a dead man, identified as Terry Lee Gambrel. Around his feet were empty beer bottles and an open prescription bottle of lorazepam tablets. In the trunk, authorities found a coded list believed to be of over 67 victims of Kraft’s.

He earned the moniker the “Scorecard Killer” for the morbid catalog of his victims’ names he “scrawled on a white sheet of paper,” according to the Station 18 Blog of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Others called him the “Freeway Killer” because Kraft was known for targeting young male hitchhikers, many times along the freeway.

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After torturing and killing his victims, he discarded their bodies near freeway interchanges, in parking lots and sometimes in remote locations, according to the department’s blog.

In May 1989, Kraft was convicted of 16 murders and sentenced to death, according to the news release. An additional 10 murders Kraft was suspected of committing were never filed by the Orange County District Attorney.

Kraft, now 78, remains in San Quentin on death row.

John Doe was thought to be an early victim of Kraft’s, sheriff’s officials said. In November 2022, investigators submitted his tissue samples to Othram Laboratories, a private forensic biotechnology company, to develop a DNA profile.

In February, the DNA profile was received by Cold Case Team of the sheriff’s department there, according to the news release. The team is comprised of two investigators who are trained in the application of investigative genetic genealogy.

The man’s DNA profile was uploaded into a law enforcement-approved genealogy database and investigators began building his family tree — which is similar to how the Cedar Rapids Police Department’s Cold Case Unit in 2018 identified Jerry Burns, 70, of Manchester, as 18-year-old Michelle Martinko’s killer back in 1979 at Westdale Mall.

In October, after months of work, Orange County sheriff’s investigators identified the possible grandparents of John Doe.

Investigators contacted a granddaughter of this couple, who told investigators she had not seen her brother — Michael Schlicht — since April 1974.

Investigators traveled to Kansas City, Mo., to obtain a DNA sample from a woman believed to be the mother of Schlicht. Her DNA positively identified John Doe as Schlicht, officials said.

Family members have been notified and are in the process of installing a headstone on Schlicht’s grave in California.

Sgt. Mike Woodroof, public information officer with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, said Schlicht’s family has requested privacy and would not provide comments to a reporter. It was not clear why Schlicht was in California at the time of his death.

Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigators will now focus on investigating Schlicht’s homicide case. Anyone with information related to this case is encouraged to contact Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS or crimestoppers.org.

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