Cold Case Detectives Seek Tips in 1980 Murder on Mount Helix

The 1980 stabbing murder of Yolanda Griffie atop Mount Helix is a cold case Sheriff's detectives need your help in solving. 

According to the Sheriff's Department, witnesses say the 26-year-old sailor's wife may have been in the company of a group of people the night she was murdered. She is believed to have left her National City apartment late on Leap Day—Feb. 29—to hang out near the park's amphitheater. A CBS8 news report says her body was found by joggers the next morning at the top of Mt. Helix Park. She had been stabbed to death.

Her husband, who was enlisted in the Navy, was deployed at the time of her death. Special agent Jeff Kierman with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) worked the case along with Sheriff's investigators.

"Suspects were developed, witnesses were developed," Kierman to CBS8. "A lot of the witnesses had ties to the U.S. Navy."

The Sheriff's Department's Facebook page profiles Griffie's murder as a cold case file.

In comments, Cesar Diosdado says: "This is one of my first homicide calls as a patrol deputy. I hope someone can provide some information that can close this case. It is a case that I know we can solve."

And Monika Medina Murphy recalls bittersweet memories of her mother, despite a difficult upbringing that placed her in foster care and eventually led to her being adopted: "I hope the law finds the person or people responsible. I love you."

Investigators need the public's help to solve this brutal murder. Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact authorities:

—Sheriff's Homicide Detail at 858-974-2321
—Sheriff's Communication Center at 858-565-5200
—Tipsters can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477
—Information call also be submitted using an Online Tip Form (Crime Stoppers)

About this series:

Scores of cases throughout San Diego County go unsolved by local law enforcement investigators each year. A teen thought to be a runaway has still not come home. A dangerous parolee goes missing. A parent in a custody dispute kidnaps the children. A family member who is homeless and mentally ill disappears off the street. A loved one is murdered and there are few clues or no suspect.

No matter what the circumstances, police and relatives continue to search for those who are missing and wanted. They want the son, sister, or husband home. They want justice for the victims of crimes. They want the bad guys behind bars.

Each day in October, our Patch sites will feature a different person who is missing and wanted in San Diego County. Look at their pictures. Have you seen them? Do you have information that might help them be located, or identify a suspect?

Each profile will have a phone number for you to call to provide information. Let’s help investigators close these cases!