Mack Ray Edwards: The Child-Killing Freeway Phantom
Mack Ray Edwards (October 17, 1918 – October 30, 1971) was an American serial killer and child molester who preyed on young victims in Los Angeles County between 1953 and 1970. A heavy equipment operator, Edwards buried some of his victims beneath California’s expanding freeway system. After confessing to six murders, he hanged himself in prison—but questions remain about whether he killed even more children.
Early Life and Background
Born in Arkansas in 1918, Edwards moved to Los Angeles County in 1941. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, learning to operate heavy machinery—a skill he later used to conceal his crimes. After marrying in 1946, he adopted two children and gained a reputation as a friendly neighbor who took local kids horseback riding and camping.
But beneath this façade lurked a predator.
A Killer Hiding in Plain Sight
By the 1950s, Edwards worked as a heavy equipment operator for Caltrans, helping build Southern California’s sprawling freeway network. His job gave him access to remote construction sites—perfect for disposing of bodies.
Between 1953 and 1970, Edwards molested and murdered at least six children:
- Stella Darlene Nolan (8) – Strangled and stabbed in 1953.
- Donald Lee Baker (13) & Brenda Jo Howell (11) – Throats slit in 1956.
- Gary Rochet (16) – Shot in 1968.
- Donald Allen Todd (13) – Sexually assaulted and shot in 1969.
- Roger Dale Madison (15) – Stabbed and buried under a freeway in 1968.
Edwards later claimed he buried some victims beneath freeway overpasses, including the Ventura and Santa Ana Freeways.
The Crime That Brought Him Down
In 1970, Edwards and a teenage accomplice kidnapped three sisters—Valerie, Cindy, and Jan Cohen—from their Sylmar home. He forced them to write a fake runaway note before driving them to Angeles National Forest. When two girls escaped, Edwards panicked and turned himself in, confessing to six murders.
At trial, he pleaded guilty and demanded the death penalty, saying:
“I want the chair. That’s what I’ve always wanted.”
Instead, he hanged himself in his San Quentin cell in 1971.
Unsolved Cases: Did Edwards Kill More Children?
Edwards hinted at more victims, telling a jail guard he murdered 18 to 22 children, though he later recanted. Detectives suspect he may be linked to other disappearances:
- Thomas Eldon Bowman (8) – Vanished in 1957 near a construction site Edwards frequented.
- Bruce Kremen (6) – Disappeared in Angeles National Forest in 1960.
- Karen Lynn Tompkins (11) & Dorothy Gale Brown (11) – Both vanished in Torrance in 1961–62.
- Ramona Price (7) – Last seen near a freeway under construction in 1961.
In 2008 and 2011, police searched freeway sites for remains but found nothing.
A Chilling Legacy
Mack Ray Edwards used his trusted role in the community to lure children, then exploited his construction job to hide their bodies. While he confessed to six murders, the true number may never be known. His case remains one of California’s most disturbing unsolved mysteries.
Could there still be children buried beneath California’s freeways? The answer may be lost to history.
