Hi, Cold Case listeners. I'm Marissa Pinson. And before we get into this week's episode, I just wanted to remind you that episodes of Cold Case Files, as well as the A&E Classic Podcasts, I Survived, American Justice, and City Confidential, are all available ad-free on the new A&E Crime and Investigation Channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple Plus for just $4.99 a month or $3999 a year.

And now on to the show.

The following episode contains disturbing accounts of physical and sexual violence.

Listener discretion is advised.

When Anita went missing and we hadn't heard from her, every time the phone would ring, we would hope and pray it was her,

and it never was.

And that's when panic started.

They all felt something was wrong.

It was devastating.

When the fire department arrived at the scene, they found out they had a cadaver in the field.

It was very obvious that her throat had been slit.

I received a call from a woman who said her ex-husband came home one night around that time frame covered in blood.

This is the lead I'm looking for.

We were worried about Anita. We wanted to know what happened to her.

She would have tried to contact someone, especially her mother. There are over 100,000 cold cases in

America. Only about 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories.

It's March 1968 in Huntington Beach, California.

Earl Robatai is a retired detective bureau commander

with the Huntington Beach Police Department. In the 60s, we were in the middle of the hippie generation.

Huntington Beach was the fastest growing city in the United States.

We would attract kids from all over the country.

We had Hollywood close by and that whole thing.

...