background, as two victims had paper tissue residue in their nostrils, a procedure known to be used in the military to prevent bodies from purging after death. The insertion of socks inside the victims' rectums was also theorized to have been intended to prevent purging as the body was driven to the disposal location. At this stage, investigators had no solid suspects. Murder of Keith Crotwell On the evening of March 29, 1975, Kraft lured two youths, Keith Crotwell and Kent May, from a Long Beach parking lot into his Ford Mustang. The youths were given beer and Valium as Kraft drove in a random, aimless manner around Belmont Shore and Seal Beach. May later recalled feeling catatonic as a result of the Valium and alcohol he had ingested before he passed out. In the parking lot where Crotwell and May had last been seen, two friends of the youths observed a distinctive black-and-white Mustang pull in and stop before the driver leaned across, opened the passenger door, and pushed the unconscious (but otherwise unharmed) May out onto the pavement. The driver then sped away from the scene. As he did so, the friends noted Crotwell slumped against the unknown driver's shoulder. On May 8, Crotwell's skull was found on a jetty close to the Long Beach Marina; the remainder of his body was found six months later. After hearing the news, the two friends of Crotwell and May—who suspected that the murderer was a patron of a Belmont Shore gay bar—searched their neighborhood for the distinctive Mustang. They found the car less than a mile (1.6 km) from their home, wrote down the license plate number, and gave the information to the police. The vehicle was registered to Randy Kraft. Interrogation and release Long Beach police questioned Kraft about Crotwell's abduction and murder on May 19, 1975. Initially, he denied having ever met either Crotwell or May, and the police, skeptical of Kraft's denial, summoned him to the police station for further questioning. Kraft admitted that on or about March 29, he had encountered two youths in the Long Beach parking lot in question and persuaded them to drink alcohol and consume Valium with him as he drove. He claimed to have returned May to the parking lot and then to have driven with Crotwell to a side road close to the El Toro offramp, where his car subsequently