Lillian Rochelle Holmes -- Missing From Pasadena Since 1984

Details from NamUs** (the time in the description below is disputed): 

"21-year-old Lillian Rochelle Holmes went missing in Pasadena California on 3/22/1984. Lillian was last seen by her father when she left her Pasadena home at approximately 6:30 am on her way to start a new job demonstrating products at Robinsons in the Santa Anita Mall located in Arcadia, CA. Lillian was last seen boarding an RTD bus in Pasadena carrying a blue dress over her shoulder. Lillian was never seen or heard from again. It is believed that Lillian never made it to the new job at the mall but it is unknown where exactly she vanished along her journey between her home and the mall."

Missing Person: Lillian Rochelle Holmes
Last-contact date: March 22nd, 1984 -- NamUs says she was seen at 630AM, another source says noon to 1pm
The area where the MP was last seen: Pasadena, California at Lake Avenue and Rio Grande Street
Link to government source: NamUs MP14475

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Black ("described as a light-skinned mulatto)
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 21 years old
Birthdate: January 23rd, 1963
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Hazel
Scar: None indicated
Height/weight: 5'2" to 5'5" and 105 to 120 pounds
BMI*: Lillian Rochelle Holmes was in the normal range for BMI.
Tattoos: Lillian Rochelle Holmes did not have any tattoos associated with her profiles. If you know that the missing person did have tattoos, then please post a remark at the end of this blog post on the matter.

By: Shane Lambert

Lillian Rochelle Holmes was last heard from on March 22nd, 1984 when she was 21 years of age. This individual disappeared during her commute on what was her first day of a new job according to the NamUs description. She has now been missing for about 37 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

What stands out with this case to me was the fact that it was her first day at a new job. I considered the possibility that she was not entirely familiar with her commute. Evidently, things did not go as planned. 

When I research modern routes, the trip between Pasadena and the mall should not have been complicated for Lillian. I found her in high school yearbooks from Pasadena in what would have been earlier times of her life. It's clear that she lived in the area for at least seven years prior to disappearing. She is in the 1978 Pasadena High School yearbook as a freshman. That picture is below but the one at the top of this article is from closer to the time she disappeared.

A search for journalism regarding this case failed when I used my membership at Newspapers.com. However, she was definitely covered somewhere as NamUs included an uncredited newspaper article in their profile. Apparently, this newspaper article wasn't in the newspapers that are included in the Newspaper.com database at the time of this article's research.

In reading below, you will note that the missing person had a blue dress in her possession that she had just gotten from the laundromat. The location of this laundromat would be interesting to learn. Also, the journalism indicates that she was last seen later in the day than what the NamUs description states.

I would like to credit this article to the source. If you know where it appeared, then please comment at the end of this blog post.

NamUs says she was last seen at 630AM by her father, whose name was Kenneth Holmes. However, the newspaper article clipped above says she was last seen between noon and 1pm by a bus passenger. There is a contradiction here to try and make sense of.

I think her day likely involved leaving home at 630AM, going to the cleaners, perhaps going for lunch, and then taking the bus from the laundromat to the mall where she was to start her job. That scenario is how I've made sense of the contradicting information in this case.

The following clippings are advertisements from the Robinson's store that she was going to work at. One of them may even have been the job that Lillian applied to as the timing is about right.

Sun, Feb 5, 1984 – 660 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

Sun, Mar 4, 1984 – 613 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

I think trying to trace her exact commute would be useful. What laundromat she used is one question in this case. Where she might have gone to lunch would be a point to note too, however, that seems difficult to figure out after all these years. 

I'm picturing an abduction in this case because of how attractive Lillian was and the fact that I think she was showing up for work eager to make a good first impression in the type of job where looks mattered to the employer. Sales Associate or Product Display positions in department stores usually feature well-dressed and attractive women. That would also attract a lot of attention her way during her commute.

Abduction on a city bus is hard to do with a grown adult like Lillian. A commotion would create witnesses. The same could be said inside the mall. In my opinion, the part of her commute where she was most vulnerable would be the mall parking lot. That is my presumptive area of interest for where she might have been abducted.

Along these lines, a similar case would be that of Cindy Lee Mellin. She was a department store employee that was practically known to have been abducted in the parking lot of the mall where she worked. In Mellin's case, it happened during her commute as well but after her shift. Mellin's disappearance was 14 years earlier in 1970 and about 80 miles away in Ventura. Mellin was 19 and she a female. That's pretty close to the same demographics as Holmes. 

These cases may be unrelated but, if you agree that the mall parking lot was the most dangerous park of Lillian's commute, then they do have some interesting similarities. If either missing person is to be found then certainly a lot of work remains to be done. 

Author: Shane Lambert (UncoolNegated on Websleuths)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert (UncoolNegated on Websleuths) is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

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*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing persons case. However, any source that the article writer deems reputable may be used.

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