Linda Sobek, a 27-year-old model, actress, and former NFL cheerleader for the Los Angeles Raiders, went missing on November 16, 1995. The day started like any other, with Sobek calling her mother to let her know she had booked a photo shoot. She never called back, and her mother reported her missing the next day. The media immediately picked up on the story due to Sobek’s connection to the Raiders, resulting in an influx of tips.

Investigators questioned Sobek’s personal relationships and interviewed her roommates, but found no leads. On November 21, a man called the police claiming he found photos of Sobek in the Angeles National Forest. He had discovered them in roadside trash bins while doing community cleanup. Three days later, investigators found more modeling photographs of Sobek and her ripped-out day planner in the forest dumpsters. These findings led them to believe she may have been the victim of a homicide.

The trash recovered from the forest was transported to the Hermosa Beach police station for further investigation. Meanwhile, search teams combed the forest area, and investigators found a lease for a Lexus prototype SUV in the trash. The lease, dated November 16, was between Lexus and a photographer named Charles Rathbun. Police contacted Rathbun, who said he had met Sobek on November 16 at a Denny’s in Torrance, California. He claimed that Sobek drove away after he deemed her unsuitable for a Lexus shoot.

Rathbun agreed to give a formal statement but never showed up. Detectives later learned he had been drinking and telling friends that he was responsible for Sobek’s disappearance. When two friends visited him, Rathbun fired a gun, injuring one of them. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Rathbun then confessed to the police that he accidentally hit Sobek with the car in the Mojave Desert and buried her while in a state of panic.

Rathbun’s claims were disproven when police found no damage to the Lexus. They collected over 100 firearms and items like cord and duct tape from his house. Rathbun attempted suicide in custody but only caused superficial wounds. Eventually, Rathbun led investigators, accompanied by Sobek’s brother and a media helicopter, to the burial site in the Angeles National Forest. Sobek’s body was exhumed and found to have ligature marks on her ankle, indicating she had been restrained. The autopsy showed that she had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and was asphyxiated after being sexually assaulted.

Rathbun was charged with sexual assault and first-degree murder. During the trial, the defense argued that Sobek’s death was accidental during consensual sex.