David Goodman Strauss, Jr., BHS 1967

This one was a hard one to write as Dave was a classmate of mine. In 2007 I was told a few years after high school Dave went missing and he liked to hike and backpack and camp all over the US. On one of these trips he never returned. At our 10 year reunion we found out that his parents received a call from a Texas police detective that their son's body had been found murdered and they had just ID'd the body. I had no dates, no parents name and only the state of Texas, and finally in 2018 I found what happened to our classmate David Goodman Strauss. He was murdered on March 29, 1971 in Junction, TX and his body was IDed in 1974. Below are two news clippings and his death certificate with three amendments. Dave is buried with his parents in the Nuuanu Memorial Park, Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii. Dave's Find A Grave Memorial

San Antonio Express, Wednesday, March 31, 1971

FINGERPRINTS SENT TO FBI IN 'SLEEPING BAG SLAYING'

JUNCTION- Fingerprints of man found near here Monday- zipped inside a sleeping bag and shot to death- have been sent to Washington, D.C., in hopes that national FBI headquarters can help solve the mystery surrounding the murder victim's identity.

Kimble County Sheriff Rip Martin said Tuesday that local authorities still have not been able to identify the victim, estimated to be 20 to 25 years old and clad only in a white T- shirt and shorts.

The man was found on an Interstate 10 exit road about five miles east of Junction by Bob Cook, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department employee who was on his way to work at the time.

Martin said the man was apparently shot in the back of the head with a bullet from a small-caliber gun as he slept in the sleeping bag, possibly inside a car.

An autopsy has been conducted by Bexar County Medical Examiner Dr. Ruben Santos in San Antonio, but results have not yet been revealed.

Martin said the victim was long-haired and bearded, 5-10 in height. His hair was described as reddish-brown, eyes as hazel and complexion as ruddy. The beard was light with a shaved upper lip. Sideburns were long.

The sheriff said there was some evidence the man might have been driving a small car which may have been stolen by his assailant.

There is speculation the victim may have been transported to the site where his body was found, Authorities said the sleeping bag containing his body could have been thrown from a vehicle over a culvert guard rail onto the underpass where Cook found it.

Persons who may be able to contribute to the effort to identify the man have been asked to contact Texas Department of Public Safety officials.
------------------------------------------------

The Harper Herald, Harper, Texas, Friday, April 2, 1971

HILL COUNTRY DEATH CASE INVESTIGATED

JUNCTION - Local and state officers Monday were investigating the shooting death of a young unidentified man, whose body was found in a sleeping bag on exit road off IH 10 east of Junction early Monday.

Sheriff Rip Martin, Deputy John Lockett, Texas Rangers and other officers were conducting the investigation of the death.

The body was found about 7 a.m. Monday by Bob Cook, a Texas Game Department worker who lives near the site. The victim had been shot in the back of the head.

He was described as being 24 to 26 years of age, about six feet tall, about 160 pounds, blue eyed and brown haired. The hair was long.
-------------------------------------------------
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, January 10, 1974

BODY IDENTIFIED IN 1971 MURDER

JUNCTION - Police said Wednesday they have at last identified the body of a California man who was found shot in a sleeping bag near here March 29, 1971. 
Police said the victim was David Goodman Strauss, 21, of San Gabriel, California. 

Strauss' body was found in a sealed sleeping bag alongside a road near this Hill Country town after he was reported missing by his parents. Police said stolen traveler's checks to which hisname had been forged led to the identification.
Below is a copy from L.a. Free Press, June 28, 1972 that Dave's mother posted. Sorry bottom part is cut off.

Below is a copy of his death certificate followed by three amendments: