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After four days of intensive investigation, Riverside Police still had few clues in the slaying of 18-year-old RCC freshmen Cheri Jo Bates as the TIGER TIMES went to press yesterday.
Miss Bates, a former cheerleader at Ramona High, was found dead on campus at 6:30 a.m. Monday by RCC groundsman Cleophus Martin.
Police spotted Miss Bates’ lime green Volkswagen on Terracina Avenue. They speculated that she had been attacked as she walked from the RCC Library to her car about 10 p.m. Sunday. They believe the murderer tampered with her car and waited for her in one of the driveways along Terracina.
Miss Bates died of knife wounds, but apparently put up a tremendous struggle with her slayer before succumbing, police said.
All of the former residents around the scene of the murder are owned by the college. On weekends and late night, the unoccupied houses constitute a deserted neighborhood.
In the aftermath of the campus slaying, the drop rate for night classes reportedly increased this week, but John Matulich, dean of admissions, said other factors such as the approaching drop deadline could have caused this.