Murder of Karin Santos-Coy

In March of 1980, 19-year-old Karin Santos-Coy started taking classes in automotive training at the Sierra Nevada Job Corps to expand on her high school Kann Santos-Coy education. She was described as a nice family family-oriented girl. She was someone who never gave any trouble.

On June 28th She and two other cooped-up classmates decided to enjoy the night at the Reno Rodeo Carnival. Her friends would leave for a bit while she was watching performances at the exhibition. She was last seen with two bare-footed men.

When the two would return just before midnight so they could all go back to Stead Karin was not there. They thought that she might have hitched a ride with someone else, but she never arrived. She would be reported missing and everyone who knew her was concerned because this was out of pocket for her. 

On July 10th three youths would find Karin's body along Red Rock rd north of Reno. She was left on along the dirt road nude. All her items except for her gold chain with a medal of the Virgin Mary made of Mexican Gold seemed to have also been left at the scene. She was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest. Even though it couldn't be confirmed it's believed she was sexually assaulted. 

One man was described as being a white male between 20 to 21 years old. He is around 5'10" and 130 lbs. He has blonde curly hair and at the time it was medium length. He was barefoot with casual clothes.

The second man was white and between 28 to 30 years old. He is around 5'10" and 180 lbs. He has short brown hair. He was dressed in a T-shirt and pants without shoes.

SOURCES:

Washoe County Sheriff

Uncovered

Reno Gazette-Journal July 12, 1980

Reno Gazette-Journal July 16, 2008

Reno-Gazette Journal November 10, 2008