San Rafael Vigil Aims to Help Solve Cold-Case Murder

In what has become a grim annual ritual, relatives and friends of Ashley Yamauchi placed flowers on a parking lot fence behind a San Rafael bar on Monday night by the lonely slab of concrete where her body was found five years ago.

Yamauchi’s relatives each year since her death have held a vigil at the site that they hope brings awareness to a case that’s gone cold.

Yamauchi was last seen on Dec. 15 2008 leaving the Fourth Street Tavern (711 Fourth Street) through the back door with a man she met at the bar, police said.

The 33-year-old mother of an eight-year-old daughter was raped and strangled to death, police said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010 issued a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of Yamauchi’s killer.

Yamauchi’s relatives believe that someone who has yet to come forward knows something that could help investigators – a view that San Rafael Police Department spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher shares.

And whether it’s fear, callousness, or an aversion to the inconvenience of getting involved in a murder case, they’re hoping the reward money will entice a witness who hasn’t yet come forward to do so.

Yamauchi’s brother, Heath Yamauchi, told KTVU news in an interview at Monday night’s vigil that he believes “somebody from the bar would have known something.”

“It’s what’s right,” he said. “You’re going to let somebody get away with something that heinous?”

Rohrbacher insists police are doing what they can to make sure Yamauchi’s killer doesn’t get away with it.

A large poster of Yamauchi remains posted in the investigations room, she said.

“When you walk in every day you see her face,” Rohrbacher said.

That a case that’s haunted police has gone cold is not for lack of trying, Rohrbacher insists, noting that investigators have “followed countless leads.”

“It’s a tragic case,” she said. “We would very much like to bring it to a conclusion.”

Monday night’s vigil could help, Rohrbacher said, noting that the attention to the case the annual event brings could prompt someone to come forward.

“It’s sad to mark her passing every year but if that sparks someone’s memory or encourages someone to come forward that would be great,” she said.

“There may be someone who has the key to this and it would just be that one thing we’d need to break this case.”

Anyone with information is asked to call SRPD at 415.485.3000.  Tips can be left online through Silent Witness at www.srpd.org/tips.  Email may be sent toFindAshleysKiller@srpd.org.

Get Patched in:

Sign up for our newsletter|Like us on Facebook|Follow us on Twitter|Start a blog|Post an event | Post on the boards