Fish Head Beach: The Silent and Senseless Murders of Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen

Book excerpt: “Fish Head Beach: The Silent and Senseless Murders of Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen” is a photo edition showcasing the Sonoma County beach and infamous 2004 crime site. Marques Vickers 95+ photographs capture the picturesque ocean and isolated shoreline that captivated the young midwestern couple prior to their execution during the late evening of August 14, 2004. Cutshall, 22 and her fiancé Allen, 26 were shot to death as they slept in separate sleeping bags on an obscured stretch of Fish Head Beach. They settled upon their sleeping arrangements during a weekend getaway from work because all of the nearby town of Jenner’s accommodation properties were fully booked. Their bodies were not discovered until Wednesday, August 18, when a Sheriff's helicopter was dispatched following a report of a man who was stranded on a cliff above Fish Head Beach. The helicopter spotted the bodies and notified the department. None of Cutshall's or Allen's belongings had been taken, ruling out robbery as a motive, and neither of the campers had been sexually assaulted. Their car, a battered red Ford Tempo was parked in a pullout spot on the side of Highway 1 in Jenner and untouched. A silent, single bullet to the skull had killed each. The evening overcast, common to northern Sonoma County, masked the moon and neither likely had any advanced warning that they were not alone. Despite exhaustive efforts by detectives, the scant evidence, no apparent motive and minimal clues have yielded no solid leads or suspects. A decade later, the case remains cold but open. The principal beach landmarks and disturbingly potential clues described in police reports have changed little. Sonoma County’s Russian River empties into the Pacific Ocean through a gulch severing Goat’s Rock Beach and Fish Head Beach adjacent to the town of Jenner, California situated on a winding stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway (California Highway 1). Like generations of precedent visitors Cutshall, 22, and Allen were moved by the splendor. Each recorded their impressions during the sunset of August 14, 2004 in a personal travel journal. “The sun is going down in the horizon,” Lindsay wrote. “All I see is the beams shining on the cliff face. And I know that God is awsome (sic). I look around and I see his creation all around me.” Jason wrote: “As I stir this Mac & Cheese I think to myself what a wonderful life. I’ve just spent two awsome (sic) days with my fiancé Lindsay. Can life ever be so perfect. Only with a person who is so great. God gives me this privilege in life and He has given me a wonderful woman to enjoy it.” It was the final entry recorded in their travel journal the day of their death.