Tag: true-crime

Check It Out…

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the new website for The Forsaken! It’s still a work in progress, but there’s much more to come.

We’ve just completed our final interview, and soon we’ll be putting on the finishing touches before sending everything off to the publisher. I have to say, one of those last interviews was truly eye-opening, and we are truly blessed that this person reached out to us.

I’m especially proud of the homepage image I created. It features scenes of Simi Valley from that era, including a view of White Face Mountain—one of my favorites. You can see it from nearly every spot in the valley, and it’s always reminded me of home.

There’s also a picture of the “Welcome to Simi Valley” sign. While it may not be the original, it’s very close and stands just outside the housing tract where we grew up at one of the entrances to Simi Valley.

Another photo shows the cross atop Mt. McCoy, a cherished memory from my childhood. The cross was visible from my home and always lit up beautifully at Easter.

Of course, I included a photo of Rhonda and Donnie—the true heart of The Forsaken—along with a newspaper headline from the day after their murders.

The backdrop of all these images is a grove of eucalyptus trees, once abundant throughout Simi Valley. A few still remain today, though not nearly as many as there once were.

The website will continue to grow, so I hope you’ll visit often or subscribe for notifications. Alicia’s and my email addresses are available if you’d like to get in touch.

The website is very easy to find since it is simply named rhondadonnie.com: https://rhondadonnie.com/

The Forsaken

March 19, 2026 Update


* * * * *

The information just keeps coming.

Just as we finished having our attorney vet The Forsaken and prepared to send it to the publisher, an unexpected discovery changed everything.

A couple weeks ago, a woman who lives just a few miles from Simi Valley was browsing at a Goodwill “bins” warehouse when she noticed a plastic tub that other shoppers ignored, filled with intriguing paperwork and envelopes.

Curious and naturally drawn to historical items, she took a closer look and realized these were not ordinary papers. She saw old handwritten reports instead of computer-generated forms, envelopes with photos, and, after just a couple of images, recognized that she was looking at crime scene photographs. Understanding the gravity of what she had stumbled upon, she stopped digging, trying to touch as little as possible while still confirming what was there.

One name appeared over and over on the documents: RKD’s. When she searched that name, she discovered it was connected to an open murder investigation.

Instead of walking away, she chose to act. She contacted the local police department, explained what she had found, and an officer came to collect the bin. It was later picked up by the Simi Valley Police Department and is assumed to be evidence in a case that should never have been reopened in the first place.

In her research she came across an October 2025 article about The Forsaken, mentioning possible missing and/or destroyed evidence in Rhonda and Donnie’s nearly fifty-year-old case. Having lost her own brother under mysterious circumstances in Washington State, she understood deeply what it meant for a family to live without answers.

Then she went one step further: she searched for Rhonda and Donnie’s family, found me on social media, and reached out to share what had happened.

Her intuition, restraint, and compassion are amazing. She protected the integrity of what she found, made sure law enforcement took custody, and still thought about the surviving family’s need to know. All I can say is that this woman’s courage, insight, and empathy are a blessing, and I am profoundly grateful she chose to do the right thing instead of turning away.

So where does that leave the publication timeframe? Because of this discovery, we are adding a new chapter and making a few final, complex edits recommended by our attorney. Our target is more realistically a summer 2026 release.

When this journey began, none of us imagined the twists and turns it would take, but here we are—doing everything possible to honor Rhonda and Donnie and to tell their story as carefully, truthfully, and close to perfectly as we can, even if it takes longer than we first planned.