STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

A man was found murdered in an automobile near Holtville yesterday afternoon.

The sheriff’s office, which is investigating the case tentatively, identified the victim as David S. McDonald.

He was found in the front seat of a well-maintained 1956 sedan with New Mexico license plates.

The prefix of the license number shows that the car is registered in the Albuquerque region.

The crime was discovered at 4 p.m. yesterday by Leland Danielson of Holtville who was exercising his dog in Earl Walker Park, a county roadside rest area on the edge of the Alamo River and just off Highway 80.

Danielson said that he had spotted the car earlier in the day and had noted a man lying on his back in the front of the car with one boot sticking out.

When he again saw the body in the same position as he had in the morning Danielson took a closer look and saw that the man was dead with a wound in his chest.

40 years ago

Heavyweight Rick Whitaker continues to impress California’s community college wrestling coaches with his first-rate performances for Imperial Valley College.

Coach Guy Blevins saw his sophomore strongman finish fifth in the Small Colleges Finals at Sierra College.

Whitaker took fourth in the Southern California Regional’s at Palomar College, earning a berth in the State Finals.

John Aguilar won a berth on one post-season tournament but fell short because of injury.

Abe Zambada (142) joined Whitaker in the Regional’s.

30 years ago

Orange High School staked the Central Spartans to a 2-0 lead, then roared back in the second half to defeat Central 3-2 and knock the Spartans out of the CIF soccer playoffs, Friday.

Orange, the champions of the Pacific Coast League, earned its 13th consecutive victory since starting out 0-2 in PCL play.

It was a physical contest, perhaps the most physical of the season. Orange coach John Garcia said after the match, “It wasn’t pretty.”

The Spartans had every advantage in the first half.

Orange players bickered among themselves and with the referees. One

Orange player was given a yellow card before two minutes went by.

When Central’s Sean Adkins scored in the 14th minute, the Spartans seemed to take control of the match.

And when Tsuneya Ikeda scored the second goal in the final minutes of the half, it looked like another Central win in the making.