Paul Cosner
Real Name: Paul Steven Cosner
Nicknames: None
Location: San Francisco, California
Date: November 2, 1984
Bio[]
Occupation: Used Car Dealer
Date of Birth: June 10, 1945
Height: 5'10
Weight: 145 pounds
Marital status: Single, engaged at time of disappearance.
Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair and hazel eyes. Cosner has a birthmark on the center of his back. He was also wearing a full beard and mustache at the time of his disappearance.
Case[]
Details: Thirty-nine-year-old Paul Cosner vanished from San Francisco, California, on November 2, 1984. He had advertised a used 1980 Honda Prelude for sale in the newspaper. He left his apartment at 7:30PM to meet with a potential buyer, whom he described to his fiancée as "weird". He told her that he would return by 8PM to watch a television show with her. However, he never returned and has never been seen again.
Police initially believed that Paul vanished voluntarily. However, his family did not believe this as he was supposed to receive $35,000 after he ended a partnership in a used car dealership.
Suspects: The potential buyer of his car is considered a suspect.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on April 29, 1985 as part of Missing... Have You Seen This Person? Special #1. The case was later documented on an episode of Wicked Attraction and Pandora's Box: Unleashing Evil.
Results: Unresolved. Paul Cosner is now believed to have been a victim of serial killers Charles Ng and Leonard Lake. When they were caught shoplifting in June of 1985, Ng escaped but Lake was arrested. Soon after his arrest, Lake committed suicide after revealing their identities. They had been driving Paul's car, and some of his possessions were in the trunk. On Lake's property, Paul's glasses, driver's license and car title were found in a plastic drum, but his remains were not able to be positively identified there.
Ng was arrested later in 1985. He was charged with a dozen murders, including Paul's. The jury during Ng's trial was unable to reach a verdict in his guilt for Paul's murder, though a judge in 2001 officially ruled that Paul was one of his victims.
Links:
- Paul Cosner on the California Department of Justice
- Paul Cosner on the Charley Project
- Paul Cosner on the Doe Network
- Paul Cosner on NamUs
- First Clues In Missing Person Case
- Clues in inquiry lost; suspect is comatose
- 3 bodies found on coast ranch; key suspect dies
- California mass grave found
- Cops followed trail of blood to bare mass murders
- Police Link 19 Missing, 3 Dead to Lake and Ng
- Sex Killings Suspect Admits Helping Dispose of Body
- Ng convicted of serial killings
- Family of Missing Man Finds Peace in Ruling / Judge says serial murderers killed S.F. auto broker
- Brutal murder spurs sister's advocacy
- Discovery Channel interviews sister of murder victim
- Paul Cosner on Find a Grave