Missing
Phillip Cabot Lloyd Martin
Martin, approximately 1993; Wesley Shermantine; Loren Herzog
Date and time person was reported missing : 09/30/1993
Missing location (approx) :
Stockton, California
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 01/09/1946 (75)
Age at the time of disappearance: 47 years old
Height / Weight : 5'11, 165 pounds
Medical conditions : Martin has a history of drug abuse.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Martin was last seen in north Stockton, California on September 30, 1993. He failed to pick up his daughters from school that day and has never been heard from again. Martin was transient at the time of his disappearance, working as a carpenter and construction laborer and living in his car, a gold 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity. He was reported missing on October 11, 1993.
Wesley Howard Shermantine Jr. is a possible suspect in Martin's disappearance. He and Loren Joseph Herzog, the so-called "Speed Freak Killers," were arrested in 2000 and ultimately convicted of murdering several females in the 1980s and 1990s; authorities believe they had as many as fifteen victims. Photographs of both men are posted with this case summary.
Shermantine is on death row. Herzog's sentence was reduced from 78 years to 14 years after the court ruled his confession had been coerced. He was paroled in 2010 and then took his own life in January 2012, after he found out his former partner had begun cooperating with authorities and had offered to reveal the location of victims' bodies in exchange for a payment of $33,000.
Shermantine led investigators to the skeletal remains of Chevelle Wheeler and Cyndi Vanderheiden, who'd been Date and time person was reported missing : 1985 and 1998 respectively. He also pointed out an abandoned well in Linden, California that contained some 300 human bones and personal items.
Shermantine lead investigators to the skeletal remains of Chevelle Wheeler and Cyndi Vanderheiden, who'd been Date and time person was reported missing : 1985 and 1998 respectively. He also pointed out an abandoned well in Linden, California that contained some 300 human bones and personal items. Shermantine stated the well contained up to twenty victims. He blames Herzog for all the murders and says he only helped with disposing the bodies.
Martin's daughter stated her father had worked with Shermantine, and as a child she picked him out of a photo lineup. His daughter said she believed Martin, Shermantine and Herzog used drugs together.
Shermantine and Herzog are being investigated in other missing persons' cases, including Ruth Leamon, Michaela Garecht, Gayle Marks, Susan Bender and Sylvia Standly. The skeletal remains of victims Kimberly Billy, a 19-year-old who disappeared in 1984, and Joann Hobson, a 16-year-old who disappeared in 1985, were identified, but Martin's body was not found in the well.
Martin's case remains unsolved. Foul play is suspected.
Other information and links : ncy
San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department
209-468-4425
September 2021 updates and sources
San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department
California Governor's Office
The Stockton Record
California Attorney General's Office
Fox CT
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
