Erica Marie Brown
Brown, circa 2023; Mark Randle
- Missing Since 08/20/2023
- Missing From Fairfield, California
- Classification Missing
- Sex Female
- Race Black
- Date of Birth 07/03/1987 (37)
- Age 36 years old
- Height and Weight 5'5, 100 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A white shirt and blue jeans.
- Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Brown has a mole on her forehead above her left eyebrow.
Details of Disappearance
Brown was last seen at her home in Fairfield, California on August 20, 2023. She lived on Sunrise Drive with her boyfriend, Mark Anthony Randle Jr., at the time of her disappearance. She was reported missing on August 25, and on August 31 authorities announced they'd issued a warrant for Randle's arrest for her murder.
A photo of Randle is posted with this case summary. He was at large for a further two weeks before he was located in the Sacramento, California area on September 15 and arrested.
Authorities stated they found two vehicles linked to Randle, both of which were reported stolen, which had incriminating evidence: a Chevrolet Malibu was found abandoned and burned in Richmond, California, with bloodstains matching Brown's DNA on the door. Randle's fingerprints were found on a black Mercedes which was found abandoned in Vallejo, California. In the trunk of the Mercedes were three gas cans, which were empty but which had been used.
Randle's mistress, Jan Agacinski, was charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact, but the case was dismissed on her promise to testify against him. She did testify at the trial, stating that she came over and found Brown lying nude in a bed, covered with a blanket, her face battered and blooded and her pulse faint. Randle told her there had been an argument and he had had hurt Brown. Agacinski left, and then when she returned a second time in the early hours of August 21, Brown was dead.
Agacinski said there was a blue tote inside Randle's Chevrolet Malibu, and she moved it so he would have room to load Brown's body into it. A neighbor's security camera showed Agacinski moving the tote. The tote was subsequently found in Rio Vista, California, and Randle's cellular phone records indicate he was in Rio Vista after Brown's disappearance.
Randle's attorney tried to argue that Brown had died of an accidental drug overdose, not murder, and that he had panicked and tried to hide her body. The jury convicted him of first-degree murder after just five hours of deliberation, however.
Brown's remains have never been located, but foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
- Fairfield Police Department 707-428-7300
Source Information
Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated August 21, 2024; casefile added.