Gerald Eugene Rabourn
Rabourn, circa 2010; Denise Michelle Goodwin
- Missing Since 10/21/2010
- Missing From San Diego, California
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Male
- Race White
- Date of Birth 03/20/1922 (102)
- Age 88 years old
- Height and Weight 5'9, 110 - 175 pounds
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Gray hair, brown eyes. Rabourn is balding. He wears prescription eyeglasses.
Details of Disappearance
Rabourn was last seen in San Diego, California sometime during mid-October 2010. All of his cellular phone use, financial activity and contact with his family stopped on October 21. He has never been heard from again. Eventually, out-of-state relatives reported him missing.
In August 2011, Denise Michelle Goodwin was charged with Rabourn's murder. A photo of Goodwin is posted with this case summary. Rabourn had hired her to take care of his 91-year-old wife, who had end-stage lung cancer and was in hospice care at home. Rabourn's wife died in September 2010, and afterwards he entrusted Goodwin with all his financial affairs.
Authorities stated Goodwin began appropriating Rabourn's assets for her own personal use soon after she moved into his home; she stole almost $600,000 in total and forged documents to sell Rabourn's home and transfer the title of his car.
She also kept Rabourn's family members from contacting the police for months by providing various explanations for is absence and claiming she had been in contact with him. She even persuaded another woman to call Rabourn's daughter and claim she was Rabourn's new wife and they had gotten married in Las Vegas.
At her trial in the fall of 2014, Goodwin's attorney admitted she'd stolen money from Rabourn, but claimed she hadn't actually killed him.
In October, she was convicted of first-degree murder, caretaker theft from an elder adult, fraudulent appropriation by a trustee, grand theft of personal property, and forgery. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole; she could have faced the death penalty.
Foul play is suspected in Rabourn's case due to the circumstances involved. His body has never been found.
Investigating Agency
- San Diego Police Department 478-542-2000
Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated September 9, 2017; details of disappearance updated.