1987 | Martinez, California, USA | Murder | Unsolved
TLDR
On a spring afternoon in 1987, nine-year-old Eric Coy was stabbed 11 times near a footbridge in Martinez, California, 15 minutes after leaving his home. He was gone for less than an hour. Nobody was ever charged. In 2023, a man was named as a person of interest after DNA linked him to a similar killing the same year.
The Case
Eric Coy left his home in Martinez, California, on the afternoon of April 21, 1987. He was nine years old. He was gone for less than 45 minutes before his body was found near the Alhambra Creek footbridge, less than a mile from his house. He had been stabbed 11 times.
There was no apparent motive. Eric had not been robbed. No one reported seeing anything unusual near the creek that afternoon. The investigation produced no arrests.
The case sat cold for decades. Eric’s family kept it alive, periodically speaking to the media and appealing for information. Martinez police reviewed the case multiple times without a breakthrough.
In September 2023, police named Fred Marion Cain III as a person of interest. Cain had been convicted of the murder of a young boy in a separate 1987 case in the region, and DNA evidence linked him to that case. Investigators believed a similar DNA signature connected him to Eric’s murder, though no charges had been filed as of publication.
Eric’s family had spent 36 years without answers. The 2023 development was the closest the case had come to resolution since 1987.
Where to Find More
- Documentaries: No documentary has been produced on this case. Local Bay Area news stations covered the 2023 person-of-interest development.
- Books: No book has been written specifically about Eric Coy’s case.
- Podcasts: Casefile True Crime covered Eric Coy in Case 74. It remains the most detailed public account of the investigation. Available on all major platforms.
