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At 23 years old, Denise Huber seemed to have a bright future ahead of her.
Fresh from earning her degree in social sciences, she was living at home with her parents while planning her next steps.
Denise resided with her parents, Dennis and Ione Huber, in a well-off neighborhood in Southern California.
Having graduated from the University of California, Irvine, she had returned home and was working at a local restaurant.
"She was loving life and preparing to settle into a more permanent job," Ione reminisced.
But in June 1991, Denise's promising future was tragically cut short.
On the morning of June 3, 1991, the Hubers noticed Denise’s bed was empty.
She had gone to a concert the previous night and had not come home.
Since their daughter was an adult, Dennis and Ione were not immediately alarmed, assuming she had stayed overnight with a friend, either Rob or Tammy.
However, when they returned home that evening and found Denise still missing, panic set in.
They frantically called her friends.
Tammy, who had not seen Denise recently, had no idea where she was.
Rob confirmed that Denise had dropped him off after the concert.
Denise’s friend Debbie decided to retrace Denise’s likely route.
Her search led to a disturbing discovery: Denise's car abandoned on a remote stretch of freeway, with a flat tire and no sign of Denise.
Inside the car, there was a pair of tights on the front seat, but Denise’s bag and car keys were missing.
"I feel so helpless," Ione said.
Police arrived to investigate, deploying helicopters and K9 units.
The dogs tracked Denise’s scent for 75 yards before it vanished.
"It seemed like Denise had simply disappeared," stated David Snowden, former chief of the Costa Mesa Police Department.
Investigators interviewed the Hubers the next day, asking if they knew anyone who might want to harm Denise.
Dennis and Ione couldn’t think of anyone.
As the search continued, Denise’s parents made public appeals for information, while authorities began to fear the worst.
Former Chief Snowden believed Denise had been abducted and urged the need to identify the perpetrator.
Despite thousands of tips, no substantial leads emerged, and the case went cold.
Denise’s parents were left devastated by the lack of answers.
"We were essentially paralyzed. I was so consumed by grief and worry, I felt I couldn’t sink any lower,"
Dennis Huber recalled.
It would take three years for the case to progress.
Finally, in 1994, the actions of two strangers would reignite the investigation.
Retirees Jack and Elaine Court had moved to Prescott Valley, Arizona, and were selling paint supplies at a local swap meet.
In July 1994, they met a new vendor named John, who sold painting-related items.
Accepting John's invitation to pick up supplies from his house, they noticed something odd: a moving truck, seemingly abandoned, with overgrown vegetation around the tires.
Although they purchased their supplies and left, they remained suspicious since John claimed he had only moved to town six months prior.
The couple suspected the man might have stolen the truck, so they discreetly wrote down the license plate number and shared their concerns with a deputy police officer who had come to buy from them.
The officer ran the plate and discovered the truck had been reported stolen six months prior.
The deputy visited John's house, finding nobody home, but noticed several alarming things.
Chemicals were outside the truck, and an extension cord ran from its back, making the deputy suspect it might be a drug lab.
Less than an hour later, narcotics agents arrived with a search warrant to inspect the property.
In the back of the truck, they found a deep freezer they initially thought was full of drugs.
The truth was far more sinister.
"Inside were plastic bags, clearly containing something," said Scott Mascher, Sheriff of the Yavapai County Sheriff's Department.
"There was an odor, and I noticed frozen blood at the bottom of the freezer.
When we cut the plastic bag open and peeled it back, I saw an arm. As we opened the bag further, it appeared to be a young adult female."
The victim was on her knees, head bowed, with her arms handcuffed behind her back.
Her mouth was stuffed with cloth and duct-taped shut in a gruesome scene.
While investigators processed the scene, John Joseph Famalaro, 33, pulled into the driveway.
Famalaro seemed strangely calm despite police having just discovered a body in a freezer in the truck.
He was taken to the station for questioning and was cooperative until officers asked about the freezer.
At that point, he said he had "nothing else to say" and requested a lawyer.
Police had sufficient evidence to arrest Famalaro for murder and the theft of the moving truck.
As investigators identified the woman’s body, they searched Famalaro’s home, uncovering shocking details.
Weapons were scattered throughout the house, and in the basement, they found a blood-stained hammer and dried tissue.
Police also discovered women's clothing, bags, and social security cards, pointing to a disturbing conclusion.
"Authorities began to believe that the body in the freezer wasn't his only victim," Sheriff Mascher said.
Further investigation revealed a hidden underground room at the back of Famalaro's basement.
Cadaver dogs were brought in, as police feared more bodies might be buried there, but they found nothing.
In light of the fears of multiple victims, police contacted other agencies for leads, which led one woman to come forward.
She had narrowly escaped Famalaro's grasp.
She recounted meeting him in Phoenix and how he had taken her to the desert, where he tried to strangle her.
She fought him off and ran naked through the desert to safety.
Though she never reported the crime, she immediately identified Famalaro in a photo lineup.
Arizona police shared their findings with other law enforcement agencies, leading to the potential identification of the Jane Doe from the freezer as Denise Huber.
Denise's bag was among those found in Famalaro's house, containing her identification.
They also found the clothes she had been wearing when she disappeared and newspaper clippings about her case.
Fingerprint analysis confirmed the match.
"I have never felt worse in my life. It's indescribable. It's the worst thing that can happen to you," said Dennis Huber.
An autopsy showed Denise had been sexually assaulted and died from blunt force trauma to the skull.
Denise had been struck over 30 times in the head, likely with a hammer found at Famalaro's house.
He had been running a paint business with a warehouse in Orange County, near where Denise's car was found.
Inside the warehouse, police found a blood-soaked room, revealed by Luminol spray.
Tests confirmed the blood belonged to Denise and Famalaro.
Police theorized that Famalaro had been hunting for victims when he found Denise trying to fix a flat tire.
He struck her with the hammer, dragged her to his car, handcuffed her, and took her to his warehouse, where he raped and killed her.
Police believed he had planned to bury her body and the evidence in the pit at the bottom of his house.
In July 1994, Famalaro stood trial for Denise's murder, pleading not guilty.
He was convicted of murder and kidnapping and sentenced to death in 1997.
Records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation show he is awaiting execution at San Quentin.
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