Court documents outline chain of events in Modesto cold case

Raymond Lewis Stafford, 76, to be extradited for alleged involvement in 1986 murder

Raymond Lewis Stafford, 76, to be extradited for alleged involvement in 1986 murder

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Raymond Lewis Stafford, 76, to be extradited for alleged involvement in 1986 murder

Decades after the disappearance of 15-year-old Susan Bender, a Modesto Police detective reopened the case, which had gone cold for years.

Raymond Lewis Stafford, 76, of Modesto, was initially suspected of having been involved in Bender’s disappearance, according to officials.

Recent findings helped Modesto detectives solidify claims and secure an arrest warrant for Stafford after he reopened the investigation in 2020, according to court documents.

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The documents state that Bender was at a bus stop in Modesto, and she was supposed to be heading to Carmel, according to her mother.

That’s when she was spotted getting into a green van. That van turned out to be a rental and was eventually traced back to Stafford.

This was the last time Bender was seen.

According to the documents, a former employee of Stafford reportedly said that he had confessed to killing a woman not long after Bender’s disappearance.

Stafford had allegedly confessed to strangling the woman for 40 to 45 minutes with a cord or wire, before burying her body somewhere near Yosemite National Park.

Bender’s body has never been found.

Regarding the green van, Stafford’s former employee had stated that Stafford was very concerned about making sure that the van was cleaned out before it was returned.

Stafford’s driving route was also analyzed by investigators.

It was stated that Stafford claimed he drove to various parts of the Central Valley to visit friends but when detectives drove the same route in the same vehicle, the mileage didn’t match what Stafford had claimed.

Outlined in the documents was also an alleged fake kidnapping that was orchestrated by Stafford and others.

Someone had reportedly spotted Stafford being put into the back of a pickup truck and taken away.

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According to the report, Stafford had previously registered for a new license with a new name and had plans of starting a new life elsewhere, but he was charged with filing a false report.

Another element of the new investigation was Stafford’s Google searches that he made after being questioned by detectives.

It was stated that Stafford subsequently searched things like “murder conviction without a body,” and “what evidence is needed to convict someone of murder in California.”

Stafford is currently residing in Texas and is expected to be extradited in September.

KCRA 3 reached out to the Modesto Police Department for comment, but officials said no comment would be made until after court proceedings to not raise issues in the case.