Marina Ruggiero
The Victim
Marina Ruggiero
Marina Ruggiero was 20 years old in 1991 and attending El Camino College in Torrance, CA and working as an officer manager at Lens Technology. On the weekend of August 24, 1991, she went with her sister and parents from their home in San Pedro, CA to San Luis Obispo to attend the wedding of a friend and neighbor. After the wedding she attended the reception after which she went back to her hotel room to change clothes. She never returned. Her family found her murdered in the room in a crime that is still unsolved.
The Hotel
When the Ruggiero family arrived in San Luis Obispo they checked in to a hotel called the Cuesta Canyon Lodge at 1800 Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo. That hotel is no longer there and after several ownership changes is called The Kinney.
Crime Scene Photo of Marina Ruggiero's Cuesta Canyon Lodge via the San Luis Obispo Tribune
Marina Ruggiero and her sister were given Hotel Room 327 on the third floor. The key to their room was an actual key not a card key. The picture above is from the San Luis Obispo newspaper The Tribune and shows a detective investigating after the murder.
The wedding reception took place at a beloved spot for wedding in the area called The Monday Club. The building was designed by the famous architect Julia Morgan.
The Wedding
The wedding reception at The Monday Club was described as only a "few hundred feet" from Marina Ruggiero's hotel room. The map above shows it was just across the street. The last time Marina was seen by her family she was wearing a burgandy suit with a knee length skirt and matching jacket. She had on black nylons and black shoes.
Marina Ruggiero Obituary, News-Pilot, August 28, 1991 via newspapers.com
More Information:
Viers, Meta & Nick Wilson.. “One of the saddest cases I’ve ever seen’: SLO police still seeking
killer from 1991 cold case.” San Luis Obispo Tribune, 08 Mar 2019, via
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/crime/article226883504.html; accessed on 2/28/20.
“POLICEBEAT: No Suspects in fatal stabbing.” Times-Press Recorder, 28 Aug 1991, pg. 3; via
newspapers.com.
Gregory, Stephen. “Mystery Surrounds SP woman’s slaying.” News-Pilot, 28 Aug 1991, pg. 1,
via newspapers.com.
“Marina Ruggiero (Obituary)” News-Pilot, 30 Aug 1991, pg. 10, via newspapers.com
Times Staff. “Information, clues sought in stabbing death of woman.” Santa Maria Times, 30
Aug 1991, pg. 3, via newspapers.com.
“San Pedro woman found slain after wedding.” News-Pilot, 26 Aug 1991, pg. 3, via
newspapers.com.
Gregory, Stephen. “A year later, still no clues in slaying of SF woman.” News-Pilot, 25 Aug
1992, pg. 1, via newspapers.com.
Altman, Larry. “San Luis Obispo police taking another look at 1991 slaying of San Pedro
woman.” Daily Breeze, 7 Sept 2011, via:
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2011/09/07/san-luis-obispo-police-taking-another-look-at-1
991-slaying-of-san-pedro-woman/; accessed on 2/28/2020.
“Marina Ruggiero found dead in her SLO motel room in 1991.” The Tribune, 17 Feb 2010, via: https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/crime/article39117222.html; accessed on 2/28/2020.
Darling, Michael. “How you know you’re from San Pedro.” Los Angeleno, 7 Mar 2019, via: https://losangeleno.com/places/san-pedro-pronunciation/#:~:text=The%20pronunciation%20of%20San%20Pedro,it's%20pronounced%20San%20PEE%2Ddro.; accessed on 3/1/2020.
San Luis Obispo County Crime Stoppers: http://www.slotips.org/sitemenu.aspx?P=unsolved&ID=805&SID=4204