On January 1, 1980, 16-year-old Michael Francis McDonald of Ontario, California, was lured by William Bonin near Chino Airport with the offer of drugs to sell. Bonin bound, beat, sexually assaulted and strangled Michael inside his van. Michael’s body was found two days later alongside Highway 71 on the outskirts of Chino in San Bernardino County and remained unidentified until March 24, 1980.

William Bonin, later known as the Freeway Killer, was responsible for the deaths of at least 21 young males in California between 1979 and 1980 and commonly targeted male hitchhikers and schoolboys, assaulting them in his van before disposing of their bodies along highways. Bonin was arrested in June 1980, charged and convicted of multiple murders including Michael’s, and received the death penalty.

Does anyone have information about Michael’s life in Ontario or remembers him from the area in late 1979?