Tatum Goodwin, 27, was found dead “down in a secluded location” over the weekend in Orange County, California and now police are asking for the public’s help solving her mysterious murder.
“We are saddened by this senseless act of violence,” Laguna Beach Police Chief Jeff Calvert said in a press release. “Our detectives are working diligently to bring the suspect(s) to justice.”
On Sunday, the young woman’s body was discovered by a construction worker in an alley near a movie theater and the restaurant where she worked for the past several years.
“She was just such a loving, honest person,” Aleena Macintosh, a friend of the deceased, told The CW West Coast flagship KTLA. “You just wouldn’t think that anything would happen to her.”
Laguna Beach is roughly 50 miles southwest of Los Angeles.
Another friend told the TV station that Goodwin hailed from San Clemente, a beachside town about 20 miles further down the coast. She seemed to have been making a new life working as an assistant manager at Carmelita’s, a Mexican restaurant on Broadway in the small downtown area of the small coastal city.
Marcos Heredia, the restaurant’s owner, said the victim was badly beaten. The crime scene was described as “suspicious” by police.
“For me, it wasn’t just losing a friend. It’s clearly almost losing a family member,” Heredia told KTLA. “I knew that she always had my back and I always had her back also when she needed things.”
While law enforcement have largely remained tight-lipped about the details of the shocking incident that took Goodwin’s life, several people reportedly told KTLA about the last night they saw their friend.
After work on Saturday night, the young woman reportedly went to Hennessey’s Tavern — which is also located downtown. A walk of fewer than five minutes separates both businesses.
After that, however, the public accounting of the beloved woman’s whereabouts ends. Likely only her killer ever saw Goodwin alive again.
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“Out of all the empty seats I sat in tonight I chose this one,” Goodwin’s friend Madison Moyer wrote on an Instagram story caption against an image of a bar. “The bartender comes by and said last night this is where she sat. I see your signs everywhere, I see your moving with me and through me.”
Tatum Goodwin (Images via Instagram/Tatum Goodwin/Madison Moyer)
Heredia is organizing a GoFundMe to build a permanent memorial for the victim downtown — and to help her family with funeral expenses.
“Tatum was a very hard working young lady and always kept a smile on her face,” the fundraiser reads. “Over the years she had expressed her pleasure to be in Laguna and have her opportunity with us. We felt that we really had a family member here with us. I am seeking help to make a memorial in the city of Laguna Beach for our team and family member. We are still in disbelief and we don’t want her to go unforgotten. We are attempting to raise capital for her Memorial Services and also help with creating a memorial in the city, so everyone in town never forgets about our sweet friend Tatum.”
The broader community is shocked at the rare murder in the tiny Southern California seaside enclave known for its arts scene and beaches.
“Any crime where there is a victim, it affects all of us, whether it was a traffic collision fatality to a homicide, it doesn’t matter,” Lt. Cornelius Ashton told the Los Angeles Times. “Our community is our family, and we hurt, we suffer for those members, those victims. We want to bring their families justice, and we want to bring them peace that we can, and so we pour our hearts into our investigations.”
According to the Times, the small town is reportedly anxious that Goodwin’s killer is still free.
A vigil is slated for Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at the end of the San Clemente Pier.
“We always wanted people to feel loved and OK on their bad and worst days,” Moyer wrote in another Instagram photo caption.
Laguna Beach police have asked anyone with information regarding the tragic incident to contact Detective Tanner Flagstad at (949) 497-0369 or via email at [email protected].
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