Carol Panzica

by Jessica

On Sunday, August 12, 1984, Carol Panzica checked into the Dream Inn Hotel in Santa Cruz, California. Panzica had come from San Jose and brought her two sons, aged 11 and 13, with her.

Map of area around Dream Inn in Santa Cruz, via google maps

The Dream Inn Hotel was built in 1963 in Santa Cruz and billed as the only "beachfront motel" in the area. With it's beautiful structure, beach access out the back door of rooms, and beautiful pool, this is a place that continues to lure travelers. Changing ownership through the years brought different name changes, but locals always referred to the hotel as the Dream Inn.

Back Side of Dream Inn in Santa Cruz

After checking in at 3:00 pm, Carol and her two sons went to the room. Once there the two boys went outside to play and use the hotel swimming pool. Carol stayed behind to take either a shower or a bath. At 6:00 pm, the boys went back to the room and found the tub filled with water and their mother unresponsive and face down inside.

The two boys screamed for help and hearing their pleas another hotel guest responded. This person pulled Carol out of the tub. A beach patrol officer also responded to the scene and began CPR until the fire department and ambulance arrived. Sadly, Carol was pronounced deceased on arrival at the hospital.

Initially, wounds on the body led investigators to believe that Carol had slipped while in the shower and fallen, causing her body to block the drain of the tub. The tub then filled with water and Carol, unconscious, drowned. But when a pathologist looked at the body, they saw other wounds that were inconsistent with an accidental drowning. These wounds included bruises on the body that were unexplained. As a result, Carol's death was ruled a homicide.

Looking through newspapers, both in Santa Cruz and San Jose, only led to a single article on the case. Not even a picture of the victim could be found despite this terrible unsolved crime and the toll it must have taken on her children. The police are still looking for whoever committed this crime and need anyone with information to come forward and tell them what they know.

Article about Carol Panzica, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Aug 15, 1984
via newspapers.com

If you have any information about the murder of Carol Panzica please call the Santa Cruz Police Department at 831-420-5820 or their tip line at 831-420-5995.

More Information:

City of Santa Cruz Cold Cases: https://www.cityofsantacruz.com/government/city-departments/police/cold-cases

"Questions Remain in Death of Hotel Guest." (1984 Aug 15). Santa Cruz Sentinel, A2, via newspapers.com.

Chandler, Jenna. "California's Best Midcentury Motels, Mapped." (2020 Feb 4). Curbed LA, https://la.curbed.com/maps/midcentury-retro-hotels-motels-madonna-inn-california