SAN RAFAEL — Four years later, the murder of 33-year-old Ashley Yamauchi remains unsolved.
Yamauchi, a single mother and a resident of Greenbrae, was last seen alive on the night of Dec. 15, 2008 at the Fourth Street Tavern in downtown San Rafael. Police said she went out the back door with a man she had met at the bar, but the man’s identity is unknown.
Her body was found the next day in a parking lot near the tavern. She had been sexually assaulted and asphyxiated.
Despite a $50,000 reward approved by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010, no one has come forward with any useful information.
Flyers in both English and Spanish have been distributed, asking that tips be phoned in to (415) 458-2399 or emailed to FindAshleysKiller@srpd.org. The flyers can be downloaded by going to www.srpd.org/reward/.
“Unfortunately, there is nothing new to report,” San Rafael Police Department Public Information Officer Margo Rohrbacher told The Rafu Shimpo on Tuesday. “The reward is still available, but no new promising leads.”
Yamauchi had an 8-year-old daughter and worked as a nanny for a San Rafael family. Her friends and relatives gather each year on the anniversary of her death and keep in touch through a Facebook page, “R.I.P. Ashley Yamauchi.”
One friend posted on Monday, “They just repeated this news story this morning. It made it seem as though it was just yesterday. It brought back the sadness … I so hope the reward and some time will bring justice to her sad ending in this world.”