Kuiphof Family Blog

I don't know how many of you know this, but two years ago yesterday (August 15, 2004)... a family friend of ours was murdered along with his fiance. Jason grew up in the house directly next door to us. His family is still close to ours. Jason was close to my age so we always played together when we were growing up. He was really goofy and hyper and broke a lot of my toys, but I still have great memories of my childhood with him. :) I didn't know him well at all in his last years though. His family moved to Zeeland and then he went to college out of state and I just never saw him. But when he died, I was absolutely heartbroken. He was so much a part of my childhood that it was like a part of innocence in me died. I can't explain it. It just hurt like crazy.

Me & Jason at age 2.

Jason & Lindsay on August 14, 2004... the last day they were alive.
(Found on the roll of film in Lindsay's camera.)

Sara was on her honeymoon that week. She got married on a Friday evening, August 13, and Jason & Lindsay died sometime in the early hours of Sunday, August 15. They were camping out on a beach in separate sleeping bags and someone crept up on them and shot them each in the head with a rifle. I'll never understand why. They were only a few short weeks away from getting married. They were so looking forward to their new life together and someone took that away from them... for apparently no reason. There was no known motive. No robbery or sexual assault... it just seems to be a random shooting. But it was on a quiet, isolated beach. How that person ended up there is unknown.

We didn't tell Sara & Dave about it while they were on their honeymoon because we wanted them to enjoy it. Sara ended up finding out by seeing the story aired on national news at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport.

The amazing thing is, however, that God has really used this tragedy for His ultimate glory. There have been many people who have come to know Jesus through this story... and many more who have rededicated their lives to Jesus. Their parents have been so strong. Clearly God carried them through it and still does to this day. They are determined not to let Satan have any victories in this and he really hasn't. It's amazing. But the case is still unsolved... the killer is still out there.

Jason & Lindsay's parents went to California for the 2-year "anniversary" date to hold a press conference... an article about it is below...

Parents make plea for clues:
Families visit California beach where couple was slain

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

By CLARK MASON | Santa Rosa Press Democrat

JENNER, Calif -- The parents of a young couple killed on a California beach two years ago visited the scene of the murders Tuesday to pay tribute to their children, make a plea for new clues in the unsolved case and deliver a message to the unknown person who shot them dead on the beach.

The parents of Jason Allen, 26, of Holland Township, and Lindsay Cutshall, 22, of Fresno, Ohio, looked out over the beach north of Jenner where the couple had spent their last night before being discovered dead in their sleeping bags.

It was the first time the parents had made the trip to this place, about 80 miles north of San Francisco, bringing both a sense of sadness and loss, but also joy.

"Here's the place where our devout Christian children last laughed together, ate together, expressed their thoughts and feelings toward each other on Earth, and where they last prayed together and worshipped the Lord just before he took them home to heaven," Chris Cutshall, father of Lindsay, said while reading from a prepared statement.

Chris Cutshall is a pastor of a congregation in Fresno, Ohio, and came to Northern California with his wife, Kathy. He said despite the horrific loss, they felt a sense of joy in the journals, pictures and expressions discovered on the beach with their children.

"We know much of what they were doing and thinking that evening including the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ," Cutshall said.

He said it "warms our hearts to know that when the Lord showed up to take them home they were found faithful and ready. So an overwhelming emotion for us is that this was the place where Jason and Lindsay personally and literally met their Savior and Lord face to face," he said.

Bob and Delores Allen of Holland Township, parents of Jason, also traveled to pay tribute to their child.

They were part of a press conference held by the families before they traveled to the bluff overlooking Fishhead Beach, the place Lindsay and Jason were discovered Aug. 18, 2004.

Much of the motivation for making the trip to Jenner was to again publicize the case which remains unsolved.

Allen and Cutshall were visiting the North Coast on their final weekend in California before they were to return home to be married. They had spent the summer working as counselors and raft guides at a Christian youth camp in El Dorado County.

Sgt. Rob Giordano of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department said detectives are still working the case daily.

"We have made progress and are gathering information," he said, but he declined to give details about evidence or any leads they may be following.

"There is nothing significant at this point," he said.

Bob Allen noted that 156 different tips came into law enforcement following the last press release about the case. That was in May, when authorities released digital photos of a black and white hat, journal entries, drawn images of devil-like figures and a beer bottle that were found at the crime scene.

In addition to thanks for the efforts of Jenner residents and law enforcement investigators, the two couples spoke directly to the person or persons who killed their children.

"You are out there perhaps still in this area. We want you to know that you are not alone. God knows what you have done and he knows where you are and he will bring you to justice," Cutshall read.

Jason & Lindsay's parents view the beach where Jason & Lindsay were killed.

Jason & Lindsay's parents hold a Press Conference.