My name is Kristen Seavey and I'm a victim's advocate.  My childhood schoolmate and friend, Danielle Bertolini, a young Maine woman, was murdered in California in 2014. Her killer has not been brought to justice. 

Danielle's Story

Seven years ago, 23-year-old Danielle Bertolini called her mom, Billie Jo, from Humboldt County, California. Danielle had moved there from Bangor, Maine, hoping for a fresh start in the Golden State. Danielle was a bright, compassionate, unapologetic girl, but she had known heartbreak and loss. This was her chance to flourish.

She never heard from or saw her daughter again. 

On February 9th, 2014, Danielle was last seen near Bridgeville, California, getting into a car with a man. Three weeks later, Billie Jo reported her daughter missing, and flew out to California with the help of people from her community (now known as “Nelly's Army”) to search for Danielle. During this search, they realized that Danielle was not the only young woman in Humboldt County to go missing. In fact, one of the other missing women, Shelia Franks, was last seen by the same man who gave Danielle a ride on the night she disappeared.

On March 9th, 2015, about a year after her disappearance, a skull found near the Eel River that later was positively identified as belonging to Danielle Bertolini. No other remains were ever found.

There's a strong person of interest.

The police have publicly named a person of interest, James "Jim" Eugene Jones, the man who was last seen with both Danielle Bertolini and Sheila Franks, and his claim about where he dropped off Danielle has no corroboration and is doubted by the family.

Her mother will never stop fighting

The case remains open, but 7 years have passed without closure.  In that time, her mother has led several searches and travelled from Maine to California 7 times in search of answers.

Danielle’s community will continue to advocate for her until justice is served. We believe that this petition could make the difference between “unsolved” and “solved” for Danielle and Sheila.

We're asking the Humboldt County DA to...

• Re-interview people who are connected to the case, particularly the person of interest. 
• Put pressure on the people who might know something. 
• Provide a public update on the case. There hasn't been a public update on this case since Sheila's femur was discovered in 2019.

By signing this petition, you are...

• Agreeing to have your name included in support of the letter that will be sent to the Humboldt County DA's Office once we reach our goal.
• Requesting updates on this case.
• Ensuring that both Danielle and Sheila's lives are not forgotten.

SHARE this petition and SHARE Danielle's story.

People care about these women and care about justice getting served. We have not forgotten. Help us today by joining Nelly's Army and standing with us to try and bring justice to this case.

Where to learn more about this case

Listen to Billie Jo's interview on Murder, She Told where for the first time, she tells the full story of her daughter's life, disappearance, and murder in intimate and heartbreaking detail. People need to know her story. 

Danielle and Sheila's cases were covered on multiple publications, including Crime Watch Daily, the television show Dateline. Her story was also featured in Billy Jensen's book, Chase Darkness With Me.

Links to above

Murder, She Told - Podcast Interview with Billie Jo Dick about Danielle

Crime Watch Daily - News Program

Dateline's Missing in America