Adam and his identical twin brother, Marc, were born in Palm Springs on May 18, 1964 completing a family that included parents Arthur and Martha and 12-½ month old big sister, Terri.
In March 1968, Art was on a fishing trip to Baja California when he was tragically killed in a plane crash. Martha was devastated. She struggled to cope with her loss and focused all her energy on raising her three young children alone.
In 1973, Martha enrolled Adam and Marc at San Diego Military Academy, then located in Solana Beach, CA. The active little boys apparently acted up in school and at home and Martha listened to the advice of her family who insisted they needed “strong male influence.” The twins boarded at the school and came home on weekends and school breaks.
A safe and sleepy beach town
A year later, Martha moved to Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Adam and Marc attended SDMA for a second year and came home every weekend. In 1975, the twins joined their sister at Ada W. Harris Elementary School in Cardiff, CA. All three kids later attended Oak Crest Junior High School in Encinitas.
It was the 1970s in quiet Cardiff. The kids boogie boarded, rode skateboards, BMX bikes, and tiny 50cc dirt bikes. Adam and Marc were brothers and best friends. They played Pop Warner football, surfed, and played guitar. Martha, a former jazz pianist, loved music and all three children took music lessons.
But supporting the family as a single parent was not easy and family life became turbulent. The teenagers drank and smoked marijuana. Adam had anger issues and fights would become violent.
The brothers began their freshman year at San Dieguito High School in the fall of 1978. The family attended counseling, but Adam was eventually placed in the home of a foster parent.
Gene Requa was known in the area for taking “troubled teens” into his home at 140 7th St. in Del Mar, allowing them to hang out and camp in the yard. Requa died in Del Mar in 2009 at age 94.
The week of Adam’s 15th birthday, Martha bought and wrapped presents, but they would remain unopened. When she did not see or hear from him, she believed he was angry with her. She called Requa’s house repeatedly and blamed herself when Adam didn’t answer or call back.
May 17, 1979
On the morning of May 17, 1979, a bicyclist found Adam’s lifeless body lying in the sand near lifeguard tower 4 on the northern edge of Torrey Pines State Beach, just south of Carmel Valley Road. It was the day before Adam and Marc’s 15th birthday.
Days later, on May 21, Requa contacted the police to report Adam missing. He stated that Adam had left his house on the afternoon of May 16 to go swimming at the beach.
His description of Adam matched that of the body that had been found.
Adam's case remains unsolved.
The autopsy report lists his cause of death as contusions, lacerations and blunt injuries to his head. But beyond those few details we —Adam’s family — have no more answers than we did 44 years ago.
The Ashleys were left shattered by Adam’s murder. Martha never recovered from the loss of her son, just 11 years after the death of her husband. Her health suffered, and she died of a heart attack less than 5 years later at the age of 53. The trauma of Adam’s death, the grief of losing him, still affects his siblings and family every day.
There is little physical or DNA evidence in Adam’s case. The police believe his case can only be solved if someone comes forward with information. We believe that someone out there knows something.
We hope that by sharing his story here, we might get more attention on his case and reach that person, wherever they are.
If you have a tip, please call the SDPD Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293. For anonymous tips, call Crimestoppers at 888-580-8477 or submit your tip online. If you are a journalist or member of the press and would like to cover Adam’s story, please email press@justiceforadam.com