Linda Sobek, a former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader who worked as a model and actress, disappeared in November 1995 after leaving for a photo shoot. A later account says she missed three appointments by the next morning, including a fitting for a small role on Married… with Children. Charles Rathbun was convicted of her murder and sodomy in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Who was Linda Sobek?
Sobek had worked as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Raiders and pursued modeling and acting. A 2025 retrospective by People, syndicated by Yahoo, reported that she had landed a small part on Married… with Children. That professional opportunity is part of her story, but it does not define the life she had built across several fields.
The 2025 People/Yahoo retrospective is the source for the specific account of her appointments and the fitting.
What happened before she disappeared?
In November 1995, Sobek left for a photo shoot and did not return. According to the 2025 retrospective, she told her mother she was running late. By the following morning, she had missed three appointments, among them the fitting for the television show.
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A road worker later found photographs, a datebook and a vehicle-loan receipt near Angeles National Forest. The retrospective reports that investigators connected the receipt to Charles Rathbun. Rathbun was arrested, and contemporary reporting says he led authorities to Sobek’s body, which was in a shallow grave.
How did the case reach trial?
Rathbun’s account and the prosecution’s case differed sharply. At trial, he testified that Sobek’s death was accidental. Prosecutors argued that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled. After a five-week trial, the jury rejected his account and convicted him of first-degree murder and sodomy in November 1996.
The Los Angeles Times trial report said jurors deliberated for six hours and that prosecutors called more than 40 witnesses. Juror Greg Mars, identified in the report as a Cal State Long Beach employee, said: “It just seemed he was lying on the stand about everything,” and, “He changed his story too many times.” Those were Mars’s comments about the jury’s assessment, not a statement of the court’s formal reasoning.
What allegations were not decided in Sobek’s case?
The Times reported that a judge barred testimony from four women who said Rathbun had assaulted or nearly strangled them. Those accounts were allegations excluded from the trial; they were not findings of fact in Sobek’s case. Keeping that distinction clear matters, particularly when recounting a conviction alongside claims about other alleged incidents.
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What sentence did Rathbun receive?
In December 1996, Rathbun was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Los Angeles Times sentencing report said investigators were still examining a possible connection to the killing of Kimberly Pandelios. At the time of that report, Rathbun had been prosecuted only for Sobek’s murder; the possible connection should not be presented as a proven crime or conviction.
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