This story originally aired on May 3, 2025.It shook the entire campus at the University of the Pacific. A freshman on her first day of college in 1979 was found unconscious, bleeding from her head, in a remote area of the school. Her name was Catina Salarno.Harriet and Mike Salarno were getting ready for bed when the phone rang at their San Francisco home. Mike answered it. His tone signaled the news.Harriet Salarno: I said … "what's wrong?" … he says, Catina has been shot and she's in the emergency room.The Salarnos' two younger daughters, Regina and Nina, rushed to their side. Then the phone rang again. Harriet Salarno: And they said, "your daughter passed away."Nina Salarno: I don't think it can be described in words, what it's like to watch your mom collapse, crying. My dad, very, very strong man, but you could tell he was shaken to the core.
Regina Salarno-Novello: And life just stopped. … I literally … life stopped, completely stopped.'"48 Hours" first met the Salarno family in 1990. Harriet and Mike were making their weekly visit to Catina's resting place.
Harriet and Mike Salarno at Catina's resting place in 1990, 10 years after her murder.
CBS News
MIKE SALARNO (1990): I think coming out here and being able to talk to Catina gives me a peace of mind. Also that I can still communicate with my daughter, that it isn't, um, the final end.At the time, Catina had been gone for 10 years, and her family was just embarking on a decades-long journey to keep her killer behind bars.
