Homicide investigators are piecing together the last moments of a much-loved young restaurant manager whose body was found beaten to death just feet from the Laguna Beach bar she left on Saturday night.
Tatum Goodwin, 27, was enjoying a night out with friends at the popular California resort and the party had made its way to Hennessey’s Tavern on Ocean Avenue.
At 2am a local resident reportedly heard screaming and, just over six hours later, a construction worker found her body round the corner in a car park, behind an old movie theatre and the branch of Carmelita’s where she had worked for four years.
‘It’s affected not only me. It’s affected so much of our team,’ said restaurant manager Marcos Heredia.
‘She definitely did not deserve this, just a beautiful person.’
![Tatum Goodwin, 27, was murdered yards from the Laguna Beach bar where she had ben enjoying a night out with friends just moments earlier](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/16/77788557-12748051-image-m-33_1699980177420.jpg)
Tatum Goodwin, 27, was murdered yards from the Laguna Beach bar where she had ben enjoying a night out with friends just moments earlier
![Her friends have spoken of their shock and grief at the sudden death of the young restaurant manager](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/16/77788553-12748051-image-a-23_1699980043999.jpg)
Her friends have spoken of their shock and grief at the sudden death of the young restaurant manager
![Her body was found in a car park round the corner from the bar she had been drinking in](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/16/77789257-12748051-image-a-24_1699980048776.jpg)
Her body was found in a car park round the corner from the bar she had been drinking in
The Orange County Coroner’s Division are conducting a post-mortem on the young woman who had recently broken up with a boyfriend and appeared to be ‘upset’ when she left the bar in the early hours, according to local website underlaguna.com.
She had gone to Hennessey’s after leaving work and is also thought to have stopped for a drink at the Marine Bar on the opposite side of the street at some point in the evening.
‘She was just such a loving, honest person,’ said her friend Aleena Macintosh.
‘You just wouldn’t think that anything would happen to her.’
‘I can’t even think right now. To think this happened right across the street from my work and to someone we all loved so dearly.
‘This world is to cruel to those who don’t deserve it.’
Heredia has set up a gofundme appeal to help pay for funeral costs and to create a memorial to the young woman from San Clemente whose life was ended so suddenly.
‘She was a very hard working young lady and always kept a smile on her face,’ he wrote on her page. ‘Over the years she had expressed her pleasure to be in Laguna and have her opportunity with us.
‘We felt that we really had a family member here with us.
‘I am seeking help to make a memorial in the city of Laguna Beach for our team and family member.
‘We are still in disbelief, and we don’t want her to go unforgotten.
‘We are attempting to raise capital for her Memorial Services and also help with creating a memorial in the city, so everyone in town never forgets about our sweet friend Tatum.
‘Please help us honor Tatum, she was found lifeless in Laguna Beach and we are being told at the moment, that this is an ongoing homicide investigation.
‘We are going to do our best to make sure we help the city in any way to help the police with their work and investigations.
![Tatum's last evening began and ended within yards of her restaurant workplace on Broadway Street in the upmarket Orange County beach resort](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/17/77792641-12748051-image-a-49_1699983225188.jpg)
Tatum’s last evening began and ended within yards of her restaurant workplace on Broadway Street in the upmarket Orange County beach resort
![I would give anything in the world to go back to this day' wrote her friend Madison Moyer](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/16/77788735-12748051-image-a-26_1699980072430.jpg)
I would give anything in the world to go back to this day’ wrote her friend Madison Moyer
![A gofundme appeal has been set up to help pay for funeral costs and create a memorial to the young woman from San Clemente whose life was ended so suddenly](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/16/77789013-12748051-image-a-27_1699980081115.jpg)
A gofundme appeal has been set up to help pay for funeral costs and create a memorial to the young woman from San Clemente whose life was ended so suddenly
![‘She was just such a loving, honest person,’ said her friend Aleena Macintosh](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/16/77788745-12748051-image-a-34_1699980564567.jpg)
‘She was just such a loving, honest person,’ said her friend Aleena Macintosh
![The beachfront bar where Tatum was drinking with friends moments before she was attacked](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/16/77791085-12748051-image-a-36_1699981047732.jpg)
The beachfront bar where Tatum was drinking with friends moments before she was attacked
![Police are still looking for Tatum's cellphone which is somewhere in the vicinity of her murder](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/16/77789263-12748051-image-a-25_1699980059683.jpg)
Police are still looking for Tatum’s cellphone which is somewhere in the vicinity of her murder
![Hennessey's bar paid their own tribute to the young woman who was murdered outside](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/14/17/77792629-12748051-image-a-50_1699983426182.jpg)
Hennessey’s bar paid their own tribute to the young woman who was murdered outside
‘We truly need your help to give Tatum the memorial she very much deserves.’
Police are still trying to find Tatum’s phone which is sending out pings in the area of the bar.
‘We are saddened by this senseless act of violence,’ said Laguna Police Department Police Chief Jeff Calvert.
‘Our detectives are working diligently to bring the suspect or suspects to justice.’