In my research I found that George Lee went to an assayer in Los Angeles before he died, so I looked into it and found the name W. H. Ogden. Much to my surprise I found out he still has living descendants. I contacted all who I could find, and one replied back and said they still had some of his personal papers and effects. This one letter, though, I was particularly excited to find.
George Lee staked a claim somewhere near Barstow and at some point, somehow, Robert Waterman stole it from George Lee. This must have angered him enough to pull something like this, and Waterman must have been greedy enough to kill him over a mine that wasn't even real. Now, I believe I can find where Randolph has his little mining operation, I just need to organize all my evidence before I can report Randolph. Keep an eye out.