After 45 years, authorities in California were finally able to tell the Gonzalez family who they believe killed their loved one.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office used DNA and forensic genealogy to identify the suspected killer, who turned out to be the same man who reported the discovery of Esther Gonzalez’s body to authorities.
On February 9, 1979, 17-year-old Gonzalez was walking to her sister’s house in Banning, California, about 136 km east of Los Angeles.
The next day, her body was found in a snowpack next to the highway near Banning, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office said in a news release.
She was attacked while walking, raped and beaten to death, authorities said.
Deputies described the unidentified man who found the body as “argumentative,” according to a news release.
The man, later identified as Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson, called the county sheriff’s office to report the body and said he didn’t know if it was a man or a woman.
Williamson was later asked by sheriff’s investigators to take a polygraph test.
The district attorney’s office said he agreed to the test and passed it, which “cleared him of any wrongdoing at the time,” according to the statement.
Nearly five decades later, the district attorney’s office said the unsolved homicide team used forensic genealogy to confirm that Williamson was Gonzalez’s suspected killer.
Forensic genealogy is growing across the country as investigators analyze DNA in addition to traditional genealogical research to generate leads for unsolved cases.
Jason Corey, chief investigator for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, said the technique is a huge addition to investigators’ tools.
“I think it’s going to be a great research tool in the future,” Corey said.
“It will help do a lot of good and not only identify the victims, but help point investigators in a direction with their investigative leads that will help bring the suspects to justice.”
Even as the Gonzalez case went cold, Riverside County detectives continued their search.
The homicide team continued to investigate the case decades after Gonzalez’s death.
The team loaded a semen sample from the crime scene into the combined DNA index system, but there were no leads.
In 2023, detectives sent a variety of evidence to a genetics lab in Texas that specializes in forensic genealogy and identifying victims in unsolved murders.
Earlier this year, a crime analyst laid out all the facts of the case.
Then the light bulb went off.
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“Although Williamson was seemingly cleared by a polygraph in 1979, he was never cleared by DNA because the technology had not yet been developed,” the district attorney’s office said.
Taking a second polygraph was not an option, as Williamson died in Florida in 2014.
However, a blood sample was taken during his autopsy.
Authorities in Florida sent the sample to the California Department of Justice, which confirmed that Williamson’s DNA matched a DNA sample from the semen from Gonzalez’s body.
Corey said this case has been in Riverside County’s misdemeanor division since it was filed about five years ago.
Over the years, multiple investigators have worked on the case.
It all came to an end this Wednesday.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like for them,” Corey said.
“That whole family was torn apart over the years.
“This is a day-by-day, day-by-day, day-by-day thing. I don’t think this is something that has gotten easier for them as time has gone on.
“I don’t know if you can say you’re glad it’s done because it’s still, it’s still a terrible tragedy, but I hope it gives them some closure.”
The latest development in the unsolved case brings peace and closure to the Gonzalez family, said Esther’s older sister Elizabeth.
She was happy to hear that her sister’s suspected killer had finally been identified.
“We are so happy to finally be done,” Elizabeth Gonzalez, 64, wrote in an email to CNN.
“We’re happy about that, but since the guy died, we’re a little sad that he won’t be serving time for her murder.”
Esther and Elizabeth Gonzalez grew up very close because their age difference was only one year.
Esther is now remembered by her family for her shy but fun and gentle personality.
She is the fourth of seven children.
Esther’s oldest brother, Eddie, wrote on Facebook: “The Gonzalez family would like to thank the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for a job well done after 40 years of locking up the Gonzalez family.”