After 45 years, California authorities were finally able to inform the Gonzalez family about who they believed killed their loved one. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office used DNA and forensic genealogy to identify the suspected murderer, who turned out to be the same man who reported discovering Esther Gonzalez’s body to police.
On February 9, 1979, Gonzalez, 17, was walking to her sister’s house in Banning, California, approximately 85 miles east of Los Angeles. She never made it home.
A news release from the Riverside County District Attorney’s office said they discovered her body the next day in a snowpack off a highway near Banning. Authorities claim that they attacked her while she was walking, raped her, and bludgeoned her to death.
Deputies described the unidentified man who discovered the body as “argumentative,” according to the news release. Later, Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson, the man who discovered the body, called the county sheriff to report it, expressing uncertainty about its gender. Sheriff’s investigators later asked Williamson to take a polygraph test.
According to the release, the district attorney’s office stated that he agreed to and passed the test, which “at the time cleared him of any wrongdoing.”
Nearly five decades later, the district attorney’s office announced that a cold case homicide team used forensic genealogy to identify Williamson as Gonzalez’s suspected killer.
Forensic genealogy is on the rise across the country, as investigators use DNA in addition to traditional genealogy research to generate leads for unsolved cases.
According to Jason Corey, master investigator for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, the technique is an excellent addition to an investigator’s toolbox.
“I think it will be a great investigative tool moving forward in the future,” Corey told me. “It will do a lot of good and not only identify victims, but it will also point the investigators in a direction with their investigative leads that will help bring those suspects to justice.”
Even after the Gonzalez case went cold, Riverside County detectives kept looking.
After Gonzalez’s death, the homicide team investigated the case for decades. The team entered a semen sample from the crime scene into the Combined DNA Index System, but there were no leads.
In 2023, detectives sent several pieces of evidence to a genetic lab in Texas that specializes in forensic genealogy and identifying victims in unsolved murders.
Earlier this year, a crime analyst presented all of the facts in the case.
Then the lightbulb went off.
The district attorney’s office reported, “Although the polygraph seemed to clear Williamson in 1979, the technology had not yet developed to clear him through DNA.”
Williamson died in Florida in 2014, so conducting another polygraph was not an option.
However, his autopsy included a blood sample.
Authorities in Florida forwarded the sample to the California Department of Justice, which confirmed Williamson’s DNA matched the DNA semen sample recovered from Gonzalez’s body.
Corey stated that this case had been in Riverside County’s cold case unit since its inception about five years ago. Over the years, several investigators have worked on the case. That all came to an end on Wednesday.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like for them,” Corey admitted. Over the years, the entire family has experienced devastating events. This is something that happens on a consistent basis. I don’t think this became easier for them over time.”
Corey continued, “I’m not sure if you can say you’re happy that it’s over, because it’s still a terrible tragedy, but I hope it can bring them some closure.”
The latest development in the cold case provides the Gonzalez family with peace and closure, according to Esther’s older sister Elizabeth. The news of the final identification of her sister’s suspected killer brought her relief.
“We are very happy that we finally have closure,” said Elizabeth Gonzalez, 64, in an email to CNN. “We are happy about it, but, since the guy has died, a little sad that he won’t spend any time for her murder.”
Esther and Elizabeth Gonzalez grew up very close because they were only a year apart in age. Esther’s family remembers her as shy, funny, and mild-mannered. She is the fourth out of seven children.
Eddie, Esther’s older brother, wrote on Facebook, “The Gonzalez family would like to thank the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for a job well done. After 40 years, the Gonzalez family has closure.”
