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 to authorities that he had found Esther Gonzalez's body.
On February 9, 1979, 17-year-old Gonzalez walked to her sister's house in Banning, California, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. She never came home.
The next day, her body was found in a pile of snow along a highway near Banning, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said in a news release. She was attacked, raped and beaten to death while she was walking, authorities said.
Officers called the unidentified man who found the body “arguable,” the news release said. The man, later identified as Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson, called the county sheriff to report the body, saying he did not 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, which “cleared him of any wrongdoing at that time,” according to the news release.
Nearly five decades later, prosecutors said a cold case murder team used forensic genealogy to confirm that Williamson is Gonzalez's suspected killer.
Forensic genealogy is on the rise across the country, as researchers analyze DNA in addition to traditional genealogical research to generate leads on unsolved cases.
Jason Corey, the lead investigator for the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, said the technique is a great addition to an investigator's toolbox.
“I think it will be a great research tool in the future,” Corey said. “It will help us do a lot of good and not only identify victims, but it will also help point investigators in a direction with their investigative leads that will help bring those suspects to justice.”
Even when the Gonzalez case went nowhere, Riverside County detectives continued to search.
The homicide team continued to investigate the case decades after Gonzalez's death. The team uploaded a semen sample from the crime scene to the Combined DNA Index System, but there were no clues.
In 2023, detectives sent several pieces of evidence to a genetics laboratory in Texas that specializes in forensic genealogy and identifying victims of unsolved murders.
Earlier this year, a crime analyst listed all the facts of the case.
Then the light went off.
“Although Williamson was apparently exonerated by polygraph in 1979, he was never exonerated by DNA because the technology had not yet been developed,” the district attorney's office said.
Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson – Riverside County District Attorney
Performing another 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 the DNA semen sample recovered from Gonzalez's body.
Corey said this case has been in the Riverside County cold case unit since it started about five years ago. Over the years, several investigators have worked on the case. All this came to an end this Wednesday.
“I can't imagine what it's like for them,” Corey said. “That whole family has been devastated over the years. This is a day in, day out thing. I don't think this is something that has ever gotten easier for them as time has gone on.
“I don't know if you can say you're glad it's over because it's still a terrible tragedy, but I hope it can bring them some closure,” Corey said.
The latest development in the cold case brings peace and closure to the Gonzalez family, Esther's older sister Elizabeth said. She was happy to hear that her sister's suspected killer had finally been identified.
“We are very happy to finally close,” Elizabeth Gonzalez, 64, wrote in an email to CNN. “We are happy about it, but since the man died, also a bit sad that he does not want to spend time on her murder.”
Esther and Elizabeth Gonzalez grew up very close, as they were only one year old. Esther is now remembered by her family for her shy but funny 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 following the closure of the Gonzalez family 40 years ago.”
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