DNA links 1979 rape and murder of teenager to man who reported finding her body

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS) – The family of a 17-year-old girl who was raped and murdered more than 40 years ago may finally have answers found using DNA evidence.

Esther Gonzalez was murdered in 1979, and the identity of her killer remained unknown for decades.

He would never hurt anyone, his sister Liz Gonzalez said.

“Sometimes I wish I had followed him, you know, if I had known this was going to happen I would have followed him,” Liz Gonzalez said.

Liz Gonzalez and her brother, Eddie Gonzalez, said their sister was a senior in high school when she disappeared.

He was reportedly walking from his mother’s house to his sister’s house one Friday night. His body was found the next day on a mountain road 15 miles from that area.

“I never let this go because I know if it was me, my sister would never have let it go,” Liz Gonzalez said.

After all this time, the family finally knows who killed Esther Gonzalez.

Jason Cory is an investigator for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the Regional Cold Case Task Force.

“Many of these families deserve justice,” he said.

Cory said the evidence was sent Otram Laboratories New technology was used to sequence the DNA of a possible suspect in Texas.

“We were able to upload that profile to a direct-to-consumer website and then our genealogist started working on it,” he said.

The DNA matched Randy Williamson, with whom Eddie Gonzalez went to high school.

“I was very surprised because I didn’t think he could do something like that,” Eddie Gonzalez said.

Williamson was the person who reported Esther Gonzalez’s body and was questioned by police five days after her death. He even took a lie detector test.

“During the interview, he admitted to finding Esther’s body,” Cory said. “He was rude on the phone because he didn’t want to get involved in this.”

Williamson died in Florida in 2014, but the medical examiner still had a blood sample confirming he was the killer.

“I wish the man had survived and served a life sentence,” Eddie Gonzalez said.

The family said the answers were sufficient. Even though nothing can bring their little brother back, knowing what happened gives them some peace.

“I feel like he’s still with me, but I still miss him,” Liz Gonzalez said.

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