California officials in Riverside announced Monday that they are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a woman killed by Keith Jesperson, otherwise known as the “Happy Face Killer.”
The woman’s remains were found on August 30, 1992, near Blythe along Highway 95 in California. Jesperson referred to the woman as “Claudia,” although officials aren’t sure if that is her real name, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Jesperson, 68, admitted to murdering several women across Nebraska, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, and Florida. He claimed to have killed 185 people, although investigators have not confirmed that claim.
Identifying some victims has proven challenging for investigators, particularly those who were drifters or sex workers with limited connections to their families, ABC 5 reports.
“We hope to give this victim back her identity,” Hestrin said during a video statement. “We are hopeful someone hearing any of these details may remember anything that could help us reunite this woman with the family.”
The Los Angeles Times reports that Jesperson described “Claudia” as a white woman who stood around 5 feet 6 inches tall and appeared in her 20s with shaggy blonde hair.
She also had a “tattoo of two dots on the left side of the thumb on her right hand,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Jesperson told investigators that he found the victim while she was hitchhiking near Victorville, along Highway 15. Jesperson, who was working as a long-haul truck driver at the time, said the woman told him she was headed to Los Angeles.
Jesperson gave the victim a ride and headed southward to Cabazon, then stopped at a rest stop in the Coachella Valley. Jesperson said he then killed her after a dispute over money, then drove approximately seven miles north of Blythe, along Highway 95, and discarded her on the roadside.
Forensic investigators utilized DNA testing to identify the victim’s deceased biological father as a man from Cameron County, Texas. The mother’s identity remains unknown, with possibilities suggesting she could have been from Louisiana or southeastern Texas.
Investigators also reached out to people believed to be the woman’s half-siblings, but they reportedly said they didn’t know of the victim and could not identify her.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Riverside County District Attorney’s cold case hotline at (951) 955-5567. Tips can be emailed to coldecaseunit@rivcoda.org.
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[Feature Photo via Riverside County Sheriff’s Office]
