Esther Gonzalez case: DNA confirms Lewis Randolph Williamson passed polygraph test as suspected killer in 1979 cold case.

After 45 years, California authorities have finally been 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 they found Esther Gonzalez’s body.

On February 9, 1979, 17-year-old Gonzalez was walking to her sister’s house in Banning, California, about 135 miles east of Los Angeles. She never made it home.

The next day, her body was found in the snow off a highway near Banning, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Authorities said she was attacked while walking, raped and bludgeoned to death.

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 to report the body and said he did not know whether it was a man or a woman. Sheriff’s investigators later asked Williamson to take a polygraph examination.

The district attorney’s office said he agreed to the test and passed it, which “cleared him of any wrongdoing at that time,” the release said.

Nearly five decades later, the district attorney’s office said the cold case homicide team used forensic genealogy to confirm Williamson was the suspected killer of Gonzalez.

Forensic genealogy is gaining popularity across the country as investigators analyze DNA in addition to traditional genealogy research to generate clues to unsolved cases.

Jason Corey, chief investigator for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, said the technique is a huge addition to an investigator’s toolkit.

“I think it will be a great investigative tool in the future,” Corey said. “This will help do a lot of good and not only identify the victims, but also help investigators provide a direction in the investigation that will help bring the suspects to justice.”

Even after Gonzalez’s case was closed, Riverside County detectives continued the search.

The homicide squad continued to investigate the case for decades after Gonzalez’s death. The team sent a semen sample from the crime scene to the Combined DNA Index System, but there were no leads.

In 2023, detectives sent various pieces of evidence to a Texas genetics lab that specializes in forensic genealogy and identifying victims of unsolved murders.

Earlier this year, a crime analyst presented all the facts in the case.

Then the light bulb went off.

“Although Williamson was ostensibly cleared for a polygraph test in 1979, he was never cleared for a DNA test because the technology had not yet been developed,” the district attorney’s office said.

Taking another polygraph was out of the question because Williamson died in Florida in 2014.

However, a blood sample was taken during the autopsy.

Authorities in Florida sent a sample to the California Department of Justice, which confirmed Williamson’s DNA matched a semen DNA sample taken from Gonzalez’s body.

Corey said this case has been on Riverside County’s cold case unit since it was launched about five years ago. Many investigators have worked on the case over the years. It all ended this Wednesday.

“I can’t imagine what it feels like for them,” Corey said. “This whole family has been devastated over the years. It happens every day. I don’t think it gets easier for them as time goes on.”

“I don’t know if you can say you’re happy it’s over because it’s still a terrible tragedy, but I hope this helps them get some closure,” Corey said.

The latest developments in the cold case do provide peace and closure for the Gonzalez family, said Esther’s older sister, Elizabeth. She was happy that her sister’s suspected killer had finally been identified.

“We are so happy to finally have closure,” Elizabeth Gonzalez, 64, wrote in an email to CNN. “We’re happy about it, but since the guy is dead, we’re kind of sad that he won’t take the time to murder her.”

Esther and Elizabeth Gonzalez grew up very close to each other as they were only a year apart in age. The family now remembers Esther for her shy but funny and gentle personality. He 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 closure for the Gonzalez family.”