Nameless Victim of ‘Happy Face Killer’ Had Santa Barbara Ties

Cold Case Investigators Identify Father of Serial Killer’s Victim as Former S.B. Resident

By Jackson Friedman Mon Jan 08, 2024 | 06:17pm

A sketch and two renderings of the last remaining unidentified victim of “Happy Face Killer” Keith Hunter Jesperson | Credit: Courtesy

The only remaining unidentified victim of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, known as the “Happy Face Killer,” was the daughter of a former Santa Barbara man. Investigators out of Riverside County say that a recent discovery — which was made thanks to recent advances in DNA technology — has brought them closer to closing the 31-year-old cold case, and they are now seeking the public’s help in finally putting a name to the victim’s face and bringing closure to her family.

The woman’s body was found on August 30, 1992, north of the City of Blythe in Riverside County. After his arrest in another case, Jesperson confessed to killing the woman — whom he referred to as “Claudia” — and seven other women. Jesperson became known as the Happy Face Killer for drawing smiley faces on his many letters to the media and authorities. While he claimed to have killed as many as 160 people, only those eight murders have been confirmed. He pleaded guilty to murder in 2010 and is currently serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole in Oregon.

Decades after the woman’s death, improvements in forensic science have allowed investigators and genealogists to determine some of her relatives, including her deceased biological father. Investigators say the woman’s father, Alfonso Sandana Gonzales, was living in Santa Barbara at the time of the woman’s probable conception and that she may have relatives who lived in the area. The woman’s maternal side of the family is believed to have ties to the Louisiana or southeast Texas area. Investigators have released a description of the woman and two renderings of her based on forensic genealogy to help in her identification.

The woman is described as a white female with fair complexion around 25-35 years old and 5 foot 7 inches tall with brown or dyed blonde hair. She had a tattoo of two dots on the side of her right thumb. She is described as a frequent hitchhiker from the Southern California region, possibly San Bernardino, Riverside, or Los Angeles County. She was reportedly hitchhiking back to L.A. when she was picked up by Jesperson in Victorville and murdered inside his purple 1989 Peterbilt semi-truck at a truck stop near Indio.

“Our goal is to identify this victim and provide closure to her family, wherever they may be,” said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin. “We are hopeful someone hearing any of these details may remember anything that could help us reunite this woman with the family who may have been looking for her for over three decades.”

Any leads — including those who may have known the woman’s father or whom he was dating in the ’70s and ’80s — can be reported to the Cold Case Hotline at (951) 955-5567, or by emailing coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org. Additional details about the cold case can be found in the Riverside DA’s press release and the video found here.