RivCo DA Mike Hestrin discusses search to identify victim of ‘Happy Face Killer’
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin is asking for the public's help in identifying the last victim of the man known as the "Happy Face Killer."
Keith Jesperson got the nickname for sending smiley-face drawings in letters bragging about his crimes. Je is behind bars for the deaths of at least eight women.
One of those women has yet to be identified.
Renderings and sketches of the woman, who Jesperson says was named Claudia, show she was white, about five-feet-seven inches tall with brown or dyed blond hair and a tattoo of two small dots on her right thumb.
Based on evidence and the killer's own confession, investigators say Jesperson picked her up in his semi-trailer south of Victorville, drove her to the Indio area where he strangled her, and dumped her body in Blythe.
Investigators used DNA technology to identify some of her family members but that proved unsuccessful.
"The problem is that we found her biological father, and we were able to identify some of her half-siblings. But her biological father passed away, and none of her half-siblings knew of her existence," Hestrin told News Channel 3 during an in-depth interview.
Meanwhile, investigators say the victim's maternal side of the family is believed to have ties to Louisiana or Texas.
Anyone with additional leads to the woman's identity is asked to call the county DA's office.
Watch Peter Daut's full, in-depth interview with the District Attorney to learn more.
