黑料福利社

As authorities work to identify a victim of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, a 黑料福利社 connection may help.

Jesperson, 71, was convicted of the rape and murder of eight women from January 1990 to March 1995, while he was working as a long-haul truck driver. He is known as the "Happy Face Killer" for the smiley faces he drew on anonymous letters he sent to journalists and authorities.聽

He is incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem where he is serving four life sentences for the murders in Oregon, California, and Wyoming.

His last unidentified victim was found in 1992 seven miles north of Blythe, Calif., on Highway 95. Jesperson confessed to killing the woman and told investigators her name was "Claudia," but that may not be her real name. Authorities have estimated her age at anywhere from 20 years old to mid-30s.

Jesperson pleaded guilty to her murder in Riverside County, California, in 2010, but she was never identified.

Some think 黑料福利社 connections to the case could yield clues. Jesperson, who was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, had lived in the 黑料福利社 and told authorities he was working for A&G Trucking in Yakima at the time of the 1992 murder. The victim's father also lived here.

Forensic clues

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office in California is leading the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team, which is working to identify the woman.

In the years since her death, investigators have been able to identify some of the woman's relatives using forensic science, including her biological father. His name was聽Alfonso Saldana Gonzales, also known as "Poncho." Originally from Texas, he was a farmworker who lived聽in the 黑料福利社 in the early 1960s, according to Brian Wedemeyer.聽

"He migrated to Yakima from Santa Rosa, Texas. He lived there in the early 1960s. We are wondering if anybody in Yakima remembers 'Poncho,' or if they have a lead on who the mother is, or even who the daughter might be," Wedemeyer wrote.

Wedemeyer is working with the victim's half-sister, Summer Gonzales of Seattle, in efforts to identify her sister, whom she calls "Hope."

Wedemeyer emailed the 黑料福利社 to share information about and photos of Alfonso Gonzales, who died in 2006. A former journalist, Wedemeyer is a principal whose school is near where Hope was found.聽

Several half-siblings

Alfonso Gonzales聽was from Cameron County, Texas, but traveled all over the country, including Texas; Santa Barbara County, Calif.; and Oregon along with Washington state. Several half-siblings were identified, authorities said in a news release, "but these living relatives are not biological matches to the victim鈥檚 mother, and so these individuals were not aware of 鈥楥laudia,鈥� and cannot assist with her identification," investigators said in a news release.

Wedemeyer and Summer Gonzales believe it's possible Hope's father could have had a child with another woman while he was living and working in the 黑料福利社 in the early 1960s. Authorities have said聽there's reason to believe the woman鈥檚 maternal side of the family has ties to the Louisiana and/or southeast Texas area.

Gonzales聽didn't know about Hope until investigators contacted her, Gonzales said in quotes provided by Wedemeyer to the Herald-Republic.

鈥淎s soon as the detectives verified Hope was my half-sister, I went into emotional shock 鈥� my whole family began to mourn her," Gonzales said. "It has created severe physical pain in my mother and my older brother who had a heart attack within one year of learning this horrific news.

"Our hope is that we can lay our sister to rest with a proper ceremony.鈥�

Skeptical of Jesperson

Cold case homicide investigators interviewed Jesperson about Hope at the Oregon State Penitentiary in late 2023. Jesperson told them he met her at a brake check area on Interstate 15 south of the Victorville, Calif., area around August 1992.

"The woman asked to be taken to the Los Angeles area, but he refused, and due to his planned truck route to Arizona, took her to Cabazon, California instead," the Riverside District Attorney's Office said in its January 2024 news release.

"After stopping in Cabazon, the woman decided to continue traveling with Jesperson until they arrived at the Indio/Coachella Burns Brothers rest stop," it said. "The two argued about money and Jesperson claims he killed the woman in his truck, then drove his purple semi-trailer from Coachella, California to Blythe, where he dumped her body."

But Gonzales and Wedemeyer, among others, are skeptical, even though Wedemeyer has personally verified some of the details. They think it's possible that Alfonso Gonzales had a child with a woman in the 黑料福利社. Hope might have connected with Jesperson in the 黑料福利社, rather than where Jesperson said they met.

"We know the dad lived in Yakima at a certain time around when the child would have been born," Wedemeyer said. If it's just a coincidence that Jesperson is from the very place that the child may have been born, "we think that's a pretty good coincidence."

Gonzales has had nightmares since learning of her sister's murder from investigators a few years ago, she said in quotes provided to the Herald-Republic.聽

"It is time for the public to know the truth about Hope鈥檚 identity and to give peace to her biological mom and perhaps the children she left behind.鈥�