DNA ties I.E. cold-case killing to suspect who had passed polygraph

A rape and murder in Riverside County from almost 50 years ago has been solved using DNA technology, revealing that investigators had their man early on in the investigation, but he was cleared after he passed a polygraph test.

Esther Gonzalez, 17, was found "dumped in a snowpack" alongside Highway 243 south of Poppet Flat Road in Banning after being attacked on Feb. 9, 1979, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.

Gonzalez, who was walking from her parents' home in Beaumont to her sister's home in Banning, had been raped and bludgeoned to death.

Her body was found the next day after an unidentified man called the Riverside County Sheriff's Department to report that he'd found a body, though deputies said he was "argumentative" and declined to say if the body was a man or woman.

After five days, investigators identified Lewis Randolph "Randy" Williamson as the caller, though Williamson was "cleared ... of any wrongdoing" after he passed a polygraph.

Williamson died in 2014, but earlier this year, a blood sample collected during his autopsy was matched to a semen sample taken from Gonzalez's body.

Anyone with information about Williamson, Gonzalez or other possible victims is asked to call 951-955-2777 or email coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org.