Identity sought of ‘Happy Face Killer’ victim found 31 years ago, California officials say

A woman found dead in 1992 after being killed by the so-called “Happy Face Killer” remains unidentified 31 years later, California authorities reported.

Now the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office is seeking help trying to identify her, a Monday, Jan. 8, news release from the agency said.

The woman’s body was found Aug. 30, 1992, along Highway 95, about seven miles north of the city of Blythe, officials said.

After his arrest in another case, Keith Hunter Jesperson confessed that he killed her and seven other women, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to her murder in 2010 and was sentenced to 15 years to life.

He was dubbed the “Happy Face Killer” for the smiley faces in a letter to a newspaper boasting of his crimes, KABC said.

In late 2023, Jesperson provided officials with more information on the woman, whom he knew only as “Claudia,” which may have been a fake name, prosecutors said.

He said he met her at a brake check spot on Interstate 15 south of Victorville in August 1992, where she asked to be taken to Los Angeles. He refused, but she rode with him to Coachella, where he strangled her after an argument about money, officials said.

“Claudia” was “about 20 to 30 years old, about (5 feet, 6 inches to 5-7), and was of medium build, around 140-150 pounds,” officials said.

“She was found wearing a t-shirt printed with a motorcycle and had a tattoo of two small dots on the left side of her right thumb.”

The woman is believed to have been familiar with Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside County areas, and had ties to Las Vegas and southern Nevada, prosecutors said.

She smoked cigarettes and was a frequent hitchhiker, according to the release.

Investigators have identified her birth father, who is dead, and several half-siblings, but none have been able to identify her, officials said.

“Our goal is to identify this victim and provide closure to her family, wherever they may be,” District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in the release. “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.”

Officials ask anyone with information to contact the Cold Case Hotline at 951-955-5567, or by emailing coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org.

This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 9:15 AM with the headline "Identity sought of ‘Happy Face Killer’ victim found 31 years ago, California officials say."