He is a notorious serial killer convicted of murdering at least eight women throughout the United States. Now, prosecutors are asking people in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties for their help with the case.
The killer is behind bars, but efforts continue to solve the three-decade-old mystery behind one of his victims. The answer might come from Santa Barbara County.
"We're not asking for the public help in identifying the killer. We know who the killer is. We're asking for the public's help in identifying the victim, simply to give her back her identity," said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin.
Hestrin said the killings started in the early 1990s, when a truck driver started picking up, sexually assaulting, and murdering women he met on the road.
"Keith Hunter Jesperson was the serial killer known as the Happy Face Killer. He killed women across different parts of the country, Washington, California among other places," said Hestrin.
Jesperson was nicknamed the “Happy Face Killer” because he would put little happy faces on taunting notes he sent to authorities and the media before he was caught.
He was arrested in 1995 and eventually received four life sentences. But, one of his victims remained unidentified.
"We call her Claudia, but we don't know that her name is Claudia," said the DA. "Jesperson, in his confession, said that that was her name. Her body was found in Riverside County. Investigators from Riverside County investigated the death, and looked at missing persons cases, but the case went cold. We had no leads, and a body that was unidentified."
The DA said she died in 1992, near the California desert community of Blythe. "Her body was discovered August 30th, 1992. Jesperson claims that he picked up the woman when he traveling towards Indio. He eventually killed her and dumped her body near Blythe."
Hestrin said his office got a grant to set up a new cold case unit. They picked up the mystery of the identity of the 1992 murder victim.
Thanks to DNA evidence they identified the father, Alonzo Gonzales. He died years ago. It’s believed she was conceived in Santa Barbara County, because that’s where he was living at the time. But, his family members said they didn't know that he had fathered the child who would eventually become the murder victim.
"Santa Barbara and Ventura got involved in this because we were able to speak to his children, Claudia's half-siblings, and we were advised at one point he did live in Santa Barbara County," said Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Senior Investigator Ebony Caviness.
"My partner and I Amy Contreras conducted an interview with Jesperson in late 2023," said Caviness. "We had a composite sketch, and we brought that to him, and he was able to fine tune her appearance."
She's described as having a fair complexion, shaggy wild blonde hair that possibly could by dyed, and a medium build. She stood 5'6" to 5' 7", weighed140 to 150 pounds, and had a tattoo on her right thumb with two dots.
They are hoping with these new clues someone might remember something to help identify the woman.
"Our whole goal is to get her identified, and just to bring some dignity to her, and her family," said Caviness. "For over 30 years now, she's gone nameless. We would like to give her her identity back."
As for the killer, the 68-year-old man remains behind bars in Salem, Oregon.
He told prosecutors after his arrest that he had killed 160 women. They didn’t believe that number, but they do think there are more victims which were never linked to him.
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said DNA advances are opening doors on this and a number of other unsolved cases.
If you think you might recognize the woman (remember, this is what she would have looked like in 1992) call the Riverside County District Attorney's Office Cold Case Unit at 951-955-5567.
