Another cold case receives a DNA assist
Evidence from scene generates facial profile of possible suspect in 1994 slaying of girl.
Twenty-five years after the tiny body of 10-year-old Angelica Ramirez was found in an irrigation canal in Tulare County, authorities have released a profile of a possible suspect in her killing generated from DNA evidence at the crime scene.
Detectives hope the new information will provide a break in finding Angelica’s killer after an investigation spanning two decades. Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs provided three profiles — one showing a man in his mid-20s, another detailing what he might look like at age 50 and a third showing his characteristics at 75 years old.
The process uses DNA to calculate a possible suspect’s facial composite, gender, ancestry, freckles, and skin, eye and hair color. Based on the DNA provided to the lab, the man has light brown skin, brown or black eyes and black or dark brown hair, according to the profile.
“For the first time in the 25 years since she was killed, we have a face to this crime,” Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said.
Police agencies across the country have recently sought Parabon’s services to help crack cold cases using DNA evidence with increasing success.
Last year, Newport Beach police released a profile of a man suspected of killing 11-year-old Linda Ann O’Keefe in 1973. The profile helped renew public interest in the case, police said. In February, authorities arrested James Alan Neal, 72, in Colorado Springs, Colo., in connection to Linda’s death.
In 2017, the laboratory helped Costa Mesa detectives identify a suspect in the 1997 slaying of 26-year-old Adrienne “Sunny” Sudweeks.
Angelica disappeared March 3, 1994, from a flea market in Visalia where her mother worked as a vendor. That day, her mother had put Angelica — the eldest — in charge of watching her siblings. Midmorning, the girl walked away from the booth to go to the bathroom and never returned.
Tracking dogs, deputies and her family scoured the market for her. The dogs picked up her scent and followed it to the parking lot, but she wasn’t there.
Two days later, a farmworker found Angelica’s body in a canal on Avenue 96 in the Pixley area.
Detectives interviewed registered sex offenders and sent DNA from the crime scene to databases in an effort to find her assailant, but couldn’t find a match. With no new leads, the case grew cold, but it still weighed on the minds of investigators.
The FBI reviewed the case in 1998, visited the crime scene, examined old evidence and interviewed Angela’s mother. Four years later, DNA from the scene was run through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, but no matches were found.
Last year, the agency produced a video titled “Help Me Catch My Killer,” narrated in a representation of Angelica’s voice. The video describes the day the fourth-grader went missing.
She had been wearing her favorite shirt, a white T-shirt showing a cat at the beach with the words “Kool Kat,” and earrings in the shape of Mrs. Potts from the Disney film “Beauty and the Beast.” The earrings have never been found.
“The man who hurt me may still have them, or maybe he gave them to somebody,” the voice says.
The video helped generate interest in the case, officials said, but failed to provide new leads. That’s when detectives turned to Parabon NanoLabs for help.
Sheriff ’s officials are reexamining all evidence and leads in light of the forensic development.
“We are hopeful someone recognizes him and comes forward with information,” Boudreaux said. “Any information, however small or seemingly insignificant, can break open this case and bring justice to Angelica’s family.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Tulare County Sheriff ’s Office at (559) 733-6218 or anonymously through the Sheriff ’s TipNow Program at (559) 725-4194.
‘For the first time in the 25 years since she was killed, we have a face to this crime.’ — Mike Boudreaux, Tulare County sheriff