Authorities said Thursday that the last unidentified victim of Keith Hunter Jesperson, the serial killer infamously known as the “Happy Face Killer,” has finally been named more than 30 years after her body was found beside a California highway.
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said the woman, known to investigators for decades only as “Claudia,” was Lydia Jane Wade McWhorter of Texas. Her identity was confirmed through DNA testing that linked her to a relative on her maternal side.
McWhorter was found dead on Aug. 30, 1992, along Highway 95, roughly seven miles north of Blythe, California.
Jesperson, a long-haul truck driver who confessed to murdering eight women in several states, later admitted that he had killed her.
When questioned by investigators, Jesperson said he knew the victim as “Claudia,” though authorities could not confirm whether that was her legal name or an alias.
Keith Hunter Jesperson, center, listens as Don Findlay, far right, the son of murder victim Julie Ann Winningham, speaks in court during Jesperson’s sentencing on Dec. 19, 1995, at the Clark County Courthouse in Vancouver, Washington. (Jeremiah Coughlan/AP Photo/The Columbian, File)
The breakthrough follows a renewed public push by Riverside County investigators in 2024 to identify McWhorter. At that point, genetic genealogy had already tied the unknown victim to relatives on her father’s side, but investigators still needed a maternal family link to verify who she was.
News Outlet reported at the time that DNA testing had identified Summer Gonzales as the victim’s paternal half-sister. Gonzales said she hoped to learn her sister’s real name and ultimately bring her home to be laid to rest with family.
An investigative lead ultimately brought the cold case team to one of McWhorter’s direct maternal relatives, according to the district attorney’s office. Investigators then identified a possible genetic connection to another member of the maternal family.
A DNA sample confirmed that connection earlier this week, allowing investigators to positively identify McWhorter nearly 34 years after her body was found, authorities said.
Lydia Jane Wade McWhorter, whose body was found near Blythe, Calif., in 1992, was identified nearly 34 years later through DNA testing. (Riverside County District Attorney’s Office)
McWhorter’s sisters, who grew up with her, had spent decades without knowing what happened to her after she disappeared from Texas in the 1990s, according to prosecutors.
“I want to thank the public for the role you play in our investigations,” Billy Hester, supervising investigator of the Cold Case Unit, said in a news release. “When people take the time to share information, submit a tip or simply pay attention to what is happening in their community, it can make a real difference. You may not know where a piece of information will lead, but our investigators will follow it. Most importantly, I hope this will finally bring closure to Lydia’s family.”
The district attorney’s Division of Victim Services is working with McWhorter’s family as they decide how to honor her and lay her to rest.
Lydia Jane Wade McWhorter disappeared from Texas in the 1990s before her body was found along Highway 95 near Blythe, Calif., in August 1992. (Riverside County District Attorney’s Office)
Jesperson was arrested in 1995, and eventually confessed to killing eight women between 1990 and 1995 in California, Washington state, Oregon, Florida, Nebraska and Wyoming.
He became known as the “Happy Face Killer” after sending letters about his crimes to the media that he signed with a smiley face.
He pleaded guilty to McWhorter’s murder in Riverside County on Jan. 8, 2010, and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
He is serving multiple life sentences in Oregon.
With McWhorter’s identification, Riverside County’s cold case team has now closed the final unidentified-victim case tied to the murders for which Jesperson was convicted.
