Riverside cold case homicide investigators seek public's help to identify woman found dead in 1994

The Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team has released new information, thanks to advances in forensic science, about a woman found dead in the open California desert in 1994, in hopes of identifying her.

On October 20, 1994, Southern California Edison employees discovered the body of a woman in the desert on Eagle Mountain Road, about a half a mile north of the 10 Freeway, in Desert Center.

Investigators at the time described the woman to be between 25 and 35 years old, about 5 feet to 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing between 130 and 150 pounds, with shoulder-length brown hair, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

She was wearing a yellow metal chain with a medallion in the shape of a ship's wheel with an anchor in the middle.

Identification was not successful after fingerprint and dental record comparisons, and there have been no new leads over the years.

The case was re-examined in 2023 using advances in forensic science, including forensic investigative genetic genealogy. Bone samples were evaluated for DNA analysis, leading to a victim profile that was uploaded to an ancestry database.

In 2024, a photo rendition of the victim was created, along with ancestry information, which determined that she was of Southeast Asian descent, with brown eyes, black hair and a light brown complexion, according to the Riverside DA's Office.

Riverside investigators ask the community for any information about the identity of the victim, including her jewelry, her disappearance, or death. Call Investigator Ebony Caviness at (951) 955-0257 with any information, or email coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org.