PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — California officials have named the final victim of a serial killer currently serving multiple life sentences in Oregon.
On Thursday, the Riverside District Attorney’s Office identified the remains found on Aug. 30, 1992 along Highway 95 in Blythe, Calif. as Lydia Jane Wade McWhorter. She was one of multiple women murdered by Keith Hunter Jesperson — also known as the “Happy Face Killer.”
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Officials said Jesperson once admitted to meeting McWhorter and then killing her when he worked as a long-haul truck driver. He referred to her as “Claudia,” prompting investigators to do the same, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The agency reported that the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team sought additional information that could help them identify McWhorter in 2024. Authorities said recent advancements in DNA technology helped them identify her paternal family, but they didn’t yet have a maternal connection.
A lead then led investigators to one of McWhorter’s direct maternal relatives, according to the DA’s Office. The agency revealed that a DNA sample confirmed the relative’s genetic connection to the victim earlier this week.
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Officials noted that McWhorter’s sisters spent decades unaware of what happened to her after she disappeared from Texas in the ’90s.
“I want to thank the public for the role you play in our investigations,” Cold Case Unit Supervising Investigator Billy Hester said in a statement. “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 DA’s Office said its Division of Victim Services is working along McWhorter’s family to “determine how they would like to honor and lay her to rest.”
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Jesperson pleaded guilty to murdering McWhorter in January 2010. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, according to officials.
Jesperson murdered eight women across Oregon, California, Washington, Florida, Nebraska, and Wyoming in the early-to-mid ’90s.
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