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25-year-old Cynthia Gonzalez (Source: Arlington Police Department)
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Arlington Police Department has made an arrest in a 34-year-old murder case after a review prompted by a new academic partnership with the University of Texas at Arlington’s Criminology Department.
1991 Cold Case Arrest
What we know:
Homicide detectives obtained a warrant for 63-year-old Janie Perkins on one count of Capital Murder in the 1991 slaying of Cynthia Gonzalez. Perkins was located by the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force in Azle, Texas, and taken into custody on Nov. 6, 2025.
63-year-old Janie Perkins (Source: Arlington Police Department)
The backstory:
Gonzalez, 25, was reported missing by her ex-husband on Sept. 17, 1991, after she left her Arlington home to meet a client. She worked as an adult entertainer, according to Arlington Police. Her vehicle was found abandoned hours later. Police were looking into the possibility that she had been kidnapped.Â
Five days later, her body, which had been shot multiple times, was discovered dumped on private property in a rural area of Johnson County.
The case remained unsolved for more than three decades despite numerous leads.
Cold Case Breakthrough
Dig deeper:
The breakthrough came earlier this year when Gonzalez’s case was assigned to an Arlington Homicide detective for review. The case was also one of three cold cases assigned to students in a new advanced criminology course launched by UTA’s Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice in partnership with the police department.
UTA’s Department of Criminology & Criminal JusticeÂ
Students working on the case began asking detectives specific questions about a woman named Janie Perkins, prompting detectives to conduct further research into the original case files.
Perkins, a friend of Gonzalez, had been investigated in the 1990s after detectives learned the women shared a romantic partner who had recently ended his relationship with Perkins, weeks before the murder, to be with Gonzalez.Â
According to Arlington police, Perkins could not provide the original detectives with an alibi for where she was the night Gonzalez went missing. She also failed two voluntary polygraph tests when asked if she knew who killed Gonzalez or if she killed her. Additionally, she made statements to investigators indicating she was glad Gonzalez was dead and that she’d even thought about killing her or having someone else kill her. Polygraph tests are not admissible in court and Perkins maintained she was not involved in the murder. She was never charged.
Current detectives, upon thoroughly reviewing the case files, discovered new witness statements that claimed Perkins had admitted to her involvement in the murder and provided specific, verifiable details about the killing. They believe Perkins either participated in or facilitated the kidnapping and death of Gonzalez.
After consulting with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, detectives moved forward with filing criminal charges against her.Â
What they’re saying:
“When we launched our cold case partnership with UTA, we always hoped we’d get an outcome like this one day,” said Chief of Police Al Jones. “I don’t think any of us expected that lightning would strike the first time. I want to sincerely thank the students for their work and dedication to this case. I also want to thank UTA faculty for embracing this program. We hope this is just the first of more to come.”
Detectives recently met with the students to let them know their questions helped secure an arrest warrant in the case.Â
The Source: Information in this article is from the Arlington Police Department.