Cynthia Gonzalez was last seen alive on Sept. 16, 1991, before she was found shot to death in rural Johnson County.
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — A Tarrant County Grand Jury declined to issue an indictment in connection with a 1991 cold case that has drawn nationwide attention, officials said in a press release.
Gonzalez worked as an adult entertainer and was last seen on Sept. 16, 1991, when she left home to meet a client, according to previous WFAA reporting.
Grand jurors reviewed available evidence on Friday and ultimately chose not to issue charges, a press release from the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office said.
Jurors issued a no bill on the capital murder arrest warrant against Janie C. Perkins in relation to the cold case. This means Perkins is cleared of the capital murder charge in the case.
The case gained even more attention in 2025 after students at the University of Texas at Arlington partnered with local police, to sift through evidence, leading them to Perkins.
“The Perkins family is grateful to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and to the members of the grand jury for taking the time to conduct a thorough, evidence-based review,” D. Miles Brissette, counsel for Perkins, said in a press release.
Gonzalez was found five days after she was reported missing. She had been shot to death, and her body was found in rural Johnson County, the press release said.
“This is the difficult reality of many cold cases,” Trial Specialist Kim D’Avignon said in the Tarrant County press release. “We will not give up hope that someone knows something that could help us to successfully prosecute this case in the future.”