{"id":60309,"date":"2025-11-22T04:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T04:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/60309\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T04:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T04:21:14","slug":"students-in-new-course-crack-34-year-old-murder-case-news-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/60309\/","title":{"rendered":"Students in new course crack 34-year-old murder case – News Center"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nWednesday, Nov 19, 2025
\n \u2022 Cristal Gonzalez :
\n Contact
\n<\/a> <\/p>\n

\n\"StudentsJessica Roberts (left), the daughter of Cynthia Gonzalez, stands next to students in the cold case class at the APD-UTA press conference. (UTA Photo)\n<\/p>\n

Students in The University of Texas at Arlington\u2019s Criminology and Criminal Justice Department <\/a>have helped Arlington Police Department detectives break a 34-year-old homicide cold case.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, at a joint APD-UTA press conference, police announced an arrest was made on Nov. 6 in connection to the 1991 murder of Cynthia Gonzalez\u2014one of three cold cases being reviewed this fall by 15 students in Patricia Eddings\u2019 new cold case course<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\"PhotosPhotos of the victim, Cynthia Gonzalez, at the APD-UTA press conference. (UTA Photo)\n<\/p>\n

On Sept. 17, 1991, 25-year-old Gonzalez<\/a> was reported missing by her ex-husband. Five days later, police received reports of a deceased woman found in rural Johnson County, later confirmed to be Gonzalez. Detectives pursued numerous leads through the years, but never made an arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was extremely shocked when the detectives told us an arrest had been made; it made me so happy to hear,\u201d said Jenna Lewis, a senior criminology and criminal justice and biology double-major. \u201cWhen we first started working on this case and learning about the victim, a fire was lit in me. We just wanted to solve this case so badly for the victim and her family. Our whole class is extremely proud we were able to help them get answers and help them out in this way.\u201d <\/p>\n

All the students spent class time, and often for hours before and after, reviewing their assigned case file in groups, which included witness statements, evidence and crime scene photos, and police and detective reports. They worked closely with APD detectives in hopes of finding new leads to bring closure to families long seeking answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NATIONAL COVERAGE: <\/p>\n

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: <\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me tremendously proud to see my students do something like this. I can\u2019t express in words how proud I am,\u201d said Eddings<\/a>, distinguished senior lecturer and director of the forensic applications of science and technology minor<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve watched my students absorb so much and work very closely with detectives to help bring justice to these victims.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\"DetectivesDetectives from APD meet with students in the cold case class on campus. (UTA Photo)\n<\/p>\n

During Monday\u2019s press conference, Arlington Chief of Police Al Jones expressed his gratitude to Eddings and her students for the effort they put into breaking the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we launched our partnership with UTA, we always hoped that we\u2019d get a moment like this,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI want to thank the students for their work and their dedication to this case\u2014you helped us get here. I also want to thank Professor Eddings and UTA for embracing this program. I hope we get more of these types of endings in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n

APD and UTA will continue their partnership, and the course will be offered again to students pursuing a forensic science minor next semester. <\/p>\n

\u201cPartnerships like what we have just seen are at the very core of the mission of the University,\u201d said Rebecca Deen<\/a>, senior associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts. \u201cFor our students to be able to experience this real-world training through our collaboration with APD had been life-changing for them. Most importantly, the victim’s family finally has answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\"UTAMembers of UTA’s criminology and criminal justice faculty, detectives from APD and the 15 students in the cold case class. (APD Photo)\n<\/p>\n

About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)<\/p>\n

Celebrating its 130th anniversary<\/a> in 2025, The University of Texas at Arlington<\/a>\u202fis a growing public research university in the heart of the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. With a student body of\u202fover 42,700, UTA is the second-largest institution in the\u202fUniversity of Texas System, offering more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Recognized as a Carnegie R-1 university, UTA stands among the nation\u2019s top 5% of institutions for research activity. UTA and its 280,000 alumni generate an annual economic impact of $28.8 billion for the state. The University has received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and has earned recognition for its focus on student access and success, considered key drivers to economic growth and social progress for North Texas and beyond. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wednesday, Nov 19, 2025 \u2022 Cristal Gonzalez : Contact Jessica Roberts (left), the daughter of Cynthia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":{"0":"post-60309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}