By Hannah Lozada
Police have recently identified a John Doe victim from 1978. On June 3, 1978, at 4:30 AM, the body of an unidentified teen was discovered at Division Street in Belmont Shore according to the Long Beach Police Department. He was found dead at the scene, presumably from strangulation.
Police have tried for many years to identify John Doe 1978. They have even expanded their search internationally, but they haven’t made any progress until this month. Using genetic genealogy, police were able to identify John Doe 1978 as Kenneth Nevada Williams, who was a 15-year-old who ran away from his home in 1978.
“He’s 15 years old, and during that time he was a chronic runaway. It was very common for him to miss school, to run away from home, to go missing for long periods of time then come back,” Mejia stated. He also said that Kenneth’s family expected him to return home. When he didn’t show up, his family hired a private detective to find him, but they were unsuccessful.
Internet sleuths theorized that Randy Kraft, a serial killer that was active in Southern California between 1971-1983. However, the police ruled out Randy Kraft as a suspect for unknown reasons.
The LBPD is currently working on finding Kenneth’s murderer.
beniciapaw.com 