Arrest made in 1986 cold case kidnapping, murder, of four-year-old Jessica Gutierrez
On January 6, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department (LCSD) announced that a North Carolina man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing a child in Lexington County more than three decades ago. Thomas Eric McDowell, 61, is charged with murder, kidnapping and first-degree burglary in connection to the disappearance and death of four-year-old Jessica Gutierrez in June 1986. Jessica’s body was never found.
McDowell, who lived in Lexington County in 1986, was arrested by the Wake Forest Police Department at his home about 20 miles north of Raleigh Thursday morning. He is being held in the Wake County Detention Center without bail.
On June 6, 1986, in Lexington County, South Carolina, 4-year-old Jessica vanished. She was nowhere to be found when her family woke up that morning. A massive search ensued for several days, but it seemed that no signs of Jessica were ever uncovered. ~ ABC 11
Jessica “was last seen at home and became missing between the hours of 11:30 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.,” according to MissingKids.org. Jessica was sleeping in a bedroom she shared with her two sisters. McDowell, “apparently broke in through the living room window and removed the screen and curtains. The abductor(s) then removed Jessica from the bedroom and left the residence through the front door,” according to a report by The Charley Project.
“Jessica’s mother discovered the crime scene and her disappearance on the morning of June 6; [Jessica’s] six-year-old sister, Rebecca, stated she had been taken by ‘the man with the magic hat and the beard.’ She has never been heard from again.” ~ Heavy
Also, according to The Charley Project, McDowell, then 27 and a “friend of the family,” was a “longtime suspect” in the case.
“We took a fresh look at this case in September when FBI special agents and analysts assigned to its specialized Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team and prosecutors with the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office came to Lexington,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said.
“SLED agents also joined us in reviewing initial reports and interviewing more than 125 people. Because of the work we did, coming together as a team, we were able to sort and connect more pieces of the puzzle about what happened to Jessica all those years ago.”
More than 3,500 case file pages were reviewed in September, according to Koon. Ten FBI field offices were involved in the reexamination of the case last year.
“This arrest is due in part to the many years of dedicated investigative work by local, state and federal partners, as well as the resolve of citizens who have never forgotten Jessica,” FBI Columbia Special Agent in Charge Susan Ferensic said. “Regardless of how long a child is missing, we will never stop searching for answers, and we hope that this arrest is a step toward healing for the Gutierrez family.”
Koon said the case would be prosecuted by the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, which has held the case since February 2015.
(Source: Lexington County Sheriff’s Department)
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
