Over 20 years ago, Suzanne Sites-Fenton was working her night shift at Mervyn‘s Department Store in the Victor Valley Mall when she stepped outside to take a call.
She was found slain in a dump days later. For years, her family, including her husband and then 6-year-old son, were left not knowing who killed the young mother.
On Thursday, a suspect in the cold case was finally arrested. San Bernardino sheriff’s detectives and a SWAT team arrested 51-year-old Raymond Silva Gonzalez in Hesperia on a warrant for the murder.
Authorities confirm that Gonzales is the lead suspect in the 2001 case and is being held without bail at the High Desert Detention Center. Gonzales was arrested on Smoke Tree Street less than 10 miles from the dump site where Sites-Fenton was found, according to authorities.
Sites-Fenton was 32 when she disappeared from the Mervyn’s department store parking lot on April 14, 2001. Last seen by her co-workers around 8:30 p.m., Sites-Fenton was expected by her husband to pick up Easter candy for their son after work, according to the Daily Press at the time. When she failed to turn up by 1 a.m., he reported her missing. The next day, as the community searched, her stepfather discovered her car— parked behind a Big 5 Sporting Goods with her belongings still inside.
The San Bernardino sheriff’s office said the vehicle had evidence of a physical altercation. A few days after her disappearance, officials said a man searching for treasures in an illegal pile of trash dumped in brush discovered her body. The San Bernardino sheriff’s office reported that the investigation determined that Sites-Fenton was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and shot.
The slaying struck fear in the quiet community of Adelanto, where rumors spread about a serial killer on the loose in Victor Valley, according to the Daily Press. Sheriff’s officials denied the claims at the time but no arrests were made — until now.
Authorities declined to say whether new evidence or DNA testing led to Gonzales’ arrest; however, prosecutors confirmed that Gonzales would be charged with murder but not sexual assault. They declined to elaborate.
Gonzales’ first court appearance will be on Tuesday. Anyone with further information can contact San Bernardino Sheriff’s detectives at (909) 890-4904.
