Perpetrator ID in the murders of Rachel Zendejas and Lisa Gondek – Ventura County CA 1981
L: Rachel Zendejas; R: Lisa Gondek
Redgrave Research Forensic Services is honored to have assisted Ventura County law enforcement officials in the identification of Tony Garcia as a suspect linked to DNA evidence from the 1981 murders of Rachel Zendejas and Lisa Gondek. The arrest was made on February 7th, following the use of forensic genetic genealogy (FGG/IGG). The families and friends of Rachel and Lisa are in our thoughts as they receive this news and officials pursue justice.
Ventura’s investigators were some of the first students of our Forensic Genealogy For Law Enforcement training program (FG4LE), and we would like to commend them on their amazing determination to resolve this heartbreaking case. Along with the RRFS genealogy team, Ventura’s investigating forensic genetic genealogists worked in tandem tirelessly for several years to research what was an incredibly difficult genealogical puzzle. We are impressed with the hard work and dedication of everyone involved, from the initial investigations in 1981 to the detectives, genealogists, and officials who saw it through to completion.
The VCSO requests that if anyone has any further information about Mr. Garcia including any further crimes he may have committed, please call (805) 383-8739 or email coldcase@ventura.org
Redgrave Research/FG4LE team members who assisted on this case:
- Anthony Redgrave
- Lee Bingham Redgrave
- Brooke Allen
- Tam Dixon
- Samantha Dunne
- Elizabeth Marshall
- Andrea McCarthy
- Nate Mears
- Jenna Robertson
- Viktor Veltstra
Read more about Rachel and Lisa
- Arrest made in connection with 1981 murders
- Arrest made in more than four decade old double murder cold case in Ventura County
- https://kvta.com/news/ventura-county-prosecutors-file-1st-degree-murder-charges-in-the-1981-deaths-of-two-women/
- Initial notice of press conference from Sheriff’s Office
- Man charged in ex-EH woman’s 1981 murder in California
- UNSOLVED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN | OPD’s Jeff Kay stays on the trail of cold cases
- Ventura County Authorites Say They’ve Solved The Cold Case Murders Of Two Women With The Arrest Of One Man
- Ventura County investigators announce an arrest in the 1981 murders of Lisa Gondek and Rachel Zendejas
