60 Years Later, 18-Year-Old Student's Murder Still Haunts Riverside County

RIVERSIDE, CA — Friday will mark the 60th anniversary of a Riverside murder case that remains unsolved, but detectives continue to seek the killer's identity.

Cheri Jo Bates, 18, was found dead on the campus of Riverside City College, where she had gone to study in the library on the afternoon of Oct. 30, 1966.

Riverside Police Department Detective Steve Espinosa said that even though it's been six decades, "information from the public may help bring answers to Cheri Jo's family and move this investigation forward."

Bates went to visit the campus library while her family was elsewhere, though she left a note for her father telling him her destination, Espinosa said.

When his daughter didn't return home that night, the man became anxious, finally contacting police shortly before 6 a.m. on Halloween.

Less than an hour later, an individual walking in the area of Fairfax Avenue and Terracina Drive, which is near the middle of the campus, discovered the body of a woman in an alleyway and called police. Espinosa said the remains were quickly confirmed to be those of Bates.

Detectives have not publicly disclosed the manner in which she was killed, or whether there was any type of attempted sexual assault.

"Investigators identified a primary person of interest," Espinosa said. "Based on the evidence, this individual has remained a focus of the investigation over the years."

There has not been sufficient evidence for an arrest.

"Investigators have continued to evaluate all viable leads and pursue new avenues of inquiry," the police spokesman said. "The search for answers continues."

On Aug. 4, 2021, Riverside police announced that a $50,000 reward was being offered for information leading to a conviction in the case.

Riverside police did not name the person who put up the reward, but the agency said the offer was valid until January 31, 2022.

Ken Welty was a childhood friend of Bates. He still thinks about her.

"It's one of those things that haunts you," Welty told The Press-Enterprise.

He has helped establish a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

"Somebody needs to keep this story alive," Welty said.

In the fall of 2021, a team of more than 40 former law enforcement investigators, military intelligence officers and journalists said it had identified the "Zodiac Killer," a serial murderer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s.

The team asserted that an "FBI memo" linked the Bates homicide to the Zodiac Killer.

The Riverside Police Department refuted the claim, calling the team's findings, "circumstantial evidence."

The Cheri Jo Bates killing remains unsolved. Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the police department's Cold Case Unit at homicidecoldcase@riversideCA.gov.

City News Service contributed to this report.