Haunting Sonoma County Child Murder Investigation Renewed With Reward

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — In early August 1997, Georgia Moses went missing from her Petaluma home. On Aug. 22, she was found dead next to the Highway 101 southbound on-ramp at Petaluma Boulevard South. She was 12 years old.

Nearly three decades later, Gov. Gavin Newsom refocused attention on one of Sonoma County’s most enduring cold cases with a $50,000 reward aimed at breaking the silence surrounding her death.

Newsom announced the renewal on April 24, framing the case as part of a broader effort to give victims and their loved ones justice. He urged anyone with information to step forward, arguing that unresolved killings “erode public safety” and deny families closure.

Authorities initially struggled to identify Georgia Moses until an anonymous tip connected her to a missing persons report, confirming her identity days later.

An autopsy later determined she died from asphyxia, likely by strangulation or smothering, between Aug. 13 and Aug. 14, 1997.

Detectives said witnesses last saw her around 10 p.m. on Aug. 13 near Sebastopol Road and Dutton Avenue in Santa Rosa with an unidentified a man, 25-30 years old, driving a small white four-door car, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.

In 2012, community members unveiled an angel statue in Moses’ honor at Petaluma City Hall after it was relocated from its original site near the Highway 101 ramp where her body was discovered.

Yet, despite public appeals, a reward, and ongoing investigations with new forensic technologies, her killer remains unidentified.

The Sheriff’s Office requested the gubernatorial reward in 2025 in order to revive the investigation.

Anyone with information should contact investigators at 707-565-2727 or submit anonymous tips through the Sheriff’s Office website.