After she went missing in Long Beach, it took 34 years before her body was IDed. Now officials need help finding her killer

Forensic technology is breathing new life into a decades-old cold case in Riverside County and now investigators hope the public will help them finally solve it.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Bureau of Investigations released pictures Tuesday morning of the victim, Jacqueline Danette Ebel. The 25-year-old was reported missing from the Long Beach area two days before Christmas in 1988.

Her body was found three days later near 330 E. 4th Street in Perris. For decades police were unable to identify the victim and the case remained unsolved.

Then in 2022, the Riverside County Cold Case Team conducted Forensic Genetic Genealogy, leading to the victim's name.

Before her death, Ebel lived in the Long Beach and Bellflower areas. She was known as "Jackie" to her family and friends, investigators say. She also went by the last names "Yonkers" and "Palmer." Ebel had a tattoo of a horse and flower on her right shoulder blade, tattoos of "John" and a Harley Davidson eagle on her left shoulder blade, and a rose and "Stoney" on her lower abdomen.

"It is our greatest desire to grant dignity and justice this victim and her family," Senior DA Investigator Ebony Caviness said in a statement.

Forensic genetic genealogy has gained traction in recent years, helping crack some high-profile cold cases including the Golden State Killer, a serial killer and rapist who terrorized California for years. Thanks to DNA-matching information, investigators identified Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer, arresting him in 2018 near Sacramento.  

The Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team is asking anyone who thinks they might have information about Ebel's death to call the Cold Case Hotline at (951) 955-5567 or email coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org.