Detective who "Lady in the Refrigerator" reacts to news of her positive identification
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY - The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office has identified the "Lady in the Refrigerator" after almost three decades. One of the original detectives who investigated the case reacted to the news.
"Her name is Amanda Lynn Schumann Deza," said San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow.
It's the cold case announcement that retired San Joaquin County Detective John Huber has waited 27 years to hear.
"I was very happy. I was hoping she'd be identified and potentially be solved before I died," he said.
Using DNA analysis and genetic genealogy, they have identified Amanda Lynn Schumann Deza as the woman found with her hands taped and gagged in a sleeping bag, stuffed inside a refrigerator, and tossed in an irrigation ditch in Holt in 1995.
"We're missing several pieces to the years prior to her disappearance and her death," said Lt. Linda Jimenez with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. "This information would help to determine who took Amanda's life."
Deza was separated from her husband and had three young children when she vanished, likely in 1994.
Although several pieces of information are missing, detectives hope to determine who took Amanda's life.
The details that were fresh in Huber's mind when CBS13 spoke with him back in 2015, have remained crystal clear all these years later.
"I can remember exactly what she had on...exactly what the sizes were," he said.
It was a deeply gratifying break for a dedicated detective well into retirement. The possible resolution to a murder mystery now seems within reach.
Huber says knowing that Amanda's children now know that their mother didn't simply abandon them, brings him a great sense of comfort. The district attorney says he's looking forward to prosecuting and convicting Deza's killer.
