The murder of Christine Thornton
Granger, Sweetwater County, Wyoming · 1977
Overview
Christine Ruth Thornton, 28, of San Antonio, Texas, who had earlier lived in the Hancock, Michigan area, vanished in 1977. The Sweetwater County prosecutor's office said she and a boyfriend travelled to Wyoming to pan for gold, argued there and separated. In April 1982 a rancher found human remains in a remote area northeast of Granger, in rural Sweetwater County. Investigators decided the person had been the victim of a homicide, but the remains stayed unidentified for 33 years. In 2013, after Huntington Beach police released photographs found in the possession of the California serial killer Rodney Alcala, a relative who had been searching recognized her in one. That year a Sweetwater County detective also sent a tissue sample from the 1982 remains for DNA analysis and entry into a national missing-persons database, and in July 2015 her siblings' samples led to a positive identification. Detectives determined that the photograph of her was taken a short distance from where she was found, and said other evidence, which they have not described, linked Alcala to her death. On September 20, 2016 the sheriff and county attorney announced a first-degree murder charge against Alcala, then 73. Wyoming did not extradite him because of his health. He died on California's death row on July 24, 2021, and the county attorney said he would dismiss the charge. Alcala was never tried for her death.
How it was solved
The remains were identified by DNA, but the person responsible was identified by a photograph. After Rodney Alcala's 2010 murder convictions in California, Huntington Beach police released photographs that had been found in his possession in 1979, hoping the public could name other women in them. According to the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office and County Attorney, in 2013 a relative of Christine Thornton, who had been searching for her since 1977, found her picture in the set and contacted the Huntington Beach detectives. That same year Sweetwater County Detective Jeff Sheaman picked up the unidentified 1982 remains found northeast of Granger and sent a tissue sample to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for mitochondrial DNA analysis and entry into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. In 2014 two of Thornton's siblings submitted their DNA, and in July 2015 the system alerted detectives to a possible link. Working with the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory, they positively identified the remains. They then determined that the photograph of Thornton in Alcala's possession was taken a short distance from where her remains were found. The Mining Gazette reported that in one photograph she sits on a motorcycle later identified as Alcala's, with a background determined to be in Sweetwater County. The sheriff's office said other evidence, which it has not described, also linked Alcala to the killing. The sheriff and county attorney announced the charge on September 20, 2016, after what they called a 34-year investigation. The county attorney later said Alcala would not be extradited because prison officials described him as not ambulatory, and that he kept the charge filed. After Alcala died on July 24, 2021 he said he would dismiss it. In his words, the fact that the case would not be proven in court did nothing to dissuade him from knowing that Alcala murdered Thornton. Because there was no trial, the case rests on the investigators' account and has not been tested in court.
Sources
- Serial killer charged with murder in 1977 Sweetwater County case (September 21, 2016)
“Detectives determined that her photograph, which was in Alcala's possession, was taken a short distance from where her remains were found all those years ago northeast of Granger. Other evidence discovered during the investigation linked Alcala to Thornton's homicide.”
- Serial Killer Charged With Murder In 30-Year-Old Sweetwater County Cold Case (September 20, 2016)
“Tuesday, Sheriff Mike Lowell and County Attorney Dan Erramouspe said first-degree murder charges were filed against Rodney James Alcala, 73, after a 34-year investigation.”
- Woman's picture links serial killer to another cold case slaying (September 20, 2016)
“According to Sweetwater County officials, a relative of Thornton who had been searching for her since her 1977 disappearance was looking through those photographs in 2013 when they recognized the young woman.”
- Convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala charged with murder in Wyoming cold case (September 21, 2016)
“Investigators were able to identify Thornton based on that photo, which appears to show her near the same area where her remains were later found.”
- Imprisoned serial killer charged in 30-year-old murder cold case in Wyoming (September 20, 2016)
“Following his 2010 conviction, the release states, Huntington Beach Police Department Robbery-Homicide Unit released to the public a series of photos Alcala had in his possession in 1979 with the hopes of identifying other potential victims.”
- Serial killer victim to be mourned (October 26, 2016)
“According to information from the Sweetwater County Prosecutor's Office, Thornton and a boyfriend went to Wyoming to pan for gold, but when they got there the two argued and separated.”
- Charges filed in 1977 murder (September 21, 2016)
“Detectives were able to positively identify Thornton's remains and determined the photograph Alcala had of Thornton was taken close to the site where her remains were found.”
- Dating Game Killer won't come to Wyo. (November 2, 2016)
“The fact that this case will not be proven in court does nothing to dissuade me from knowing that Alcala murdered Ms. Thornton,”
- Condemned Inmate Rodney Alcala Dies of Natural Causes (July 24, 2021)
“Condemned inmate Rodney James Alcala, 77, an Orange County man who was on California's death row, died of natural causes at 1:43 a.m. on July 24, 2021 at a hospital in Kings County.”
- Charge against "Dating Game Killer" dismissed (August 2, 2021)
“I kept the charges filed nonetheless. Now that he has passed, I will be dismissing.”