VICTORVILLE, CA – A 51-year-old man is in custody, charged with the murder of a woman who disappeared from her job at a department store more than two decades ago in a case that left investigators stumped for years.
Raymond Gonzales was arrested Thursday in connection with the April 2001 killing of Suzanne Sites-Fenton, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. He’s being held at the High Desert Detention Center without bond and was scheduled to make his first court appearance on January 20.
Sites-Fenton was working at a Mervyn’s retail store in Victorville on April 14, 2001, when she stepped outside for a break and walked into the parking lot. She never came back inside, and her husband reported her missing when she didn’t return home after her shift ended.
The following day, her abandoned vehicle was located with signs of a violent struggle inside. On April 16, searchers made the grim discovery of her body in a remote area of nearby Hesperia. An autopsy revealed she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted before being shot to death.
For nearly a quarter century, detectives worked the case without being able to identify her killer. The Sheriff’s Department hasn’t disclosed what investigative breakthrough finally led them to Gonzales or whether he had any prior connection to the victim.
Like all defendants, Gonzales is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. The arrest represents a major development in one of the region’s oldest unsolved homicides and offers hope to the victim’s family that justice may finally be served.
Authorities say the investigation is ongoing and have asked anyone with additional information about the case to contact detectives.
