Police have finally solved the murder of an 18-year-old woman found naked in a Washington riverbed more than 30 years ago, but it was too late to bring the culprit to justice.
Tracy Whitney's killer, John Guillot Jr., was identified as a suspect in her 1988 murder just two years ago, eight months after his death. Recent DNA testing has finally confirmed his murderous connection to the case.
“It's a kind of empty feeling because now we know who did it…but we'll never know the true story of what actually happened,” Whitney's father said. Ronald Whitney said.
Tracy was last seen running out of a Burger King in August 1988 after an argument with a friend. The next day, a fisherman discovered her naked body on a gravel bed where the Puyallup and White rivers meet near Sumner, about 19 miles east of Tacoma.
Officials said Whitney appeared to have been strangled and raped.
Her murder baffled investigators for decades until 2022 when new DNA evidence and genetic genealogy identified John Guillot Jr. as the suspect. But Guillot was already dead, having died eight months earlier at the age of 65. According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office.
Officials said further DNA testing recently confirmed Guillot was the killer.
“If John G. Jr. were alive today, law enforcement would likely have probable cause to arrest him,” Pierce County Sheriff's Detective Lindsey Kirkgaard said. “By our standards, he was a suspect and would have been arrested for the crime.”
There were no known connections between Whitney and Guillot.
Guyot was also investigated in connection with the death of his girlfriend in 2010 and the death of his wife in 2020, but was never charged in either case.
ronald whitney told King5 News He said he has seen advances in DNA technology lead to the solving of several cold cases over the years, giving him hope that his daughter's killer will finally be found.
“When the Golden State Killer was caught, I said, 'This is it, this is the break we've been waiting for,'” he said of advances in technology.
Ronald said learning the identity of his daughter's killer brought closure to his family.
But he added that the family will never know the full story because Guyot has passed away.
“In my head, I was imagining we were going to court, and I was going to be sitting in the courtroom, looking him in the eye, watching him get sentenced to death or life in prison. Whitney's mother, Robin Whitney, said. Outlet.
A heartbroken father said the pain of his daughter's death still haunts him.
“It's something that haunts me every day. I don't think the grief will ever go away,” he said. “It's the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night.”
