Match! UT - Garfield Co. HispFem, UP8330, 37-45, Apr'98 **GRAPHIC PHOTOS** - Lina Izaguirre Reyes-Geddes

1998 Garfield County cold case murder solved, officials say

Woman found dead in Utah 20 years ago identified

 

Wow! Thanks for posting the link! Was wondering when it would hit the media.

They had told me that Ohio had always suspected her husband as being involved in Lena’s disappearance (he committed suicide in 2001).

However they suspected Scott Kimball of the murder of the Jane Doe. Now that we know it’s the same person, it’s interesting that they are pinning it on the husband. Also interesting that the husband committed suicide in Nevada, given they lived together in Ohio. I thought for sure the Kimball theory fit but this is definitely a plot twist!

 

RIP, Lena. Wonderful work, Mandi!!!

 

A press conference is scheduled for tomorrow where all the details will be given by Agent Davis.

Apparently the Sherrif’s office released premature and innacurrate info in the initial press releases — which these early stories were based on. Particularly the part about the suspect being the husband. Sounds like Scott Kimball is still very much on the table as a person of interest.

 

It would have been nice if they had mentioned the help of a concerned citizen. But that's not the most important thing. She is identified.

 

Is this her?

Lina Izaguirre Reyes-Geddes – The Charley Project

Lina Izaguirre Reyes-Geddes

 

Just want to say, Mandi you did a great job there!
I'm very happy Lina is going home.

 

They may say something like that during the press conference today but either way, the reward for me has already been received in just knowing she's unidentified no longer.

However, the misinformation in some of these early stories is a bit troublesome -- but I guess that's how these things go! Like all the announcements of "the case being solved" when it's definitely not, lol. They are closer but more work needs to be done.

Yep, that's her!

Thank you so much Me too!

 

Here is the press conference from today, 25 minutes long. The additional pictures of her made my eyes well up: Investigators use DNA evidence to identify victim in 1998 Utah cold case

He dispelled some of the misinformation but is hesitant to call the husband a suspect, or even a person of interest -- at least publicly.

 

Mandi, Thank you again for the great work and for giving her name and closure to her family! Not sure you have noticed but Sheriff did thank public and media for the tip and actually at the end of that conference he spoke few minutes about you and how you solved it .

Screenshot of new photo of Lina from conference.


It is also great news that company or organization (could not hear the name) will pay for her body to be transfered to her family in Mexico.

May she Rest In Peace

 

Thank you, MandiH. I saw later that you already had the right girl. I was just confused because the article I saw said her name was Lena.

Congratulations to you for your work on this!!! Awesome job!

 

Thank you!

Oh! Yeah, from the beginning there seems to have been some back and forth with the spelling. It's officially Lina but a lot of the stories are saying Lena. Heck, I realized in one of my posts I used Lena too. There's also been some difficulty with her various last names and their order.

I just got forwarded this article: Maidenwater victim identified after 20 years, thanks to whirlwind 2 months of investigation

"But it wasn't a detective or private investigators who linked the two cases. Instead, a private citizen in California, who Davis described as someone fascinated with true crime stories, happened to compare the unsolved cases. On Oct. 14 — less than two weeks after Davis' press conference — that citizen called him and suggested he compare the Maidenwater murder with the missing person in Ohio."

I sound a teensy bit crazy, lol, but it's true!

 

That's awesome! Great job.

 

Thank you so much Al Ka. I almost missed that mention at the end! Pretty cool to hear it. He's a great guy and really wonderful at what he does.

And those additional photos -- she's so beautiful. I listened back to get the name of the org that's going to be funding the transportation of her remains. It's the Utah Crime Victims Reparation. I was hoping to be able to donate to them but it looks like it's a gov agency and I can't see where to or if you can.

 

Great work Mandi! So proud of you, and sad and glad for Lina. Sad she's gone, glad she's going home.

 

You don't sound crazy at all! This is what we do. Maybe we're all a little crazy.

May I ask how you connected the dots on this case?

Also, is it believed the husband was her murderer? Why won't they say that? If he committed suicide shortly thereafter, who cares if they name him?

 

I would like to thank Mandi on behalf of my family. Lina was my mom's cousin, so she was my aunt (Mexican genealogy has no "once removed" or anything like that).

We already knew in our hearts that she was gone after so many years of her disappearance, but it is certainly nice to have some closure. Probably the only other thing I can add is that she was not on her way to Mexico to visit. She was her husband's third wife, and she was way younger than him. Shortly before she went missing, she commented that she was going back to Mexico because her husband had killed his second wife and she feared for her life. Whether her husband did in fact kill her or was involved in any way, I cannot say; but we suspect that was the case. In any case, she will be home soon. Thanks again, Mandi.

 

With all due respect Carl that one article does not have full story. Sister's were searched for and located After the tip.

It has been confirmed from horses mouth, Sheriff himself at live press conference few hours ago that she has been identified due to our tipster and then search for family began.

Link of press conference video in the article here - Investigators use DNA evidence to identify victim in 1998 Utah cold case