BULLHEAD CITY, AZ — After 34 years, authorities in California arrested 64-year-old James Lawhead Jr. of Bullhead City, Arizona, in connection with the 1991 kidnapping and murder of Cindy Wanner.
The case was one of Placer County's most well-known cold cases, authorities announced on Monday.
Lawhead Jr. was arrested on Friday after years of investigative work by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit and a breakthrough in DNA testing.
During a news conference on Monday, officials announced that after numerous items were submitted for testing over the years without results, detectives submitted a final piece of evidence to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Lab. Advanced DNA analysis identified Lawhead as the suspect.
Wanner was 35 years old in 1991 when she vanished from a Granite Bay home in the Sacramento area. Her 11-month-old baby was left crying in a highchair, while her shoes, coat, and car were all left behind. Her disappearance sparked a massive investigation.
Three weeks later, she was found strangled to death in a remote area outside Foresthill, approximately 40 miles from where she was kidnapped.
The sheriff's office says Lawhead was 30 years old at the time of the crime. He had been released from prison in early 1991 after serving 11 years of a 19-year sentence for prior sex crimes involving a young child.
Once detectives identified Lawhead as the suspect, investigators began working to locate him. He appeared to have vanished, with no documented record of him since 2005.
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As detectives dug deeper, they came to believe Lawhead had assumed a new identity. Detectives reached out to law enforcement agencies in areas where they believed he may have been living.
With assistance from the Scottsdale Police Department, a facial recognition comparison led to a match.
Detectives located Lawhead in Bullhead City on Friday, April 24, where he had been living under the name Vincent Reynolds. With assistance from the Bullhead City Police Department, Lawhead was taken into custody and booked into jail in Arizona.
He will be extradited to Placer County to face charges.
Following Lawhead’s arrest, detectives interviewed him and served a search warrant at his Arizona residence, where additional evidence was collected.
"This is one of the most notorious and heinous cold cases we have here in Placer County. We’ve never given up pursuing justice for Cindy and her family, we hope this is a small step in the healing process. This breakthrough and arrest reflect the commitment of our office to solve cases; it’s why we pin the badge and take the oath to serve. Our work is not done, James Lawhead will be brought back to Placer County where he will answer to the charges for this crime," Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said.
Detectives are now exploring the possibility that Lawhead could be responsible for additional crimes.
The sheriff's office encourages law enforcement agencies, specifically those across the West Coast, to look at any cold cases that may have similarities to this case and reach out to their team at 530-889-7835.
