Suspect arrested 25 years after woman left her department store job for a break and never returned

One Friday night in Southern California in April 2001, 32-year-old Suzanne Sites-Fenton took a break from her retail job, walked out into the parking lot, and vanished.

Detectives would later find her body shot dead in a "desolate" patch of the Mojave Desert, but failed to trace her killer.

Now, following a cold case investigation, authorities say they have finally identified the culprit.

Raymond Silva Gonzalez, 51, from Hesperia in the High Desert northeast of Los Angeles, was arrested last Thursday and charged with murder, according to the San Bernadino Sheriff's Department.

He is currently being held without bail and is due to appear in court on Tuesday. Jail records did not list an attorney.

Suzanne Sites-Fenton was reported missing by her husband on Saturday April 14, 2001, when she did not return home from her night shift at a Mervyn's department store in Victorville, not far from Hesperia.

"During the initial investigation, detectives learned Suzanne took a break and walked into the Mervyn’s parking lot and never returned to work or home," sheriffs said.

The next day, detectives found Sites-Fenton's vehicle, abandoned but with signs of a struggle. Later they also found her body in a "desolate area" near Hesperia.

"The investigation determined Suzanne was shot and detectives learned she was kidnapped, and sexually assaulted, prior to her death. A suspect was not identified, and the case went cold," sheriffs said.

But in 2025, her case was taken up by the Department's cold case unit, leading officers to arrest him on January 15 this year.

Sheriffs asked anyone with information about the crime to contact them on 909-890-4904, or to submit an anonymous tip at wetip.com.