Annual Report FY 2022-2023

Genetic genealogy helps solve cold case T wo families found answers after nearly four decades thanks to advancement in technology and the relentless pursuit of justice by investigators. The Sheriff’s Department, Garden Grove Police Department and Orange County District Attorney’s Office in July 2022 announced that investigative genealogy led to the identification of a suspect in two 1980s homicides. On May 21, 1987, 23-year-old Shannon Rose Lloyd was found deceased in her Garden Grove bedroom. Two years later, on February 19, 1989, the body of 27-year-old Renee Cuevas was found near the El Toro Marine base. In 2003, a review of evidence by the Orange County Crime Lab determined both women were killed by the same suspect. Investigators with the Sheriff’s Department and the Garden Grove Police Department revisited their cases often, always pushing to find a new lead or new tactic to find answers. In 2021, the case was submitted to the Orange County District Attorney’s Investigative Genetic Genealogy team and a suspect was identified. Although the suspect had long been deceased, we are grateful for this new frontier in investigative technology and the opportunity to provide answers to these families. Despite exhausting all leads, both cases went cold.

OC SHERIFF COLD CASES

WHY I SERVE

“I wanted to reach out to you once again simply to say “THANK YOU!” The Cuevas family has the closure we need. Your hard work has paid off. My cousin can rest in peace.”

“In my assignment working cold cases, I am perhaps the final voice left to speak for those that can no longer speak for themselves, in cases that have been idle for decades. In service to those victims and their families, I continue in hopes of providing resolution to cases long forgotten.” — Investigator Bob Taft

– Renee Cuevas family member

orange county sheriff’s department

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