Investigators ask for help in solving cold case involving woman whose body was found in Perris

RIVERSIDE (CNS) -- A murder case going back more than three decades, involving a 25-year-old Long Beach woman whose remains were located in Perris, remains active, with authorities Tuesday asking anyone who might have information to come forward.

Jacqueline "Jackie" Danette Ebel was killed in December 1988. Her murderer's identity and whereabouts are unknown, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Ebel's body was found on Dec. 26, 1988, in the 300 block of East Fourth Street in Perris. However, for roughly 34 years, no one could positively identify her.

In 2022, detectives from the county's Regional Cold Case Homicide Unit -- whose personnel include District Attorney's Office investigators, sheriff's detectives and Riverside police officers -- exhumed the remains and sent DNA material for laboratory examination, specifically a forensic genetic genealogy screening.

That resulted in a positive identification of Ebel.

The victim had been reported missing in Los Angeles County on Dec. 23, 1988, according to the D.A.'s office. It was unclear why investigators around that time did not pursue possible links between the missing woman and the recovered body.

Detectives declined to disclose the manner of the woman's death.

"It is our greatest desire to grant dignity and justice to this victim and her family," Senior D.A. Investigator Ebony Caviness said.

Ebel also went by the surnames Palmer and Yonkers. A few unique physical characteristics included tattoo of a horse and flower on her right shoulder, as well as tattoos of "John" and a Harley-Davidson eagle on her left shoulder, and tattoos of a rose and "Stoney" on her abdomen.

There was no word regarding what she had been doing or with whom she may have been associating up to the time of her disappearance.

Detectives further declined to divulge whether she was killed in Riverside County or elsewhere, and her remains merely left at the Perris location.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the Cold Case Unit at (951) 955-5567, or coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org.