Woman was found dead in utility corridor in 1992, CA cops say. Now, there’s an arrest
More than three decades after a woman was found dead in a utility corridor, DNA has helped identify a suspect, California cops say.
An arrest warrant was issued for Ricky Dawson, who is awaiting a murder trial in Colorado, in connection to the 1992 death of Nancy Hernandez, the San Francisco Police Department said in a Jan. 15 news release.
“No matter how old a case is, this is proof that we will never rest until a case is solved,” Police Chief Bill Scott said in the release.
A woman’s body was found in the utility corridor the morning of May 2, 1992, police said.
The San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman as 45-year-old Nancy Hernandez and determined she “had been badly beaten and strangled,” police said. She had also been sexually assaulted.
DNA evidence was sent to a crime lab in 2005, police said.
But for years, the case remained stagnant.
Then, in 2023, investigators with the department’s cold case unit reopened the case, according to police.
Investigators entered the DNA profile from the case into the Combined DNA Index System and found it was a match to Dawson, police said.
“Dawson has been linked to three other sexual assault homicides in Panama (City) Beach, Florida, Seattle, Washington, and Denver, Colorado,” police said.
In February 2023, Dawson was charged in a woman’s 1996 cold case killing in Denver, the Denver District Attorney’s office said in a news release.
Decades after Terri Turachak, 35, was found dead inside her apartment, DNA linked Dawson to the crime, and he was extradited from Florida to face charges, prosecutors said.
Following the conclusion of the trial in Denver, Dawson will be extradited to California to stand trial in Hernandez’s case, police said.
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 1:20 PM with the headline "Woman was found dead in utility corridor in 1992, CA cops say. Now, there’s an arrest."
