Ken Welty seeks help to solve 1966 death of Cheri Jo Bates

Ken Welty wants to know who killed his friend before he dies.

The timeline of the case began in October 1966. Cheri Jo Bates was 18 years old and a student at Riverside City College. On Halloween, she went to the campus library to pick up books. When she returned to her car, it would not start. Welty said she appeared to be walking willingly with someone away from the vehicle. Her body was found at 6:32 a.m. on October 31 in an alley between Terracina Drive and Fairfax Avenue. That location is now where the Math and Sciences Building stands. A man's wristwatch was found nearby.

The watch was likely ripped from the suspect's wrist during a struggle. Welty noted that Bates put up a strong fight. A witness reported seeing two people in that alley sometime after midnight. One person was holding a flashlight. The two may have been looking for the watch. They did not find it because police had already recovered it as evidence.

For six decades, the case has remained unsolved. Welty, now 78 and a retired Los Angeles Police Department homicide lieutenant, has collected newspaper clippings, police reports, and Bates' death certificate. He has also contacted detectives and received letters from people with theories. He helped establish a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. He said he has not investigated the case himself and has no access to inside information.

Michael Bates, Cheri Jo's 79-year-old brother, has helped gather information for 30 years. He learned of his sister's death while watching a movie at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. He served in the Navy until 1970. Michael Bates said his sister was upbeat and wanted to be an airline stewardess. He said he does not have real hopes for a solution after so many years.

Detectives believe Bates likely knew her assailant. A popular internet theory links the killing to the Zodiac Killer. In 1967, a handwritten letter led police to suspect the Zodiac. The author recanted that claim in 2016. The Police Department's cold case webpage says the primary suspect remains a person of interest identified early in the investigation. Her boyfriend at the time was cleared because he was out of town.

Police Chief Larry Gonzalez told KABC/7 that detectives are using new technology to analyze DNA and fingerprint evidence. The Police Department declined to discuss the case with the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin this month. Welty and the Bates family still receive packets of information from people who say they have solved the case. One man from Louisiana claimed his son committed the crime but that the son is now dead. Another person from England sent a package labeled as findings from a Zodiac zealot.

Welty said he is satisfied with their efforts. He told Cheri Jo Bates in a photograph that she will not be forgotten. He called her an All-American girl. The reward remains active. Letters continue to arrive at the police station and at the homes of those trying to keep the case alive.