Search Featured Websites: Feature your business, services, products, events & news. Submit Website.
Breaking Top Featured Content:
Homicide victim Missy Jones honored at Pomona Cemetery after cold case arrest
Melisa Jones grew to dread the walk from her home in Pomona to Garey High School during her senior year, after her sister was found slain in Fontana on July 5, 1980. The route forced her to pass by the Pomona Cemetery, the final resting place of Michelle “Missy” Jones.
She couldn’t help but think about the life her sister might have lived, and sometimes lost herself wondering who killed her and why. Her uncertainty deepened as the homicide went unsolved for decades.
“I’m angry that he got to walk free for 40 freaking years, and my sister was at the start of her life,” Jones, 57, said last week. “She never did anything to hurt anyone.”
The same questions continued to haunt her even after advances in DNA technology led to the arrest on Sept. 8 of a 66-year-old Las Vegas man in Missy’s death.
Melisa Jones was convinced that the answers she and her loved ones sought for so long were close at hand as they released 40 balloons over Missy’s gravesite Saturday, Sept. 19.
The balloons commemorated each year they should have had together.
“We’re also doing this for everyone else who’s had to go through what we’ve been through,” Jones said. “There are so many people out there whose loved ones were killed or have gone missing, and they still have no idea what happened.”
Kym Jones and Gwen Woods bring balloons to the grave side of their murdered sister, 18- year old Michelle Jones ,at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. The Fontana police departments cold case task force recently identified a suspect in custody in Las Vegas, linked by DNA evidence, to the cold case 1980 murder of Pomona resident Michelle Jones,18, whose body was found in Fontana 40-years ago. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Family, friends and law enforcement release balloons in memory of 1980 cold case homicide victim Michelle Jones, 18, at the Pomona Cemetery on Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
A woman holds a picture of a young Michelle Jones near her gravesite at Pomona Cemetery on Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. The Fontana Police department recently made an arrest in the case more than 40 years after Jones’ death. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Kym Jones tries to stay composed during a gathering of family, friends and law enforcement beside the grave her murdered sister, Michelle Jones, at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. The Fontana police departments cold case task force recently identified a suspect in custody in Las Vegas, linked by DNA evidence, to the cold case 1980 murder of Pomona resident Michelle Jones,18, whose body was found in Fontana 40-years ago. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Fontana police department cold case task force member Kathryn Clark (right) speaks to family and friends of 1980 homicide victim Michelle Jones, 18, at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. Detectives arrested a Las Vegas man in connection with the 40-year-old cold case on Sept. 8. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Members of various law enforcement agencies gather near the grave of cold case homicide victim Michelle Jones at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. She was found dead in Fontana in July of 1980.A Las Vegas man was arrested on suspicion of her homicide over 40 years Later on Sept. 8. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Kim Jones and Gwen Woods bring balloons to the gravesite of their sister, Michelle Jones ,at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. She was only 18 when she was killed in 1980. A suspect in her homicide was arrested over 40 years later on Sept. 8. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Trina Newman wears a mask bearing the image of her friend, Michelle Jones, at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. Jones was 18 when she was killed in 1980. A suspect in her homicide was arrested 40 years later on Sept. 8 (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Kym Jones wipes away a tear for her murdered sister during a gathering of family, friends and law enforcement beside the grave of Michelle Jones at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. The Fontana police departments cold case task force recently identified a suspect in custody in Las Vegas, linked by DNA evidence, to the cold case 1980 murder of Pomona resident Michelle Jones,18, whose body was found in Fontana 40-years ago. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Tristyn Collins, 6, listens to a speaker as she stands at the graveside of her great aunt, Michelle Jones, at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. The Fontana police departments cold case task force recently identified a suspect in custody in Las Vegas, linked by DNA evidence, to the cold case 1980 murder of Pomona resident Michelle Jones,18, whose body was found in Fontana 40-years ago. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Lewis Collins (left), 12, has his face mask adjusted by his younger brother Landen (right), 11, during a gathering at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020 in honor of their aunt Michelle Jones. She was killed in 1980. A suspect in the homicide was arrested over 40 years later on Sept. 8. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Family members of Michelle Jones release doves in her memory near her gravesite at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. She was found dead 40 years ago in Fontana. A suspect in the case was arrested 40 years later on Sept. 8.. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Kabree Puckett, 6, writes a message on a balloon during a ceremony held at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020 in memory of Michelle Jones. She was killed at the age 18 in 1980. A suspect in her homicide was arrested over 40 years later on Sept. 8. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Tristyn Collins, 6, attends a ceremony in honor of her great aunt, Michelle Jones, at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. Jones was found dead at the age of 18 in Fontana in 1980. A suspect in the case was arrested over 40 years later on Sept. 8. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
A relative holds a photo of Michelle Jones, the 18-year-old victim of a 1980 homicide, during a ceremony held in her memory at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. A suspect in the case was arrested Sept. 8. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Tristyn Collins, 6, listens to a speaker as she stands at the graveside of her great aunt, Michelle Jones, at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. The Fontana police departments cold case task force recently identified a suspect in custody in Las Vegas, linked by DNA evidence, to the cold case 1980 murder of Pomona resident Michelle Jones,18, whose body was found in Fontana 40-years ago. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Fontana police department cold case task force member Kathryn Clark (right) speaks to family and friends of 1980 murder victim Michelle Jones, 18, next to her grave at Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. The Fontana police departments cold case task force recently identified a suspect in custody in Las Vegas, linked by DNA evidence, to the cold case 1980 murder of Pomona resident Michelle Jones,18, whose body was found in Fontana 40-years ago. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Family, friends and law enforcement release balloons in memory of 1980 cold case homicide victim Michelle Jones, 18, at the Pomona Cemetery Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. A recently identified suspect was arrested in Las Vegas on Sept. 8. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Nationwide, more than 6,400 of the 23,040 homicides reported in 1980 remain unsolved, according to statistics cited by the nonprofit Project: Cold Case.
Missy was only 18 when she died. The popular teen helped start a yearbook club at Park West Continuation School before graduating and landing a job as a Pomona police dispatcher, relatives said. She was frequently invited to parties, enjoyed roller skating, loved to dance and “always had her hair done, her make-up done and her nails done,” Jones said.
Her sister was getting ready for a July 4th get-together the last time her siblings saw her, Jones said. She never came home.
Their parents called her friends the following morning, but nobody knew where Missy was.
“I never thought my mom would have to do that,” Jones said.
Melisa Jones remembers walking into her home on the afternoon of July 5, 1980, and seeing her mother seated with a distant, devastated expression on her face. At that point, she was certain something terrible had happened.
Earlier that day, police had received an anonymous tip about a body in a grapefruit grove at Live Oak and Santa Ana Avenues. Responding officers found Missy naked, her head covered with dirt. She appeared to have been sexually assaulted before she was killed.
A relative holds a photo of Michelle Jones, the 18-year-old victim of a 1980 homicide, during a ceremony held in her memory at Pomona Cemetery on Saturday Sept. 19, 2020. A suspect in the case was arrested Sept. 8. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Evidence was collected and leads were investigated, but the case went cold. Some of Missy’s sisters weren’t sure it would ever be solved. But at least one, Kimberly Jones, never gave up hope and persistently checked in with investigators.
Samples collected by detectives decades ago were reanalyzed earlier this year, and DNA from those were linked to a then-unidentified person. Detectives conducted interviews with Missy’s relatives, which led them to identify Leonard Nash – the man arrested on Sept. 8 – as a suspect. His DNA matched the genetic profile singled out by modern forensic science, authorities said.
Kimberly Jones described Nash as a onetime boyfriend of another sister. He remained in custody in Clark County, Nevada on Saturday, Fontana Police Officer Rich Guerrero said.
“All I want to do is ask him why,” Melisa Jones said of the accused man.
The assignment of an attorney to defend Nash was pending his transfer to California, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said Saturday.
At the afternoon ceremony, some 20 of Missy’s loved ones shared stories and passed around old photos of her.
Pastor Jody Moore of Transformation Church Chino called on those present to “release pain, release fear, release bitterness,” before allowing the blue and white balloons to drift into the sky.
“We’re not letting go of the memory of Michelle,” she said. “But if anything, we’re releasing her memory to continue to soar.”
