Missouri authorities say they have cracked the cold case of a 35-year-old murder and arrested a suspect.
The Springfield Police Department announced the arrest on Thursday. Paul Bowles, 62, of Fulton, has been accused of raping and murdering 18-year-old Jennifer Williams in 1989.
On September 8 of that year, Williams left work and was dropped off at her home shortly after 10.30 p.m. She told a friend she was going to walk to her husband’s business but never showed up, the police department said in a news release.
Her husband reported her missing three days later. Her body was discovered on September 20, when three minors walking along a residential area located her remains. Evidence at the scene led police to believe Williams was sexually assaulted at the time of the murder.
Still, officials would take decades to make an arrest in the case.
In 2019, Williams’ sexual assault kit was tested and the results determined the DNA belonged to a man but it was insufficient for database searches.
A few years later, in 2024, advances in DNA testing became available and, with funding from the Season of Justice, a nonprofit that provides funding to investigative agencies, Williams’ sexual assault kit was tested again.
This time, Bowles came back as a suspect.
At the time of his identification, he was being held at the Fulton State Hospital in Callaway County, Missouri on unrelated charges and was contacted by detectives.
On April 17, Bowles was booked into the Calloway County Jail for second degree murder, forcible rape and forcible sodomy in relation to the case.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Springfield Police Department.
In a statement posted to Facebook following the announcement, Williams’ husband, Jeff Williams, wrote a message to his wife: “Your murderer took something from all of us. The world was a better place with you in it.”
