How long can justice wait?
For one California family, nearly five decades.
But now, a single thumbprint has cracked a case that haunted them for generations.
Jeanette Ralston was just 27 when she was found strangled in her Volkswagen Beetle back in 1977.
The crime scene was chilling—signs of assault, a smoldering attempt to burn the car.
No trace of the man she was last seen leaving a bar with.
The case went cold. For years.
Then last fall, a thumbprint left on a cigarette carton in her car was run through the FBI’s upgraded database.
Who’s The Culprit?
It matched Willie Eugene Sims, a 69-year-old living quietly in Ohio—once an Army private stationed not far from San Jose.
DNA collected from Sims sealed the deal.
It matched samples found under Jeanette’s fingernails and the murder weapon: a long-sleeve shirt.
“Every day, forensic science grows better.
Every day criminals are closer to being caught,” said Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen.
After all this time, her son Allen—just six when she died—finally got the call he’d been waiting for.
“I’m just glad somebody cared.”
Turns out, justice doesn’t have an expiration date. It just needed a thumbprint.
