GEORGIA LEAH MOSES: Murdered in Petaluma, CA - August 1997

The night was the night of August 13, 1997. Angel (Georgia's sister) told Dateline that she later discovered that Georgia and a friend had been hanging out when Georgia received a page on her pager and called the number back.

Sometime later, the friend walked Georgia to a gas station near the intersection of Sebastopol Road and Dutton Avenue in Santa Rosa, where the friend said Georgia left with an unidentified man. It was the last time she was seen alive.

More than a week later, on August 22, 1997, a Caltrans worker fixing a broken guardrail off Highway 101 in Petaluma, California, discovered the body of a young girl in a grove of trees. But she wasn’t immediately identified.

On the same day, back in Santa Rosa, Child Protective Services (CPS) stopped by Angel and Georgia's home to inquire about a suspected sex offender in the area. It was Angel who spoke up about her sister being missing.

“Eight days had passed since I saw my sister,” Angel said tearfully. “I knew something was wrong because she always came to see me. So at seven years old, I was the one who had to report my sister missing.”

According to Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sergeant Juan Valencia, Georgia had been strangled. Her body was so badly decomposed that she had to be identified through dental records. The coroner listed August 13, the last day Georgia was seen, as her date of death.

Much more at link: Do you have the tip that will bring justice for the family of GEORGIA LEAH MOSES? Murdered 1997 in #CALIFORNIA

Do you have the tip that will bring justice for the family of GEORGIA LEAH MOSES? Murdered 1997 in #CALIFORNIA

Georgia Lee Moses, 12, of Santa Rosa, California, was last seen alive on August 13, 1997. A friend walked with Georgia to a gas station near her home where Georgia reportedly left with an unidentified man.

www.crimewatchers.net

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

PD Editorial: Still seeking justice for Georgia Moses

Sheriff seeks new information to solve the 1997 slaying of a 12-year-old girl. She deserves justice.

www.pressdemocrat.com

PD Editorial: Still seeking justice for Georgia Moses​

It’s possible, likely even, that tweens and teens today have never heard of Georgia Moses. They should know the tragic, cautionary story of a 12-year-old’s murder almost 30 years ago. The discovery of her body rattled the community, and the unsolved case remains a stark reminder of childhood’s vulnerability and enduring pain of unresolved violence.

Georgia’s murder has received sporadic attention over the years. True-crime podcasts have gone over it. Occasional retrospectives have highlighted it. Tom Waits, who attended her funeral, later wrote “Georgia Lee,” a haunting song about the unsolved slaying.

Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom has renewed interest in the case by awarding $50,000 requested by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office in hopes of shaking loose new leads in an investigation that has long gone cold. Investigators can use the reward money to encourage anyone with information about the murder to come forward. It is one of four such grants statewide.

Georgia disappeared on Aug. 13, 1997. That night, she was last seen in Santa Rosa accompanied by a man who has never been identified. Nine days later, a maintenance crew found her decomposing body in a grove of trees near a Highway 101 exit ramp in Petaluma. Forensic examiners concluded that she had been dead for many days. The cause of death was asphyxiation, likely from strangulation or smothering.


It is not hard to wonder how things might have gone differently if Georgia had been a girl from a stable home. Perhaps someone would have reported her disappearance sooner. Perhaps she wouldn’t have wandered away from home in the first place.

But Georgia was a girl from a troubled home. Her single mother suffered from mental illness and lived with a convicted child molester. Georgia had to grow up quickly, often caring for her younger sister. She would leave home for days at a time and often missed school. She had minor run-ins with the law.

She wasn’t perfect, but what child is? Georgia deserved the same opportunities every child deserves. She dreamed of becoming a nurse. She belonged to the Rohnert Park Boys and Girls Club, and laughed and danced and hung out with friends. Someone snuffed all that away and was never caught.

A roadside memorial featuring an angel sculpture crafted by local firefighters became a poignant reminder at the spot where Georgia’s body was found. Its eventual relocation to Petaluma City Hall reflected the community’s commitment to keeping her memory alive. Her story also inspired the creation of a nonprofit that for years provided haven for neglected and abused children in Sonoma County.

Yet no memorial can erase the hole left by Georgia’s loss and the unanswered questions around it. The governor’s grant offers some small flicker of hope that things could change. Sadly, some people require financial reward to do the right thing. We urge anyone who possesses even the smallest piece of information to contact the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit with the hope that justice might finally be served for Georgia Moses.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

$50,000 reward renewed in unsolved 1997 killing of 12-year-old Georgia Moses

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he renewed a reward he approved a year ago to encourage anyone with information to come forward.

www.pressdemocrat.com

Newsom renews $50,000 reward in 1997 killing of Georgia Moses in Petaluma​

Gov. Gavin Newsom has renewed a $50,000 state reward to put a spotlight on the unsolved killing of Georgia Moses, a 12-year-old girl whose body was discovered in Petaluma near Highway 101 in August 1997.

The governor announced Friday, April 24, he renewed the reward he authorized a year ago, saying unsolved crimes “erode public safety and leave families waiting far too long for answers” and urging anyone with information to come forward. Moses’ death was among two dozen unsolved killings called out in the governor’s announcement.

In August 1997, investigators found Moses’ decomposed body near the Highway 101 southbound on-ramp at Petaluma Boulevard South, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. In the nearly three decades since her death, the case has stalled as investigative leads have been exhausted.

“Every family deserves answers and justice,” Newsom said in a statement. “These rewards send a message that every case matters, every victim matters, and that we are all working toward increased accountability.”


Anyone with information about Moses’ killing is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 707-565-2727 or submit anonymous tips through the agency’s website.