More than 30 years after teenager Tracy Whitney’s body was found in the Puyallup River, Washington, authorities have identified her killer.
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However, Whitney’s killer will never answer for their crimes. Her murderer, the late John Guillot Jr., was identified as a suspect in her 1988 killing. Recent DNA testing has now confirmed his connection to the case.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department reported that fishermen found Whitney’s unclothed body on August 28, 1988. An autopsy revealed she died from asphyxiation caused by strangulation, possibly combined with smothering, and her death was ruled a homicide. The report also documented multiple blunt force injuries, and authorities suspected she was sexually assaulted.
Detective Sergeant Lindsay Kirkegaard of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Whitney, identified through dental records, was last seen leaving a Burger King in Sumner, Washington, after an argument with her ex-boyfriend. Tragically, her body was found less than 24 hours later.
For decades, her homicide baffled investigators—until advancements in DNA analysis and genetic genealogy identified Guillot as a suspect in 2022. However, authorities discovered he had died eight months earlier at the age of 65, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
How Advances in DNA Testing Lead to Identifying the Teenager’s Killer
Officials announced that additional DNA testing has definitively identified Guillot as the killer.
“If John G. Jr. had been alive today, law enforcement would have probable cause to arrest,” Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective Lindsay Kirkegaard explained. “From our standard, he was the suspect, and he would have been arrested for the crime.”
Guillot was cremated, so there was no DNA available to compare to the suspect’s DNA profile directly. Instead, he was identified using DNA from his son, who had also recently passed away. Police obtained the son’s DNA from the medical examiner’s office and used it for the comparison.
Meanwhile, Guillot’s motives remain a mystery. No known links existed between Whitney and Guillot.
Guillot was also linked to the deaths of his girlfriend in 2010 and his wife in 2020. However, he was never formally charged in either case.