Summary

In November 2010, police responded to a call at La Especial Bakery located on Union Street in Bakersfield, California. La Especial Bakery's owner, 49-year-old Juanita Francisco was found in a back room of the store. She had been beaten and the bakery was ransacked. At the time of the attack, forensic evidence belonging to the assailant was collected and a DNA profile was obtained from the evidence. An STR profile was developed, but there was no match to a known individual in law enforcement databases. Despite extensive investigative efforts, the suspect could not be identified and the case went cold.

Since the murder, the investigation has remained open with family members and community members working hard to keep Juanita Francisco's memory alive. Her children, now adults, continue to give interviews about how her loss affected them and affected the Bakersfield community.

"Many, many customers came to me and said to me that she would always listen to them," said Gregg, one of her sons. "And any troubles that they may be having, she was always there to listen to them, and be a friend, even if they'd only recently met her."

Despite the case going cold, investigators with the Kern County Sheriff's Office and the Kern Regional Crime Laboratory have continued to explore new avenues to find the killer. Now, law enforcement has teamed with Othram to determine if advanced DNA testing will help identifying a suspect in this terrible crime. Forensic evidence has been submitted to Othram for analysis where scientists are using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown suspect. Othram's in-house forensic genetic genealogy team will conduct a genealogical search to generate new investigative leads.

A DNASolves crowdfund has been established to help cover the costs of this investigative work. Anyone can contribute here. Your contribution will help in bringing about answers in a long-unsolved case. Since Juanita's murder, her family re-opened the bakery, which now operates as Juanita's Bakery.

Individuals who have taken a consumer DNA test can aid ongoing forensic investigations by joining the DNASolves database. Expanding the number of available DNA profiles increases the likelihood of successful identifications, helping to identify suspects and resolve cases that have remained unanswered for years.