The Deck - Corazon Frandsen (Jack of Diamonds, Utah)

Episode Date: August 23, 2023

Our card this week is Corazon Frandsen, the Jack of Diamonds from Utah.In 1978, Corazon was just 26 and a widow after losing her husband from cancer five years earlier. And Corazon was still mourning the loss of her husband when she herself became a victim of a horrifically brutal attack in the parking lot of her seemingly safe  apartment complex.If you know anything about the murder of Corazon Frandsen in Murray, Utah in February 1978, please call Unified Police Detective Ben Pender at 385-468-9816. To learn more about The Deck, visit www.thedeckpodcast.com. To apply for the Cold Case Playing Cards grant through Season of Justice, visit www.seasonofjustice.org Let us deal you in… follow The Deck on social media.Instagram: @thedeckpodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @thedeckpodcast_ | @audiochuckFacebook: /TheDeckPodcast | /audiochuckllc The Deck is hosted by Ashley Flowers. Instagram: @ashleyflowersTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieTwitter: @Ash_FlowersFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF Follow The Deck on social media and join Ashley’s community by texting [phone] to stay up to date on what's new!

Our card this week is Corazon Franssen, the jack of diamonds from Utah. In 1978, Corazon was just 26 and a widow after losing her husband from cancer five years earlier, and Corazon was still mourning the loss for her husband when she herself became a victim of a horrifically brutal attack in the parking lot of her seemingly safe apartment complex. I bet most of you have never heard of Corazon, much less her tragic story, but it's one that our team hasn't been able to stop thinking about. And once I'm done telling you what we've learned, I bet you won't be able to get Corazon out of your head either. I'm Ashley Flowers and this is the deck. February 5, 1978 was a Sunday, and just after 8 a.m. Churchgoer David Lake was pulling into the parking lot of his Latter-day Saints Chapel in Murray, Utah.

As David was parking his car, something unusual caught his eye. It was a woman lying in the shrubs on the edge of the Church parking lot, and whatever had happened to her didn't look good because he could see that there was some blood on the pavement. David ran inside the church and alerted the bishop, this guy named Calvin Gillin, who, in this small town, also happened to be the Murray Police Chief. The two ran back outside to get a look at the woman. She was in such bad shape they couldn't tell if she was even still alive. So Chief Gillin called for the Murray Police Department and a county ambulance

to come quick. Unified police detective Ben Pender, who's working the case today, told us that the woman was lying face up, and it was obvious from the wounds and blood on her head and her face that she had been severely beaten, but she was still alive. They checked for a pulse. They could not find a pulse. However, it was obvious she was still alive and breathing. Her breathing was shallow. The woman was wearing a coat, but her underwear and stockings had been pulled down, which immediately made police think she'd been sexually assaulted. She appeared to be barely clinging to life when suddenly,

the woman started flailing her hands and arms at first responders as if she was trying to fight them off. And it guts me thinking about this because she obviously thought that her attacker or attackers were back to finish what they started. She must have been so out of it and scared that she didn't know she was lying in a church parking lot with medics and police trying to save her. As they were preparing to put her in the ambulance, officers spotted some stuff nearby that they thought might have been hers. There was a brown grocery bag on its side, and spilling out of it was a

can of fruit cocktail, angel food cake, and some packs of jello. There was also a purse, and inside that was a driver's license for 26-year-old Corazon, France. Plus, police found a checkbook with her name and address, so some officers headed that way while the ambulance rushed Corazon to Cottonwood Hospital, with another officer in tow. Just in case, Corazon could give any information about what had happened to her, but she was in and out of consciousness and unfortunately wasn't able to say anything. Now the officers who went to the address listed on her checkbook didn't have much more

luck. The people who answered the door said they used to be Corazon's roommates, but that she had recently moved to a different apartment. Now, luckily, they knew which one, so officers headed straight there. As they pulled up to Kabul Creek apartments, they noted a few things right off the bat. First of all, the apartment complex was in a nice neighborhood, and it seemed pretty high-end. There was a huge fence going around the a nice neighborhood, and it seemed pretty high-end. There was a huge fence going around the entire parking lot, and there was a security booth at the entrance. But the second thing they noticed flew in the face of the picture of safety and security that had been so well constructed.

At the back corner, they saw a white car with blood stains all along the side of it, then a long blood trail and more random grocery items on the ground. They figured it had to be related to Corazon's attack. But before launching an investigation, the officers had to pause, because even though the Mill Creek apartments was not even two miles from the church where Corazon had been found, Murray officers were technically outside their jurisdiction. So at this point, there was some information that there was some type of a scene of a couple creeks, so deputies responded over there and realized that that's where the initial attack occurred.

And that's how the transfer ended up at the Salt Academy Sheriff's Office is they believe that the initial attack occurred in our jurisdiction and talking with Murray, it was decided that the Sheriff's Office would take the case. Around 9.30 Sunday morning, just as county sheriff's deputies were taking over, authorities got word that Corazon had died at the hospital. Her body was taken to the University of Utah where the medical examiner's office was located to await autopsy. And the Sheriff's office case turned from an assault to a homicide. They got to work processing the car and going off the address Corazon's former roommates had

given them deputies knocked on the apartment door labeled 5272, a door that was super close to that car and blood trail. When the door opened, a woman was on the other side, and she introduced herself as Brenda, Corazon's roommate. She said she observed Corazon's vehicle earlier in the morning because she left for church, but wasn't concerned because she thought Corazon

had already left with Mr. Mrs. Franson. Mr. and Mrs. Franson, or Bert and Ada Ray, were Corazon's in-laws. Brenda hadn't known Corazon long, but in that short time since they had been living together, she had already picked up on the fact that they were close, and she hung out with her in-laws a lot. I mean, so much so that any time Corazon wasn't around Brenda figured she was with them, which is what she had figured for the last day or so. She indicated that she didn't see Corazon Saturday on the fourth,

but leave Corazon had been there and had changed her clothes and left some packages and picked up a key to the deadbolt lock, which had just been installed. Brenda confirmed that she hadn't actually laid eyes on Corazon since Friday morning. Brenda told police that she had a date Saturday night so she left the apartment at around 6 p.m. and didn't get home until after midnight, like 12.30 a.m. or so on Sunday. But she couldn't recall whether or not she saw Corazon's car in the parking lot when she got home. But if you're following along closely, you're realizing a Corazon's car in the parking lot when she got home. But if you're following along closely, you're realizing that Corazon's car likely was there. And Brenda got home just a half hour or maybe 45 minutes after Corazon was attacked

right outside their apartment. I mean, she just barely missed witnessing it. Now, I know what you're wondering, and say say my friend, you saw her car that morning, maybe the night before, but you didn't see all the blood? I don't think she went up close to the car to see if there's anything I don't think she knew of anything at that point. Thing is, that doesn't totally make sense to me, because Brenda told the officers at her door that as she was leaving for church that very morning, she saw Corazon's car in the parking lot and had noticed that it was unlocked,

which she thought was odd because Corazon usually locked her car. So you can see if a car is unlocked, right? So am I missing something? If Brenda is up on the car enough to notice it was unlocked, how had she missed all the blood? And how did she not see the spilled grocery items all over the ground? The best explanation I can think of is that Brenda was possibly parked on the passenger side, of course, on's car.

All the blood and stuff was on the driver's side. So maybe she peeked in, saw that the lock was up, meaning unlocked, but didn't see everything else, even as she was making the walk to her car? I honestly don't know. It's not something that ever seems to get totally clarified. Brenda said Corazon had moved there from the Philippines, but her immediate family all still lived back home. That's part of the reason she was so close to her in-laws. Well that and the fact that she had lost her husband five years before.

She wasn't seeing anyone news, so besides an aunt and uncle that she hadn't found, her in-laws were basically all that she had here in the States. Deputies also learned that Corazon was part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So when Brenda couldn't give them contact information for her family in the Philippines, they reached out to someone at the church to see if they could put them in touch with a missionary in the Philippines who could help find Corazon's parents and inform them in person of their daughter's death. While they waited for the

opportunity to talk to the people who knew Corazon best, police knew that they had the next best thing. Her in-laws and that aunt and uncle who lived in town. So they worked at setting up interviews with them, not only to notify all of them of her death, but detectives were also hoping that they might know where Corazon had been Saturday night before her attack. And luckily, they did. Bert and Ada Ray told detectives that they had been with Corazon just the night before. Corazon just the night before. They went to the University Club where they had dinner and danced. Visit Corazon had met them on Main Street where she parked her white toador kugar and they all rode together to the restaurant.

After dinner and dancing, the Francins took Corazon back to her car and they all stopped by Smith's food king for a late night grocery run. So Mrs. Francin just indicated that Corazon wanted to purchase some items for a planned dinner, but she didn't go into any other detail as far as what kind of a dinner who is going to be there. I would suspect based on going to get that on that Saturday night that it was probably going to be some type of a dinner for Sunday. We were able to find out exactly what Corazon bought,

which was a can of Ajax cleaning powder, whipping cream, four boxes of jello, a can of fruit cocktail, and angel food cake, all of which were found next to her at the church and next to her car at the apartment. Deputies tracked down the receipt, and it confirmed Corazon had checked out its smiths at 11.05pm on Saturday.

Upon leaving the store, the Francins offered a follow. Corazon had come home but she refused stating that she was in her part of town and was not afraid. So, Corazon and the Francins departed each other from Smith's. Corazon got in her car and headed south east and would have been at her apartment about 10 minutes later because it was less than four miles from Smith's to her place. Detectives asked how Corazon seemed Saturday night. The Francens said she seemed pretty normal and that they all had a good time.

Except, you know, now, in hindsight, there was one thing that stood out to them. Apparently, when they met Corazon at her car at the beginning of their night out together, Corazon was shaken up because of something that had happened on her way to meet them. Corazon had told them that there was a drunk driver, somebody that had chased her prior to their arrival. I wish we had more information about this, but Detective Pender said that the Francins didn't seem to know much else. There is never any other discussion about that other than that happened.

I don't think she even gave them a, or if she did, they didn't provide a description of that individual that was chasing after her. That's connected to her murder. You know, I don't realize anything out, but it seems unlikely just the location, unless it's somebody that has been following her, but it seems to me that somebody is going to do an attack like that, why would they call attention to themselves prior to that?

So I don't want to say there's no way that person could be involved, it just seems unlikely. So that was that. After the grocery stop, it would have been about 1115 or 1130 Saturday night when Corazon was pulling into her parking spot at home. It seems to me as though she's getting out of the car as she's being attacked, so either somebody is waiting for her or waiting for somebody to come." Before deputies wrapped up their interview with the Francins and Corazon's aunt and uncle, they got a little more background info. They found out that Corazon had worked at Shirti Life Insurance for the last four years,

and also had a part-time job at a clothing store called Castletons at the mall in the town of Murray. They said for cultural reasons, Corazon had no plans to ever date or remarry after losing her husband to cancer, so there was no romantic interest that they knew of. Her social life was pretty simple. Her friends consisted of co-workers and fellow churchgoers. She lived a pretty quiet life. She worked based on allgoers. She lived a pretty quiet life. She worked based on all the reports. She was a very friendly person, but I don't think she was very outgoing.

I think she was pretty shy, and she did have some friends, but no one has ever said anything negative about her that she has spoke negative of others. This information was helpful, but it also had with me made deputies wonder who would have any reason to hurt such a nice woman who obviously led a very low-risk lifestyle. And hurt her in such a violent way.

Because what they learned the next day from the autopsy was that Corazon died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head, and she had a number of defensive wounds. There were abrasions on the right hand and the left hand, and that was also even noted by law enforcement at the scene. So primarily with Corazon, she was beat really in the head, the face, that was really the primary areas as far as the injuries were observed and documented by the medical examiner.

And then, of course, there was what they believed to be some type of a sexual assault. Detective Pender said the ME collected vaginal, oral, and rectal specimens for testing, but none of those indicated the presence of seminal fluid. There's some conflicting information in the news reports from back then about whether or not investigators believed she was sexually assaulted. The ME, Dr. Moore, told the Salt Lake Tribune in 78 that there were, quote, no signs of sexual assault. But maybe he just said that because he didn't find any semen, because obviously her underwear

and stockings being pulled down could constitute signs of a sex assault. An investigators today believed there likely was a sexual component to this crime. Either way, Dr. Moore said in that same Tribune story that the autopsy revealed Corazon had been beaten with a 22-inch steel pipe that deputies found smeared with blood and hair near Corazon's apartment. But does that information hold up today? I mean, if the opinion on the sexual assault has changed, we thought we should ask about

that. But when we asked Detective Pender about the pipe specifically, he declined to comment. Pim being hush hush about it makes me think there might be some investigative work being done today involving the weapon, but obviously that's not been confirmed. So there's no semen, maybe no weapon. Deputies were hard up for clues in those early days, but they did have one thing. When they were going through Corazon's belongings, they found something a little mysterious. In her purse was a phone number scribbled on a piece of paper. When detectives finally called it, they reached a woman. After talking to her for a minute, they came to learn that she didn't know

Corazon, but her son did. He worked with her. The mother had informed the detective that her son, he was at work, but was quite upset about what had happened and had indicated that they had gone to lunch in the past a few times and could not understand anyone hurting such a lovely girl. Now you think detectives would have wanted to talk to Corazons co-worker directly, but they must not have been suspicious of him because Detective Pendor double checked the case file for us and there's no interview with this guy on file. So since that didn't really go anywhere, detectives decided it was time to think outside of the box and see if they could drum up any leads elsewhere. So they did a search for stolen or abandoned cars,

thinking that if they found any with blood inside of them, it might be connected to Corazon's murder, but no such luck. Next, they compiled a list of other tenants at Cobble Creek Apartments. I mean, with no suspects yet, the best they could do was start in and work their way out. They learned that there were 361 units and 404 tenants.

But for now, they mainly focused on the men and checked for criminal histories. But no one really stood out to detectives, so they filed that list away for safe keeping. They also got a directory of all the members of the Church's singles ward, where Corazon was a member. Detective Pendur said that the documentation around what was done with this list is lacking. But he'd like to think that if anything interesting had come of it, that would be in the case file, and it just isn't. Detective's also interviewed Corazon's boss at the insurance company. This guy named Flint. He had stated that he had locked up her desk after learning information about what happened and a lot of the detective to go through her desk. The detective indicates that nothing

appeared to be outside of business work. No phone numbers or anything. But that path wasn't a total dead end, because Flint told detectives that there was one guy that they might want to look into. Someone who'd been fired last year who had taken a special interest in Corazon and had a habit of making her uncomfortable. We were asked to refer to him by his initials, DB.

But basically, police figured out through interviews with Flint and other employees that DB had worked with Corazon at the insurance company and that he was a creep. One of her co-workers had said that he had asked Corazon out on dates in the past and she always politely declined. Another employee said DB had a tendency of forcing himself on his female co-workers. Oh, and DB was fired just two months before Corazon's murder. Now, because of that, it made it a little difficult to track and down.

No one had current contact information for this guy. So over the next few days as detectives work to find him, they also interviewed the security guard who had been on duty at the apartment complex the night of Corazon's attack. Detective Pender also asked us to call him by his initials, JP. He had stated that he was on duty Saturday night from 7 p.m. to midnight. He indicated that he was not in the guard shack the entire time.

He didn't notice anything unusual. He indicated he left the guard shack three to four times to patrol the grounds. There were no logs in the guard check maintaining vehicle numbers, and he indicated that in fact when he was shown the victim's vehicle that he did not recall that vehicle. What? Really? He didn't notice her white kooker coming in and out. Well, I don't know if he didn't notice her if he indicated he was there from seven to midnight, so she would have arrived home close If he indicated he was there from seven to midnight, so she would have arrived home

close to the time he was going home. So I don't know if he was doing a walk shift where he was walking through the complex and she just happened to pull in during that time when he wasn't in the guard check or if he just wasn't paying attention. I kind of want to pull my hair out thinking about this JP guy who was being paid as a security

guard that night and somehow didn't notice a vicious murder going down in his parking lot. I mean we know Korra is on thought back, so how did he not hear the assault or hear her screaming? But maybe she was taken by surprise. I mean we know she had defensive wounds, but Detective Pendor said there were no reports of anyone else hearing screaming, which just seems so weird. JP said that when he was in the guard shack, his responsibility was to record the license

plates of any car that didn't have authorized tenant parking stickers. So, why didn't he have a log from Saturday night? Were there no visitors during his shift? This is another piece of information that was either not documented in detail or has just been lost to time. But knowing that security guards were supposed to record license plates of visitors, made police wonder if Corazon's killer was a tenant with a legit sticker on their car, or if they parked outside of the fence on the road. Which is what they leaned toward because of where the blood trail led. Cobble Creek apartments are actually still there today, and there's a tall concrete fence

around the property. The back then, it was just a chain link fence. Somebody could have jumped over the fence to enter into the property without being detected, I believe, at that point. Could they have gotten her out over the fence? I doubt that. It appears that somebody was probably waiting at the entrance there. I don't know if the person or persons were familiar enough that it looked like security worked from seven to midnight, but after midnight it didn't appear anybody was there. So if they knew the routine of security

that would leave it midnight, then as long as they came out after midnight they would probably be undetected. J.P. was the investigation's best bet for a witness to Corazon's attack. So I imagine it was frustrating for detectives to find out he not only didn't see anything suspicious, but didn't hear anything either. So it makes me wonder if it was maybe well after midnight when the attack occurred. But that doesn't really work out with the timeline. It wouldn't have taken Corazon 45 minutes to drive home from Smith's. Remember, she was checking out there at 11.05 pm, so even if she took a moment to say goodbye to her in-laws in the grocery store parking lot, she would have been arriving home by like

11.15, maybe 11.20. But it's suspicious as all this seems to me today. Detective Pender said that back then, the whole thing with the security guard was basically chalked up to bad luck. So working at a guard check as an extraduity job, they did require that, so we would have to walk through the complex periodically throughout the evening and check doors and stuff like that. JP was also a reserve officer with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office back then and had passed a background check for that job.

So he must have seemed credible to investigators. Detectives moved on to interview employees of the apartment complex to see if anyone stuck out to them. They checked with the maintenance staff. They really kind of combed through everybody that was like working there at the complex. No information was provided. Again, I think just because of the time

that the staff wouldn't have been on site. So nobody really had it yet, additional information again because of the time frame." Now remember at the beginning when Detective Pendor mentioned that Corazon's roommate Brenda said they had just gotten a new deadbolt installed? Well, unfortunately there wasn't any follow-up information available. I wish I knew who installed it and what they had to say. But Detective Pendor said that that particular maintenance man was questioned and nothing came of it.

By Friday, February 10, nearly one week after Corazon's attack, police had finally tracked down her ex-co-worker DB, and they were going to sit down with him to talk, hoping that he would hold the key to solving this case. DB admitted that he used to work with Corazon at the insurance company, and that the two had talked a few times at the office, mostly about LDS missions. DB told police that he had never asked Corazon out to lunch or anything, and that they never went anywhere alone together. He also said that the last time he saw Corazon was about three months prior.

Now he did admit to calling her at work once just to check in, but it's unclear if he meant after he got fired or before or what. When asked where he'd been last Saturday night, D.B. said that he had been home with his wife, but Detective Pendor can't tell from the case file if police tried to verify his alibi with his wife or not. So again, there really wasn't much there to work with. I mean, ultimately, it seemed like D.B. didn't have a motive. Maybe they let him off the hook because he was married with a family. But otherwise, police were scrambling to come up with any logical scenarios for who would want to hurt Corazon. No leads were panning out, and tips stopped coming in. And it's heartbreaking, but by spring 1978, Corazon's case was cold.

Now, a few months later, in May, a write-up in the Sun Advocate newspaper penned by a woman named Connie McCourt dedicated a few words to honor Khorazon. Connie wrote that Khorazon finished college and earned a degree in journalism, and that she first arrived in Utah in October 1972, after meeting her husband Gary in the Philippines where he was serving a mission for his church. They married in the Salt Lake Temple, and Gary died just eight months after the wedding. Connie wrote that Corazon moved in with her in-laws, Bert and Ada Ray, where they all agreed the loss of Gary and her in-laws helped Corazon adapt to American culture, even teaching her how to drive.

Connie also wrote that Corazon was accomplished in crocheting and typing and tennis, housekeeping, even cooking. And she reported that Corazon was working two jobs to save enough money to bring the rest of her family to the States. And actually, in order to achieve that, she had to have lived in the U.S. for five years. And that was a goal that she was just months shy of when she was murdered. Connie closed out her column by writing, quote,

A maniac with a lead pipe beat Korra to death in a parking lot in Salt Lake City, but the laugh is on him. Those of us who love her are repelled by the means of her death. But we remember her oft voiced wish to join Gary on the other side. We rejoice with her at their reunion." In December 1978, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Shirtie Life Insurance was offering a $2,000 reward for information, leading to the arrest and conviction of Corazon's killer. But nothing came from it. Very little headway, or effort, really, was made in Corazon's case

in the years after her murder. And listen, I don't know if Corazon's lack of local family had something to do with her case not being investigated beyond the winter of 1978, or if other cases maybe popped up and there just weren't enough detectives to go around. But I know that they did try new things here and there. Like in 1980, when they reached out to other regional and out-of-state agencies to see if there were any other cases similar to Corazon's, like women being attacked and left at churches, but it didn't lead to anything. More than three decades went by, but eventually, around 2011, the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office formed a cold case unit, and a detective picked up Corazon's case file for the first time in 33 years.

That investigator presented her case to the VDox Society, hoping for some guidance. suggestions about some potential DNA testing. They talked about maybe putting it out into the media, but unfortunately it didn't produce any viable leads at that point. After that, Corazon's case went back on the shelf. Fast forward two more years, and the next movement was in 2013. That's when a grant had been acquired for detective to work some Salt Lake County cold cases. And a detective decided it was time to finally get some evidence tested for DNA in Corazon's case. The items from both crime scenes had been preserved over the years, so he sent off her purse, that can of Ajax that was found near her car, a beer can that was also nearby her car,

although they weren't sure if it was even related. And they also sent one of her shoes. Which by the way, one of Corazon shoes was still on her when she was found, but the other one was later found in a dirt field a little ways away, in the opposite direction of the church, in the next lot over. It was a construction area at the time where a new subdivision was being built. So it's that shoe, the one they found in the new subdivision that was being built that they sent off.

From looking at photos, Detective Pender thought it looked as if someone threw her shoe over there. There was another item that was also sent that I don't want to talk about that one. Whatever that mystery item was, that was the only item that came back with real evidentiary value. It showed a mixture of three unknown male profiles, which was really exciting, but also not ideal. mixtures of DNA are very tricky to work with. So what good was that in 2013? Not good at all.

I mean, it was still helpful, right? It still is progressing the case a little bit, because now we have some information. We can't do a whole lot with it right now, but we're hoping as time goes on, that technology will change, which it is changing, and has changed. None of the other items they sent off for testing

in 2013 came back with any hits. And because they weren't sure what to do with the mixed profiles, Horazon's case got put back on the shelf once again. It wasn't until 2016 that Detective Pender got involved. They requested he resubmit the mystery item for testing, and they also asked him to submit another item that had never been tested before, and it's another item that Detective Pender wanted to remain off the record. Now in addition to those two things, they also submitted Corazon's clothing.

The results? More freaking mixtures. They just indicate on these items that there is a presence of a mixtures of at least two individuals and wouldn't qualify for any statistical calculations. Some of her clothing was also tested but again came back that there was a present of mixtures as well and could not draw a conclusion. So how many different undone profiles are you working with? So I don't really know because until they can separate those mixed profiles, I don't know if the mixed profiles are going to be the same individuals or if it's going to be different individuals.

But there was one item that provided a full, unknown, male DNA profile. Detective Pender wouldn't say which item it was, but that was so exciting because it meant that he could enter that profile into Kodus, which he did in 2019. But there were no hits. And before you accuse me of bearing the lead, the reason I did is because the full profile came off of an item that investigators aren't to 100% certain is actually tied to the crime. And no, it's not the beer can, by the way. It's something else that they don't want to name. Apparently

this item was found close to Corazon's car, but if or when they get a hit on the profile, it's not exactly the slam dunk that they're looking for. Undeterred, but not just wanting to sit around and wait for a codis hit, Detective Pender has been exploring other avenues to try and solve Corazon's case. So, I've also been working again with Parabond trying to see if this is something that could potentially at some point be able to get phenotyping and or investigative genetic genealogy. But again, currently, we don't have enough. They're retesting items trying to get better profiles as we speak. With the new technology, we're hopeful that we can get more anticipation of being able

to proceed forward with it. Detective Pender really hopes those results give them enough to move forward with investigative genetic genealogy. Best case scenario, it tells us who killed Corazon. Worst case scenario, the DNA connects to a former detective who was at the crime scene in the 70s, and that's a real concern for cases this old, because things were handled and preserved very differently back then.

I truly believe that all of these cases, if they were easy to solve, they would have been solved at the time. They are just extremely challenging, and even fast forward all these years, it's still challenging today. So I again credit them for the work they did and at the time and the efforts they put into doing this and I'm sure they were extremely frustrated as as I get frustrated but at least I can see that there's hopefully things on the horizon where I think back in the 70s a lot of this stuff wasn't even known.

Heal me for a moment and just imagine if Corazon had been killed in this decade. Police would probably have surveillance footage, cell phone technology, a sex assault kit, and her killer or killers who viciously beat her unconscious and likely sexually assaulted her leaving her for dead in a church parking lot on a Sunday morning, they would have been caught. But because their crime predates all of that, they got away with it. And who knows what else they've gotten away with? In the past, police have had a hard time

getting in touch with Corazon's immediate family. But a few years ago, Detective Pender got a call from her dad, Jose, who arranged a visit. She showed up, along with Corazon, one of her sisters, and her sister looked almost identical to Corazon, but it was really nice to meet them and speak with them and kind of exchange information and stuff like that, and to let them know that, you know, we haven't given up and we're not going to give up on his daughter's case. She deserves answers like every other victim in these types of cases, and like I say, in this particular case, as far as getting married and having her husband pass at a short time.

And having to go through that at that young of an age and then ending up getting murdered herself, I just, I can't imagine what the family and friends are going through. If you know anything about the murder of Corazon, France and in Murray, Utah, in February 1978, please call Unified Police Detective Ben Pender at 385-468-9816.

The Deck is an audio chuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis to learn more about the Deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?