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An unnamed suspect has been arrested in the homicide of a 14-year-old girl that occurred 27 years ago.
Tina Faelz’s body was discovered in a drainage ditch on April 5, 1984. A 43-year-old man with “an extensive criminal history” was taken into custody Sunday in Santa Cruz, where he was being held on unrelated drug charges, said Pleasanton police Chief David Spiller. His name is being withheld because he was a juvenile at the time of the crime.
“The suspect in this case was a student at Foothill High School at the time and lived near the high school,” Spiller said. “I personally brought this information to Tina’s mother. This arrest brought to a close an investigation spanning nearly three decades.”
At a news conference this morning, Detective Jim Knox said new technology helped crack the case.
“We went back and re-examined evidence abandoned originally,” Knox said. “We frequently go back and look at cold cases.”
While the man’s name is being withheld, Annie Saadi, Alameda County deputy district attorney, said she expects charges will be filed very shortly.
“In anticipation of this arrest, our office has reviewed countless documents,” Saadi said.
Faelz’s death has long been the subject of local speculation, but neither the Foothill freshman’s family nor local police ever gave up their hopes of solving the case.
It is one of three Pleasanton homicides that remained unsolved.
Forty-year-old Alfred Gutierrez was found dead with major head injuries after an apparent struggle in his Santa Rita Road apartment in 1977. Gutierrez was known as “Fat Freddy,” and was associated with a biker gang.
An infant child, known only as “Baby Doe” was dumped in a garbage bin and discovered at the Pleasanton Garbage Service’s headquarters on Busch Road in 1995. Police tested DNA on the baby but couldn’t locate any suspects.
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Tina Faelz, whose body was discovered April 5, 1984. A 43-year-old man who attended Foothill High School with Faelz has been arrested in the death. His name has not yet been released because he was a juvenile at the time of the crime. -
Pleasanton Police Chief Dave Spiller announcing this morning that a suspect has been arrested in the homicide of 14-year-old Foothill High School freshman Tina Faelz 27 years ago. Photo by Jeb Bing.
