After three and-a-half decades with no answers, a California family is finally getting some closure after the kidnapping and murder of a mother. Cindy Wanner was taken suddenly from her home, leaving her young baby behind. Weeks later, her body was found miles away. Despite the best efforts of local law enforcement, no one was ever able to pinpoint a suspect. So for all of these years, her family has been sitting with a cold case, wondering if anyone was ever going to face punishment for taking her from them.
Now, thanks to advancements in DNA testing, they are finally getting some closure. A man named James Lawhead Jr. has been arrested and charged with Wanner’s death.
The mother’s disappearance rocked her community.
On November 25, 1991, the 35-year-old went missing from her Granite Bay home, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office shared in a video announcement. Her 11-month-old baby was left behind, crying in a high chair, as were her shoes, coat and car.
“Her disappearance sparked a massive investigation and shook the community,” the announcement noted. “Three weeks later, she was found strangled to death in a remote area outside Foresthill, approximately 40 miles from where she was kidnapped.”
The case had gone cold after police were unable to identify a suspect definitively. But now, after almost 35 years, they reportedly have found their suspect.
On April 24, 2026, police arrested 64-year-old James Lawhead Jr. in connection with Wanner’s kidnapping and murder. His arrest “comes after years of investigative work by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit and a breakthrough in DNA testing,” police shared.
He wasn’t easy to find.
Various items were submitted for testing over the years, but they never led to any results. Then detectives submitted a “final” piece of evidence to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Lab. Thanks to advanced DNA testing, Lawhead was identified as the suspect.
Lawhead, who was 30 at the time of the crime, had been released from prison earlier in 1991 after serving 11 years for child sex crimes, police shared.
“Once detectives identified Lawhead as the suspect, investigators began working to locate him. He appeared to have vanished, with no documented record of him since 2005. As detectives dug deeper, they came to believe Lawhead had assumed a new identity,” they said.
Thanks to working with other law enforcement agencies, facial recognition technology led them to Bullhead City, Arizona, where Lawhead was living under the name Vincent Reynolds.
He was taken into custody and booked by the Bullhead City Police Department. After his arrest, detectives interviewed him and executed a search warrant of his home, where they collected more evidence.
Lawhead will be extradited back to Placer County to face charges.
“Pathologists at the time feel like she was kept alive for some time after she went missing. Arguably, this is one of the most heinous, notorious cold cases we have here in Placer County,” Sheriff Wayne Woo said during a news conference, KTVU reported. “We’ve never given up pursuing justice for Cindy and her family, we hope this is a small step in the healing process.”
A day after his arrest, Lawhead’s sister, 71-year-old Terri Lawhead Steele, also was arrested on an accessory charge in South Carolina, KTVU reported. The following day, her home in San Clemente was searched by local law enforcement. Even though her brother was living in a home she owned, Placer County deputies said she claimed to not have spoken to him in 20 years.
“Just because of the passage of time doesn’t mean justice diminishes in importance. This family has suffered in anguish for 35 years and they deserve some accountability,” Placer County District Attorney Morga Gire said. “This arrest is a powerful reminder that time does not erase responsibility, and it does not diminish our commitment.”
Authorities had a powerful message about cold cases.
“Cold cases are not forgotten cases—they remain urgent, they remain personal, and they remain a promise we intend to keep, Girl said, per KTVU. “This crime devastated a family and shook an entire community. For years, they have carried the weight of unanswered questions. Today does not erase that pain, but it does move us closer to the truth and to accountability.”
On April 27, 2026, the Placer County District Attorney’s Office officially charged James Lawhead Jr. with one count of murder, along with two special circumstances: murder during the commission of a rape and murder during the commission of a kidnapping, sharing the news in a release posted on social media.
He also will be charged with another independent kidnapping charge. No date has been given for his extradition.
