College students help police make arrest in 1991 cold case murder investigation

Janie Perkins, 63, was arrested in Texas on a count of capital murder in connection with the death of 25-year-old Cynthia Gonzalez in 1991.

A group of criminology student sleuths helped police in Texas make the first arrest in a cold case murder investigation that had puzzled detectives for 34 years.

The Arlington Police Department said Monday that U.S. marshals arrested Janie Perkins, 63, in Axle, Texas, on Nov. 6 on a count of capital murder in connection with the investigation into the death of 25-year-old Cynthia Gonzalez in 1991.

Gonzalez, who police said worked as an “adult entertainer,” was last seen leaving her home on Sept. 17, 1991, to meet a client. Her ex-husband reported her missing, and her car was found abandoned hours later, prompting officers to investigate whether she had been kidnapped.

On Sept. 22, her body, which had been shot multiple times and was decomposing, was found on private property in a rural part of Johnson County.

Despite several leads, no arrests were made — until local college students stepped in.

The University of Texas at Arlington’s Criminology and Criminal Justice Department began a partnership with Arlington police at the start of the fall semester this year — selected students were given real cold case files to investigate, along with all related evidence, except physical items.

The police department stressed that it does not have a full-time cold case unit and that detectives can work on unsolved murders only between active, current investigations.

“When we launched our cold case partnership with UTA, we always hoped we’d get an outcome like this one day,” Police Chief Al Jones said. “I don’t think any of us expected that lightning would strike the first time. I want to sincerely thank the students for their work and dedication to this case.”

After having reviewed up to 500 files, the students noticed that Gonzalez and Perkins were friends and that detectives knew in the 1990s that the pair shared a romantic partner. Several weeks before the murder, the unidentified partner told Perkins that they were ending their relationship to be with Gonzalez.

Perkins had no alibi for the night Gonzalez went missing and failed two voluntary polygraph tests when she was asked whether she knew who was responsible for the disappearance and death. Perkins even told detectives that she was glad Gonzalez was dead and had thought about either killing her or having someone else do it.

Despite all that, she was never charged. A homicide detective reviewed the case in 2024, but investigators “did not believe there was any new evidence or leads to pursue” and instead agreed to “keep the case open.”

Following the students’ prompting, however, the detectives returned to the investigation files. They discovered that witnesses said Perkins had admitted she was involved in the murder and had mentioned specific details.

“Detectives compared those witness statements to the evidence in the case and found they aligned. They believe this demonstrated Ms. Perkins either participated in or facilitated Ms. Gonzalez’s kidnapping and murder,” police said.

Gonzalez’s daughter, who was just 6 years old when her mother was murdered, said she was shocked by the development.

“I am so grateful for this program and so proud of these students at UTA and so thankful for the time they have spent and the effort they have put in to this case,” Jessica Roberts said at a news conference Monday.

The same class of students is reviewing two other cold cases.

Perkins’ attorney did not immediately respond to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth’s request for comment.