[Vision2020] Book plug

[Sunil Ramalingam]

On December 20, 1980, my high school classmate John Riggins and his 
girlfriend Sabrina Gonsalves were kidnapped from Davis, California, and 
brutally murdered.  Their bodies were found two days later in Sacramento.  
We had just finished our first quarter at UC Davis.  I had met her once, 
during the quarter, but that was it.

John grew up in Davis, and these murders hit the town hard.  In 1989, three 
people (and later a fourth) were charged with the murders.  In 1992, as the 
cases headed for trial, semen was found on a blanket in the Riggins' van (in 
which they were abducted) that excluded all the men charged, and also didn't 
match John.  The prosecutor dismissed the charges, and the defendants were 
released after two and a half years or more in jail.  They were never 
re-charged.  I lost track of the case, and wondered if it would ever be 
solved.

Nothing happened for a few more years.  In 2001, I think, a mutual friend 
put me in touch with Joel Davis, a reporter who was a year behind John and 
me at Davis High, who was researching the case.  Joel was instrumental in 
getting the case moving forward again, and in 2002 a match for the DNA was 
found:  a prisoner in Washington, who has now been charged with the murders.

Joel's book about the murders came out this fall, and for those who might be 
interested, below is a link to his website.  Books can be ordered from the 
site.

http://www.justicewaits.com/

John's family went to the church I attended in Davis, and every Christmas I 
think of them.  For those of us from Davis, who knew John and were there 
when this happened, this book answers a lot of questions, after many years 
had passed.  Joel finished this book after being diagnosed with Parkinsons 
Disease, and after having brain surgery last year.  I don't think he ever 
thought he'd be a participant in the story, but that's how it ended up.

Sunil