Arrest made in 1980 Union City Murder Investigation
Union Police Department Case#: 800727016 In July of 1980 officers were dispatched to a residence in Union City for a woman found deceased in her residence. The deceased was identified as Latrelle Lindsay, 46 years old of Union City. Her cause of death was determined to be asphyxia due to strangulation associated with blunt force injuries and she had been the victim of sexual assault. At the time, no suspects were identified in this killing. A DNA sample was later sent for entry and search in a law enforcement database, but no match was made. In March of 1996 a body was discovered by Cal Trans in a set of bushes on Highway 780 near Laurel Street in Vallejo. The deceased was identified as Winifred Douglas, 46 years old from the Oakland/Berkeley area. Her cause of death was determined to be asphyxia and blunt force trauma to the head and neck, and was ruled a homicide. At the time, no suspects were identified in this killing. In 2003, evidence from this homicide with possible DNA was sent to the CA Department of Justice for DNA analysis. A single DNA profile was found, but when loaded into the FBI’s DNA database, no match was made. In 2012, the Solano County Sheriff's Office was informed that the DNA profile from the Solano County homicide matched a piece of evidence from a Union City Police Department homicide from 1980. There was still no suspect identified, though. Earlier this month, Union City PD and the Solano Sheriff’s Office were notified that the DNA profile identified from their two cases, also matched a sex crime investigated by another North Bay police department in 2021. Detectives were able to identify a possible suspect from this case in the City of Fairfield. Ultimately, Detectives were able to collect a DNA sample from 76-year old suspect James Ray Gary from Fairfield. This newly obtained DNA sample was submitted as comparison to the already identified DNA from the three crimes. On July 18, 2022, our office was notified that the submitted DNA sample from James Ray Gary matched all three crimes mentioned above. A warrant was obtained for his arrest and to search his home. Gary was arrested on July 19th in the afternoon and was later booked into Solano County Jail for homicide, and he is being held without bail. Additional charges are expected to be filed in regards to Union City’s 1980 homicide. We are grateful for the cooperation between the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, Union City Police Department, and the California Department of Justice. We are hopeful that this arrest can help bring some closure to the families and friends that have been seeking justice for as much as 40 years. Anyone with information related to the Union City homicide is requested to contact Detective Fonseca at (510) 675-5227. If you wish to remain anonymous, you may leave information on the UCPD tip line at (510) 675-5207 or at [email protected] For press inquiries related to the Union City homicide, please contact Sgt. Jimenez 12:00pm-5pm at (510) 458-3746 and Sgt. Hayward 5 p.m. – 11 p.m. at (510) 714-1694. Please contact Solano County Sheriff’s Office for information related to their investigation.
Address/Location
Union City Police Department, CA
34009 Alvarado-Niles Road
Union City, CA 94587
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 510-471-1365