A road worker tasked with repairing a crash barrier made a grisly discovery as he glanced away from a typical summer afternoon, which instead marked the beginning of an ongoing mystery surrounding the murder of a little girl.
At about 2:00 p.m. on August 22, 1997, in the middle of a nearby grove of trees off the slip road to Highway 101 southbound in Santa Rosa, California, he saw a decomposing body.
A few days later, authorities identified the body as belonging to 12-year-old Georgia Leah Moses. A coroner determined that the child, who lived in the area, had been strangled or suffocated. Her killer or killers have still not been found.
Twenty-five years later, Angel Turner – who was seven when her beloved older sister Georgia was murdered – is increasingly frustrated by the lack of developments in the case. She wants to know who killed her sister. And why.
Angel Turner pays tribute to her sister Georgia on Facebook.
“Over the years, there have been many attempts by the Sonoma County Police Department, Santa Rosa Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies to reinvestigate this case with very little help and often no response,” Turner said.
So she’s made it her mission to find Georgia’s killer by launching her own investigation into the murder with the help of family attorney Maria Davis. The couple have repeatedly urged police to “give their case the due diligence of a thorough investigation” and released a podcast last year called They Called Her Georgia Lee. Turner also manages Justice for Georgia Lee Moses’ Facebook page and website.
“My sister has been under prioritized for YEARS!” Angel posted to Facebook in response to a police statement about the hunt for Georgia’s killer.
Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sergeant Juan Valencia told The Daily Beast that he could not discuss the matter because it is an “open cold case and any additional information could compromise the integrity of the case.”
Valencia would not be advised of whether or not police were working on new leads, whether she had suspects, or whether DNA other than Georgia’s had been discovered on her severely decomposed body and tested following scientific advances in recent years.
Georgia was last seen alive by a friend who accompanied her to a gas station near the intersection of Sebastopol Road and Dutton Avenue in Santa Rosa around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, August 13, 1997. Turner later learned that Georgia had received a page on her pager earlier that day and responded to it. It is not yet known who she communicated with or if that person had anything to do with her death.
Nine days later, her lifeless, naked body was found on the side of the road.
In a statement, the Sonoma Sheriff’s Department said the friends parted ways when Georgia got into a “small, white four-door car” with a black man between the ages of 25 and 30, according to police.
The man was about 6 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 4 inches tall and about 200 pounds with very short black hair, authorities said, adding that he is “a person of interest whom we have not been able to identify.”
“(Georgia) was a 12-year-old black girl, 5 feet 4 inches tall and approximately 120 pounds, with shoulder-length, braided black hair.”
What happened next has remained a mystery for the past 25 years, along with the identity of the killer.
But what is clear is that Georgia’s life was tragically cut short and whoever was responsible has not been held accountable.
“We released information to the public as part of our initial investigation, including the last known whereabouts of Georgia and a sketch of a man who was a person of interest,” the police statement said.
A police sketch of a man who investigators believe is an interesting person.
“Detectives continued to investigate her death by reexamining evidence as new technology became available. Detectives have followed every lead submitted over the years, but their case remains unsolved.”
But Turner hasn’t given up hope that Georgia’s killers, or killers, will be found and brought to justice. In fact, she hopes to achieve that result later this year by increasing pressure on the police and public to help solve the case.
“I firmly believe that God will perform a miracle in my sister’s case,” she wrote online.
“2022 will be the best year so far. I know miracles are coming and your murder will be solved this year.”
Turner declined to be interviewed for this article while she was “on hiatus,” but continues to invest significant time and energy seeking justice for her sister.
Perhaps the key to this is identifying the man Georgia was last seen alive with. Did he kill Georgia? And if so, why? Or can he provide new information that could help unravel the mystery surrounding her final moments and tragic death?
Angel Turner celebrates her sister Georgia’s birthday on Facebook.
Turner believes her sister may have been involved in the sex trade, but Sonoma County Police Department declined to confirm or deny if that was a line of inquiry they were investigating when contacted by The Daily Beast.
“They say she wanted to go to a party. With whom we don’t know. We do not know the circumstances of this party. But it is said that her friend (the last person to see Georgia) told police that Georgia called her back later that evening to say she would not be returning later that night,” Turner said in Podcast They Called Her Georgia Lee.
Georgia dropped out of school to take care of her ailing mother. However, she moved out of the home when her mother’s boyfriend moved in.
“In March (1997) there was a situation where my sister went to her room and my mother’s boyfriend followed her in there. And all I remember is that he closed the door. And the next thing I hear is yelling and things being thrown and he comes out and says, ‘Well, if you don’t follow my rules, you can’t stay here.’ He walked away and I went in Room. There was mustard all over the walls,” Turner said on the podcast. Georgia moved out soon after.
Georgia regularly returned to the house to visit and check on her little sister, Angel.
“Georgia wasn’t a problem child,” Angel said.
“She was the best sister, daughter, friend and person you would ever meet.
“She was a shining star who failed – over and over again.”
The same day Georgia’s body was found, Child Protection Services (CPS) stopped at her mother’s Santa Rosa home to inquire about a suspected sex offender in the area. While they were there, Turner opened up about her sister’s missing.
Authorities soon put two and two together and dental records later confirmed Georgia had been killed.
“I knew something was wrong because she was always visiting me,” Turner told Dateline.
“So when I was seven, I was the one who had to report my sister missing.”
At the time of Georgia’s murder, she was living with family friends, where she was reportedly paying the rent out of her own pocket.
On her podcast, Turner revealed that she also believes her sister was trafficked for sex by adults she was associated with in the last year of her life, and that the unidentified person of interest, in whose car she was last seen, this network may have been associated with her.
“Although a sketch of a ‘person of interest’ has been floating around, I personally believe more than one person is responsible for what happened to my sister,” Turner wrote on Facebook.
“I believe what happened to my sister is only part of the truth.
“This is a reminder to everyone who bears ANY responsibility for the murder of my sister… Justice has NO expiration date!”
A reward of up to $2,500 was previously offered by the Sonoma County Alliance Community Engagement and Safety Rewards Fund for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects involved in Georgia’s murder.
Many people have criticized the reward, claiming it was too low, noting that the total was often much higher in other unsolved murders. The sheriff’s office responded to those allegations, saying the department is not responsible for offering financial rewards for solving crimes.
Turner is now in his 30s, married with children of his own. She can’t help but wonder how different things would have been and should have been if Georgia hadn’t fallen to a predator.
Georgia’s tombstone incorrectly lists her middle name as “Lee” rather than “Leah”.
She believes her sister would also have “would have been married by now and had kids, spoiled[her]nieces and nephews, and told me I could do anything I set my mind to.”
“We would have been a dynamic duo who would have accomplished so much together,” she posted online in January this year to celebrate Georgia’s 37th birthday.
“My sister’s life was so important.
“If Georgia were alive today, she would undoubtedly change the world for the better — in so many ways.”
Georgia’s middle name was initially mistaken for Lee by many of her family members — including Turner — and authorities, but it was later determined to be Leah.
The mix-up is now immortalized on her headstone with the inscription “Georgia Lee…” and in a 1999 song by Petaluma Native Tom Waits, in which he asks, “Why wasn’t God watching, why wasn’t God listening, why.” was Isn’t God there for Georgia Lee?”
It’s a tragic case that has long raised more questions than answers. But Turner is determined to get to the bottom of them, no matter how long it takes.
And she has a warning for the killer(s): “Georgia’s little sister is looking for you,” she wrote in a post.
“No matter how much time passes, eventually the truth will come out.”
