LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (TCD) — After nearly 37 years, justice has been served as a 63-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for the abduction and murder of his ex-girlfriend’s young daughter.
On February 8, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office announced that Thomas McDowell received a life sentence for first-degree burglary, kidnapping, and murder in connection with the disappearance of 4-year-old Jessica Gutierrez, who vanished from her South Lake Drive home in June 1986 and has never been found.
McDowell was handed two concurrent life sentences following a jury conviction, as reported by WACH-TV.
According to the sheriff’s office, Gutierrez’s mother discovered her daughter missing on June 6, 1986. Despite extensive search efforts by law enforcement, including aerial and ground searches, the young girl was never located.
In September 2021, FBI agents and analysts, along with prosecutors from the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, revisited the case. With the assistance of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, over 125 individuals were interviewed, leading to McDowell being identified as the primary suspect.