Authorities in Salt Lake City revealed Thursday they have actually fixed the cool instance murder of Christine Gallegos, 40 years after the 18-year-old was located dead after attempting to bum a ride to function.
Gallegos was located dead on May 16, 1985, according to the Salt Lake City Authorities Division. She had actually been significantly defeated, stabbed and fired two times in the head. Authorities think that the individual that chose her up the evening prior to drove her to a remote location and sexually attacked her, eliminating her after she attempted to eliminate back.
The instance stayed unresolved for years. In 2023, the instance was re-examined in an effort to recognize an unidentified man DNA account gathered in the event. Investigatives sent out the proof to Texas-based Othram Labs for innovative DNA evaluation making use of investigatory hereditary ancestry, authorities claimed.
That evaluation determined a most likely suspect, that was validated with a volunteer DNA example from a member of the family to be Ricky Lee Stallworth, authorities claimed.
Stallworth was a 27-year-old united state Flying force airman based at Hillside Flying force Base in Layton, Utah, at the time of Gallegos’ murder, authorities claimed.
Authorities talked with 3 of his 4 ex-wives and a buddy prior to reaching a kid of his that gave a volunteer DNA example that validated the suit, according to retired Investigator Cordon Parks.
An undated image of Christine Gallegos.
Salt Lake City Authorities Division
There is no indicator that he and Gallegos recognized each various other, and Stallworth’s name had actually never ever shown up throughout the examination, Parks claimed.
Investigatives were incapable to speak with Stallworth, that passed away from all-natural reasons in July 2023, months prior to he was determined as a feasible suspect, authorities claimed.
” I desire we might have reached him prior to he passed away,” Parks claimed throughout a press instruction on Thursday introducing the closure of the cool instance.
” Today, we can state with assurance that he was in charge of the fatality of Christine Gallegos,” Parks proceeded.
Stallworth was recognized to head out over night and return in the early morning “without description,” Parks claimed. In the last 2 years of his life, authorities records revealed that he had actually been related to woman of the streets, Parks claimed.
Among his ex-wives was “not stunned that we would certainly be gathering his DNA” in a murder examination, Parks claimed.
The mommy of Christine Gallegos, Leah Gallegos, talks throughout an interview in Salt Lake City on May 15, 2025.
Salt Lake City Authorities Division
Gallegos’ mommy, Leah Gallegos, remembered her little girl as “outward bound” and “pleasant.”
” She loved her future husband, Troy,” Leah Gallegos claimed throughout journalism instruction. “They had a family members intended.”
” I feel in one’s bones that I sure miss this woman each day. I question the children that she would certainly have, and I view other individuals with their little girls, their grandkids,” she claimed. “They took a lot away when they took her away.”
Salt Lake City Authorities Principal Brian Redd attributed the “decision of our murder investigatives” and the advancements in forensic innovation in permitting them to fix the instance.
” I simply intend to restate our dedication to addressing cool situations,” he claimed throughout the instruction.
