Gabrielle Distefano and Joyce Tina Gallegos
Riverdale, UT
1982-08-11
In 1982, 14-year-old Gabriel Distefano was found murdered in Harrisville after going missing on her way to a party; decades later, a forensic link connected her death to another cold case, revealing both victims were killed with the same gun.
Gabrielle Distefano and Joyce Tina Gallegos
On 08-11-1982, Joyce “Tina” Gallegos, 21 years old, was last seen never the bus stop on 25th St and Washington Blvd. Gallegos was seen by a passing motorist who was her cousin. Gallegos was supposedly going to meet friends for coffee. Gallegos did not return home, and her family reported her to the police as a missing person. Gallegos’ body was found in the Ogden River approximately .4 miles west of the Oaks restaurant.
Gallegos had been shot twice in the head and one of the bullets was recovered at autopsy. It was a .38 caliber bullet.
On 08-15-1982, Gabrielle “Gabby” Distefano, 14 years old, was last seen in a red colored vehicle with four unknown males at the Paramount Bowl, located near 1900 S Washington Blvd. Distefano was seen by a friend who was walking in the area. Distefano did not return home, and her family reported her missing. Distefano’s body was found on 09-16-1982 in a dirt field just outside of Ogden, in Harrisville City. Distefano had been shot in the head, and .38 caliber bullet was recovered.
The bullets in these two cases have been tested and matched as being fired from the same weapon.