Kids stumbled on dead 18-year-old on walk in 1989, MO cops say. Man now charged
An 18-year-old woman told her friend she was going to walk to her husband’s business in 1989, then vanished, Missouri police said.
Jennifer Williams was found dead 12 days later by a group of kids or teens on a walk, according to Springfield police. The case went cold for decades — until now.
New advancements in DNA technology allowed the woman’s sexual assault kit to be tested twice in 2019 and 2024, police said in an April 17 news release.
On Sept. 8, Williams was dropped off at her home, police said. Then, she told a friend she was going to visit her husband’s business.
When her body was found, officials determined she had been sexually assaulted and killed, police said.
She was reported missing three days later, authorities said, then her body was found.
In 2019, the evidence in Williams’ cold case was tested as part of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, but the test was inconclusive, police said. Further technology developments for the 2024 test identified 62-year-old Paul Bowles, of Fulton, as a suspect in her death, according to officials.
Bowles was held in Fulton State Hospital on unrelated charges, police said. He is held in Calloway County Jail on charges of second-degree murder, forcible rape and forcible sodomy, police said.
Fulton is about a 160-mile drive northeast from Springfield.
This story was originally published April 18, 2025 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Kids stumbled on dead 18-year-old on walk in 1989, MO cops say. Man now charged."
