The Anthony Martinez case began on April 4, 1997, when a 10-year-old boy was abducted from the front yard of his Beaumont home and later found dead in a canyon outside Indio. It stayed unsolved for eight years, until DNA preserved from under the child’s fingernails matched serial killer Joseph Duncan through the national CODIS database in 2005. Duncan pleaded guilty to the murder in 2011.
The Abduction in Beaumont
Anthony was playing outside with his younger brother and cousins when a man in a light-colored sedan pulled up and asked the children to help him look for a lost kitten. As Anthony stepped toward the car, the man grabbed him and forced him inside. The other children ran for help, and family members and neighbors came out but could not catch the vehicle.
Local police circulated a description of the driver and the sedan to regional patrols within minutes. The suspect cleared the area before roadblocks went up.
How Anthony Was Found
Local police and federal investigators searched across rugged terrain for several days. Anthony’s body was found in a remote canyon area outside Indio. Technicians processed the scene for anything the assailant might have left behind.
The Evidence That Survived
Two pieces of physical evidence came out of that processing. Forensic technicians recovered human DNA from under Anthony’s fingernails, consistent with a struggle. They also lifted a partial palm print from his body.
Both were run against criminal databases in 1997 and produced no match. The technology of the period had limits with partial prints, and no known offender’s profile lined up with the DNA. The case went cold. What kept it alive was the decision to preserve the samples.
The 2005 CODIS Hit on Joseph Duncan
The break came out of a separate case in Shasta County involving the Groene family. Joseph Duncan was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of multiple victims, and his genetic profile was collected. Federal law requires DNA collection from anyone convicted of a federal felony and inclusion of that profile in the Combined DNA Index System.1Government Publishing Office. 34 U.S.C. § 40702
When Duncan’s profile was uploaded, it produced a cold hit against the biological evidence taken from Anthony’s body in 1997. The match connected two crime scenes hundreds of miles apart and gave investigators a named suspect for the first time. A review of Duncan’s history showed a pattern of behavior that matched the Beaumont abduction.
Guilty Plea and Sentence
Prosecutors charged Duncan with murder under California law, which defines the offense as the unlawful killing of a person with malice aforethought.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code § 187
In 2011, Duncan pleaded guilty to the murder of Anthony Martinez. The court sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He was already serving sentences from other jurisdictions at the time.3Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. Convicted serial killer who murdered 10-year-old Beaumont boy 24 years ago dies in Indiana