$5,000 Reward Offered in ’94 Slaying

A $5,000 reward was offered Wednesday for the location of a Huntington Beach man suspected of killing a restaurant co-worker in 1994 by hitting her with a chunk of concrete and running her over with his car in Westminster.

Family members and officials said they hope the reward, being offered by the Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, will attract information leading to the arrest and conviction of Carlos Garcia Berdeja, 37, who is wanted by police for kidnapping and murder.

Police allege this chain of events: Berdeja forced Jeanne Ruth Molina, 33, of Anaheim into his car on July 17, 1994, after the two left work at the Red Robin restaurant in Tustin. He beat her as he drove to his home in Huntington Beach, where he raped her and beat her again. Berdeja then forced her back into his car and drove about six miles to an empty parking lot at the Westminster water tank at Monroe and 23rd streets. He hit her with a block of concrete, beat her again, then got into his car and ran over her.

“It was a brutal murder,” said Westminster Police Lt. Mitch Waller. “His intensity worries us. This guy was hot, and he just kept on and on, so we believe he’s likely to do this again.”

A witness told police she saw a man dump Molina’s body about 6:30 a.m. Berdeja’s car was found abandoned several days later in Huntington Beach, near his home. Police found Molina’s blood inside the vehicle.

Coroner’s officials determined that Molina died of blunt-force trauma. The case was aired Wednesday on “Unsolved Mysteries.”

Molina worked for several months at the Tustin restaurant, where she and Berdeja were line cooks. Police said Berdeja, who has a wife and children, asked Molina on dates but was always rejected.

Anyone with information is urged to call Westminster police at (714) 898-3315.