Investigators seeking public’s help in solving 1998 killing of Cedar City woman

Undated photo of Kris Jake-Moon, 31, of Cedar City, Utah, who was found dead in February 1998 near Littlefield, Ariz. | Photo courtesy of Mohave County Sheriff's Office, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit in Arizona is requesting the community’s assistance to help provide information related to a cold-case homicide that happened over 24 years ago.

Surveillance video image purportedly shows Kris Jake-Moon and another individual inside a Mesquite, Nevada, casino, February 1998. | Photo courtesy of Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News / Cedar City News

According to a news release issued by the sheriff’s office on Friday, investigators are trying to identify and/or locate certain individuals who were with 31-year-old Kris Jake-Moon of Cedar City shortly before her death.

Jake-Moon’s body was found on Feb. 16, 1998, in the brush east of Highway 91 in the Big Bend area, between Littlefield, Arizona, and Mesquite, Nevada (mile marker 4.4), according to the statement. An autopsy determined blunt force trauma as the cause of death.  

Investigators gathered evidence from the scene and sent it for examination and interviewed family members of the victim. Detectives learned she was last seen at the Oasis Casino in Mesquite on Friday, Feb. 13, 1998.

According to the statement, Jake-Moon was seen by witnesses leaving the casino with five people: two identified women, an identified male subject and two unidentified male suspects. Surveillance video from the casino shows Jake-Moon with one of the unidentified male suspects, and both unidentified men can be seen in another image leaving the business. One man is seen wearing a cowboy hat, while the other is seen wearing a distinguishable jacket believed to include baseball patches on its design.

Authorities seek information on the identities of the two unknown male suspects seen leaving the casino with the victim. Both men were described as Hispanic and as frequent customers of the casino. Investigators also are looking for Darrel Calvin Drye Jr. and Rosealia Bushhead, who were seen leaving the casino with Jake-Moon. They are being sought for questioning regarding the incident.  

Anyone with information regarding this incident, the whereabouts of Drye and Bushhead or the identities of  the two men are encouraged to contact the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Unit at 928-753-0753 ext. 4408 or toll free at 1-800-522-4312, and reference case number DR#98-03894. 

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