Elizabeth Richards was 19 when she was found dead at a south Kansas City home on the morning of Saturday, January 6, 2018. Her body showed a gunshot wound to the head; she was naked from the waist down and had her wrists and arms bound with duct tape. A strip of duct tape had been placed over her mouth. Her two-year-old son was in the home and was found unharmed.

Elizabeth had gone to the house to drop off the child with his father, 23-year-old Joseph Gonsalez. Gonsalez’s parents discovered her body after returning home; while they were out, Gonsalez’s mother said she overheard an argument between him and Elizabeth and then a gunshot. Gonsalez was found about three miles away suffering a gunshot wound to his abdomen and not wearing pants or shoes. Investigators recovered a .38-caliber revolver at the house with two shots fired, a receipt for duct tape purchased the day before, and blood evidence in the Jeep Gonsalez had been driving.

Gonsalez was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and endangering the welfare of a child. A jury later convicted him of voluntary manslaughter, two counts of armed criminal action, and child endangerment; a judge imposed a total sentence of 54 years in a Missouri prison. Did anyone in south Kansas City see Elizabeth or the Jeep in the hours before the killing?