Jenny Han-Chi Lin

Jenny Han-Chi Lin was a gifted and beloved 14-year-old girl with a future full of promise. An eighth-grader at Canyon Middle School in Castro Valley, California, Jenny was a straight-A student preparing to graduate as valedictorian. She was a talented musician who had trained on the piano for nine years and played the viola so well she became the principal violist in her school's orchestra. Jenny, who was of Asian descent, also studied dance and had plans to attend a summer program at the University of California, Berkeley, to pursue her interest in marine biology. To her family—parents John and Mei-lian Lin and her sister—she was a cherished daughter and sibling.

The day of Friday, May 27, 1994, began like any other. It was just two days after Jenny’s fourteenth birthday. Her father dropped her off at school in the morning, and she returned to her family’s home in the quiet, affluent Palomares Hills neighborhood that afternoon. She spoke with a friend on the telephone around 5:15 p.m., the last time anyone is known to have heard from her. When her father, John, arrived home at approximately 6:45 p.m., he found the house strangely unsettled. The television was on, and a sliding glass door in the back of the house was unlocked. He called out for his daughter but received no answer. Upstairs, in the master bathroom, he made a devastating discovery: Jenny was on the floor, naked and lying in a pool of blood.

Investigators from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene of a brutal and perplexing crime. An autopsy determined that Jenny had been stabbed multiple times. There were no signs of a robbery, as nothing appeared to have been stolen from the home. Police theorized the killer had first tried to enter through a second-story balcony door before breaking a downstairs window to gain access. Investigators believed the intruder confronted Jenny and ordered her to undress, possibly with the intent to sexually assault her, but may have been scared off before completing the act.

The evidence left at the scene was limited, but it offered clues. Footprints were found inside the residence. A neighbor later reported hearing the sound of glass breaking and seeing an unidentified man in a dark jacket and hat in front of the Lin home. Police believed the perpetrator may have fled across a field behind the house after the murder. The crime suggested the killer had knowledge of the neighborhood and the Lin family’s schedule, possibly targeting Jenny when she was home alone.

For years, the investigation continued with few leads. Jenny’s family worked tirelessly to keep her story alive, hoping for a breakthrough that would bring her killer to justice. In 2006, authorities named Sebastian Alexander Shaw, a convicted serial killer imprisoned in Oregon for three murders and a rape, as a person of interest. Shaw had been arrested shortly after Jenny’s murder and had stolen a car from a nearby community just days after she was killed. He exchanged letters with John Lin from prison but never admitted to the crime. For a time, it seemed a resolution was near, but in June 2022, Shaw was officially ruled out as a suspect. He had died in prison the previous year.

Despite the setback, investigators remain hopeful that advances in DNA technology will help solve the case. Evidence collected from the scene in 1994 has been re-examined using modern forensic techniques, which have reportedly provided new avenues to explore. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has stated they have new possibilities they are pursuing but have kept the details private to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.

Thirty years later, Jenny Lin’s murder remains unsolved. Her family continues to seek answers and closure for the violent loss of a bright and loving girl. They have established a foundation in her name and have never stopped advocating for justice. A reward of $100,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Jenny Lin’s death. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office at (510) 667-7721 or the Jenny Lin Toll-Free Hotline at (855) 4-JENNY-LIN.