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Gardena man arrested and charged in 1994 cold case murder of woman in Desert Hot Springs

March 8, 2022

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Gardena man arrested and charged in 1994 cold case murder of woman in Desert Hot Springs

RIVERSIDE – Nearly 28 years ago, Cheri Huss was found stabbed to death inside her Desert Hot Springs apartment. Her case went cold until last month.

 

The Riverside County Regional Cold Case Team, which is led by the DA’s Bureau of Investigation, has arrested a Gardena man who the DA’s Office has now charged with Cheri’s April 1994 murder.

 

Sharron Eugene Gadlin, DOB: 5-22-73, has been charged in case RIF2201094 and is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in Dept. 53 at the Hall of Justice in Riverside.

 

Gadlin was arrested the evening of Friday, March 4, 2022, when investigators pulled over his car at 135th and Western Avenue in Gardena. He was booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center in lieu of $1 million bail.

 

“I hope Cheri and her family will finally get the justice they deserve and have waited so long for,” District Attorney Mike Hestrin said. “Our cold case team of investigators will continue to use cutting edge technology to solve old murder cases across Riverside County.  Our prosecutors will continue to vigorously prosecute these murderers until we get justice for their victims.”  

 

Cheri Huss was found murdered in her apartment on Parma Drive in Desert Hot Springs on April 24, 1994. She had been stabbed multiple times and was bitten by her killer. Homicide investigators also found that she had fought off her attacker which caused the person to leave blood, determined by testing to be from a male, at the crime scene. Forensic testing confirmed that the blood from the male matched the DNA of saliva left behind in the bite marks on the victim.

 

After years of investigation and regular attempts to match the suspect’s DNA profile to a profile in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) that came up with no match, Cheri’s case unfortunately went cold. Then, in February 2022, using forensic genetic genealogy the Regional Cold Case Team was able to identify Gadlin as a person of interest in the crime and discovered he lived in Thousand Palms in 1994, about 12 miles from the murder scene.

 

Cold case investigators sought and were granted a warrant to obtain a saliva sample from Gadlin which was done on Feb. 14, 2022. Four days later, on Feb. 18, investigators received confirmation from the state Department of Justice lab that there was a DNA match of the saliva to the DNA profile of the person suspected of murdering Cheri Huss.

 

Regional Cold Case Homicide Team investigators ask that anyone who may have information about this case call (951) 955-2777 or leave a tip on the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department website homicide tip form found here:     https://www.riversidesheriff.org/528/Contact-Us

 

The Regional Cold Case Homicide Team is comprised of members of the DA’s Office Bureau of Investigation, the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner Department, the FBI, and the Riverside Police Department. The team is available to assist in the investigation of cold case homicides for all Riverside County law enforcement agencies.

 

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Cheri Huss
 
  • Cheri Huss
Author: John Hall

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Tags: Cold CasearrestRiverside County Regional Cold Case TeamCheri Huss