Cold Case Breakthrough: New Person of Interest Named in Christy Luna Disappearance

Forty-two years after Christy Luna walked barefoot to Belk's General Store in Greenacres and never came home, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has named a new person of interest in her disappearance: Warren Gilbert Williams Jr., a convicted child sex offender who died in 2016 and can never be prosecuted.

Christy was 8 years old on May 27, 1984, when she left her home to buy cat food for her two cats at a store just 400 feet away. She was last seen exiting Belk's General Store and waving to a childhood friend before heading in the direction of home. A massive search turned up nothing. Her body has never been found, and in the four decades since, PBSO has followed multiple leads and named several persons of interest without ever making a single arrest.

The new development traces back to an anonymous tip the Cold Case Unit received last year. According to Sgt. Chris Karpinski, the tip alleged that Williams was remodeling a home near the general store on the day Christy disappeared. "He left that home and his remodeling efforts to go buy cigarettes at Belks General Store and he never returned," Karpinski said during a press briefing on March 11 at PBSO's second-floor pressroom at 3228 Gun Club Road in West Palm Beach.

Karpinski was measured about the tip itself. "That alone, interesting information, but we have a lot of that information through the years where somebody was seen in the area, and this and that," he acknowledged. What elevated Williams above a routine sighting, investigators say, is his documented history with children. Williams carried convictions for sexual battery on a child under 12 and lewd and lascivious molestation, and was imprisoned in Florida from 2007 to 2013. After completing that sentence, he went to prison in Alabama, where he was wanted for sexual abuse of a child. Karpinski described Williams as having a "peculiar past of sexual activity with children."

The suspicion was not entirely new to those who knew Williams. "The suspicion existed through this circle of people that Mr. Williams knew through the years, and they had discussed the possibility of him being involved with Christy's disappearance," Karpinski said. Williams died in 2016, meaning investigators are building a historical picture rather than pursuing an active suspect, and no charges have been filed in connection with Christy's disappearance.

For the true crime community that has followed this case, the lack of physical evidence and the deceased status of the new person of interest are familiar cold case complications. PBSO is treating the public appeal as central to any potential resolution, hoping that someone within Williams' former circle, or anyone with knowledge of his movements on Memorial Day weekend 1984, will come forward now that his name is public.

Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County is offering up to $15,000 for information that helps resolve the case. Tips can be submitted anonymously; if a tip leads to an arrest, the tipster may be eligible for a cash reward. Anyone with information can contact Detective Bill Springer directly at 561-688-4013 or reach Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS (8477).

Christy Luna's case has been described as one of Palm Beach County's longest unsolved mysteries. After more than four decades without answers, investigators say no detail is too small.