LAS VEGAS — For 38 years, the family of Diana Hanson lived with a nightmare that refused to end. The 22-year-old journalism major went out for a routine jog near her home on New Year’s Eve 1983, wearing a Sony Walkman, a popular accessory of the era that allowed her to disappear into her own world of music. She never returned.
Her body was discovered in a desolate gravel pit near Spring Mountain and Buffalo, a remote area that in 1983 was virtually empty desert. She was found completely naked, stabbed multiple times, the victim of a brutal sexual assault that left even veteran detectives shaken.
The scene was among the worst investigators had ever encountered. Diana had bled to death from multiple stab wounds after a violent struggle. Her clothing was initially missing from the crime scene, but a search and rescue team conducting a wheel search—moving 360 degrees around where the body was found—made a chilling discovery.
Discarded palm branches were flipped over, and there, folded rather neatly, were Diana’s clothes. That detail stuck with investigators for decades. It was a signature, a mark of a killer with a specific modus operandi, one who took the time to fold his victim’s clothing into a neat pile and hide it under debris.
Police immediately teletyped other jurisdictions, a pre-internet method of communication, asking if any other cases involved a killing where the victim’s clothes had been neatly folded and placed under debris. There were no hits. But the key piece of evidence came when investigators found a bloodstain on the clothing that was a mixture of two different blood types.
The killer had been injured during the attack, either by his own misstep or by Diana fighting for her life. In 1983, however, that evidence was limited. DNA testing as we know it today did not exist, and the blood type information, while useful, was not enough to identify a suspect.
The investigation initially focused on those closest to Diana. Her boyfriend, Rich Emberlin, was questioned but quickly ruled out. A previous boyfriend was polygraphed and also cleared.
Detectives examined tire tracks found near the scene, determining they likely came from a van or light truck with common tires, a lead that went nowhere. Witnesses in the area were interviewed, but nothing pointed investigators in a viable direction. The case went cold, joining the ranks of unsolved homicides that haunt police departments across the country.
Diana’s brother, Kevin Hanson, remembers the shock of learning his sister was dead. He was in the Air Force at the time and received the devastating news by phone. The family was crushed, and the pain was compounded by the knowledge that Diana had fought desperately for her life.
Her boyfriend, Rich Emberlin, who later became a police officer himself, was so affected by her murder that he dedicated his career to solving crimes, hoping to prevent other families from suffering the same fate. He would call Las Vegas detectives for years, checking for any updates, but there were none.
The case remained dormant for nearly four decades. Then, in 2021, a breakthrough in an unrelated case changed everything. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant Ray Spencer was actively investigating the 1979 murder of 16-year-old Kim Bryant, who had been kidnapped from a local Dairy Queen, sexually assaulted, and murdered.
The case had no leads, so Spencer turned to Othram Labs, a private forensic DNA laboratory that specializes in using advanced genetic genealogy to solve cold cases. Othram’s work identified a suspect in Kim Bryant’s murder: a man named Johnny Blake Peterson.
The identification made news, and the press conference Spencer gave would prove to be the catalyst for solving Diana Hanson’s case. A woman watching the coverage recognized the name. She was Peterson’s ex-wife.
She called law enforcement with information that had haunted her for years. In 1983, she had found a Sony Walkman and a pair of panties inside Peterson’s vehicle. When she confronted him, he claimed his brothers were playing tricks on him.
She was young and dismissed it at the time, but after seeing the press conference, she knew she had to come forward.
The tip was critical. Spencer had intentionally withheld details from the public, a common tactic to vet incoming information. The ex-wife’s recollection of the Walkman and panties matched details of Diana Hanson’s case that had never been released.
Investigators compared Peterson’s DNA, which had been entered into CODIS after the Kim Bryant identification, with the DNA evidence preserved from the Diana Hanson crime scene. It was a match. Johnny Blake Peterson was the man who had raped and murdered Diana Hanson in 1983.
The revelation brought a measure of closure to a case that had haunted investigators for nearly four decades. Peterson, however, would never face justice in a courtroom. He had died of a 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 overdose years earlier.
But the DNA match confirmed what investigators had long suspected: Peterson was a serial predator. He had a prior sexual assault case before Kim Bryant’s murder, and he was now linked to Diana Hanson’s killing. Detectives believe there may be more victims, and they are actively working to identify them through genetic genealogy.
The case was solved through a combination of cutting-edge science and the determination of a community that refused to let these young women be forgotten. The Vegas Justice League, a group of philanthropic citizens founded by Justin Woo, provided the funding for Othram’s work on the case. The lab, founded by David Mittelman and his wife Kristen, is the only forensic DNA lab in the world purpose-built to identify victims and perpetrators from crime scene evidence.
They use advanced DNA sequencing to build profiles from even the most degraded samples, then upload those profiles to genealogical databases to find familial matches.
The technology is a far cry from the 20 markers used in traditional CODIS testing. Othram looks at hundreds of thousands of markers, allowing them to build a more complete picture of identity and trace family trees to narrow down suspects. In the Kim Bryant case, the technology identified someone who had never been under suspicion.
That same person was then connected to Diana Hanson’s murder through traditional STR testing and CODIS. The science had finally caught up with the crimes.
For Rich Emberlin, the news came in November 2021. He had called the cold case unit, as he had done many times over the years, and left a message. A detective called him back and told him there had been new developments.
She sent him an email confirming that Johnny Blake Peterson was the suspect, and there was no doubt. Emberlin stared at the email and cried. It was a happy, sad conclusion.
He knows who killed his girlfriend, and he knows where Peterson is buried. He has accepted the closure, but the pain of losing Diana never fully goes away.
Kevin Hanson also received the news, and while it doesn’t bring his sister back, it answers the question that plagued his family for decades. The killer had a name, and he was no longer a faceless monster. The family can now grieve with the knowledge that the person responsible for Diana’s brutal death has been identified.
The case is officially closed, but the memory of Diana Hanson lives on. She was a creative young woman, a journalism major with a passion for interior design, a kind soul who was loved by everyone who knew her.
The Las Vegas community was shocked by the murders in the early 1980s, and the fear that gripped the city during that time is still remembered by those who lived through it. The Jogger Killer, as the media dubbed the unknown assailant, was a specter that haunted the desert city. Now, thanks to the relentless work of detectives, the dedication of forensic scientists, and the courage of a woman who came forward with information she had held for decades, the specter has been identified.
Johnny Blake Peterson was a monster, but he is no longer anonymous.
The case highlights the power of genetic genealogy to solve crimes that have gone cold for decades. It also underscores the importance of community involvement and funding for these advanced techniques. The Vegas Justice League continues to fund cold case investigations, and Othram continues to work with law enforcement agencies across the country.
Their advocacy site, DNA Solves, allows the public to contribute to unfunded cases, share stories, and add their DNA to databases to help solve crimes.
For the families of Diana Hanson and Kim Bryant, the identification of Johnny Blake Peterson brings a long-awaited sense of justice. It cannot undo the horror of what happened, but it confirms that their loved ones were not forgotten. The detectives who worked these cases for years, the scientists who developed the technology, and the citizens who funded the work all played a role in finally bringing the truth to light.
Diana Hanson was 22 years old when she was taken. Kim Bryant was just 16. Their lives were cut short by a violent predator, but their stories have now been told, and their killer has been named.
The case serves as a reminder that justice, though delayed, can still be served. It also serves as a warning that predators like Peterson may have more victims. Detectives are urging anyone with information about Johnny Blake Peterson to come forward.
They believe he may be linked to other unsolved cases in the Las Vegas area and beyond. The investigation is ongoing, and the bloodline detectives are not done yet.
