GREENACRES, Fla. - Cold case detectives in Florida have named a new person of interest in the 1984 disappearance of 8-year-old Christy Luna.
During a press conference on Wednesday, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said it is focusing on Warren Gilbert Williams Jr. in connection with the decades-old case.
What happened to Christy Luna?
The backstory:
On May 27, 1984, Luna went to Belks General Store in Greenacres around 2:30 p.m. to buy cat food for her cats.
Courtesy: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
Detectives said the store was 400 feet from her home and a grocer remembers selling her the cat food.
Luna was reportedly last seen walking home barefoot but never made it.
Courtesy: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
What led detectives to Williams Jr.?
What we know:
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, a tipster recently came forward with information about Williams Jr. that could connect him to Luna’s disappearance.
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"The information we received was that he was remodeling a home near both Belks General Store and Christy’s home on the day she disappeared," Karpinski explained. "He left that home and his remodeling efforts to buy cigarettes at Belks General Store and he never returned. The people who were surrounding themselves with Mr. Williams that day and working with him stated that they noticed police efforts in the area to locate Christy on the same day."
Courtesy: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
According to Karpinski, the tipster said Williams Jr. installed a concrete pad in his backyard a week after Luna disappeared.
Cold case supervisor Chris Karpinski said Williams Jr. lived in Lake Worth when Luna disappeared and he had a past that included having sexual relationships with children.
Williams Jr. was in a Florida prison from 2007 to 2013. He was convicted of sexual battery on a child under the age of 12 and lewd and lascivious molestation.
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In 2013, when he got out of prison in Florida, he was taken into jail in Alabama for sexual abuse of a child.
He died in an Alabama jail in 2016.
Dig deeper:
On February 25, 2026, detectives and a cadaver dog went to Williams Jr.’s house and got permission from the current owners to search the property.
He said the K9 handler searched the whole yard for any presence of human remains, but didn’t find anything.
Ground-penetrating radar was also used, but detectives said they did not detect any human remains.
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A portion of the yard was excavated where the concrete pad was located and a 20-foot tree was removed from the pad, but nothing was found.
"Mixed emotion there because we wanted to find something. But, finding something meant we had bad news," Karpinski stated. "There is still hope that Christy is still out there, or somebody knows where she is whether she is still on Earth or has passed."
Courtesy: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
Suspects in Luna’s disappearance
Detective William Springer said there are multiple suspects in Luna’s disappearance, including Willis Rambo, who is incarcerated by the Florida Department of Corrections, his brother Charles Rambo, who is living in Tennessee, Victor Wonyetye, who is now dead, William Ferris and Warren Williams Jr.
"They are suspects," Springer explained. "If you’ve got information on any of them or someone new, we’ll look at them and do what we need to do."
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What we don't know:
It is unclear why the tipster who gave information on Williams Jr. recently decided to come forward.
"If you’ve got information you’ve been sitting on for 30 to 40 years, I don’t care, bring it out, and we’ll look at it," stated Springer.
What you can do:
The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information on Luna’s disappearance to contact law enforcement.
The Source: This article was written with information presented during a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office press conference, as well as previous press releases and videos about Luna’s disappearance.