Man Arrested In 1999 Balboa Park Killing Of San Diego Woman

SAN DIEGO, CA — Detectives have arrested a suspect in the 27-year-old killing of a San Diego woman whose body was found in Balboa Park, authorities said.

Christopher Creek, 52, was arrested in connection with the 1999 murder of Diane Ayres, a 23-year-old San Diego resident, according to the San Diego Police Department. Golfers found her body Sept. 4, 1999, in bushes in the 1800 block of Golf Course Drive.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office determined she died from strangulation.

Police said cold case investigators reexamined forensic evidence collected during the original investigation over the years, leading to the identification of Creek as a suspect.

Creek was found at Dodge State Prison in Chester, Georgia, where he was serving a sentence for an unrelated offense. He was arrested June 16 on a San Diego homicide warrant by the Laurens County Sheriff's Department and booked into the Laurens County Jail.

He was extradited to San Diego on Tuesday and booked into Central Jail. He was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

The investigation was conducted in partnership with the FBI and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

Anyone with information about the case was asked to call the department's Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.