Jan Miller has been missing a piece of her heart since June 29, 1984.
That’s the day her daughter, 19-year-old Veronica Perotti, was found brutally murdered in her college apartment. Her case still has not been solved 41 years later.
Veronica was Jan’s firstborn and her whole world. She named her daughter after the character in the Archie Comics. “I thought that Veronica, in the comic strip, was just the most beautiful name in the world,” she told Dateline. “And so, I always said if I ever had a daughter, I would name her Veronica. So I could call her ‘Roni.’”
“She was, like, the easiest child ever. She hardly cried. She was just one of those quiet kids. Uh, always knew what was going on. Very, very mischievous. Always could smile at you and be getting into trouble at the same time,” Jan said.
Roni was raised in Marin County, California. She grew up to be a kind young woman, always lending a hand to others at school and serving as a mentor to her younger siblings, with whom she had a close relationship. “Truly a joy to have around,” said Jan. “The glass was always half full.”
In the summer of 1984, Roni was living alone in an apartment in Chico, California. She was enrolled in a nursing program at Chico State University, taking a summer class, and working as a hostess at a local restaurant.
According to Jan, some of Roni’s friends were going to move in when the fall semester started, and had already visited and brought in some of their belongings. “And so there was a constant stream of people and girls. Plus she had some very dear friends that also were there going to summer school,” she said.
However, Roni was frequently alone in the apartment that summer.
According to Jan, Roni was supposed to be at work around noon on June 29, but did not show up.
“Her boss, I guess, called, and she did not answer,” Jan said. She added that the boss then called one of Roni’s friends, who rode her bike over to the apartment.
The apartment was a two-story, townhouse-style unit. According to Jan, the friend was able to see through the front window that Roni’s bedroom door was closed. Hers was the only bedroom on the first floor. The friend then went around the back of the apartment, where she saw Roni on the floor of her bedroom — and started yelling. Some construction workers in the area came over, opened the window, and went inside to find Roni dead. Someone at the scene called 911.
Jan was at work that day so she wasn’t home when police arrived at the front door to give her the news, but she had a friend staying with her at the time who was at the house. The police left, saying they would return when Jan got home. “So when I got home and I saw her, I said, ‘What is wrong?’ I said, you know, ‘You — you’re a wreck,’ Jan remembered telling her friend. “She said, ‘I don’t know what’s happened,’ she said, ‘but the police will be here shortly.’”
“So I was already, like, you know, hair was standing up on the back of my neck, and then the knock on the door,” Jan said. “This young officer, um, you know, identifies himself and he identifies me, and then he says, ‘Your daughter is dead.’”
“You go into shock and, you know, you can’t believe it,” Jan said. “And then he tells me she’s been murdered.”
She was then faced with the unthinkable task of breaking the news to her husband, who was away on business, and her other children, as well as making the arrangements for Roni’s funeral.
“She had been brutally beaten to death,” Jan said, adding that the beating was to the point that the mortuary recommended she not open the casket for Roni’s funeral. “I totally lost my mind.”
According to Jan, police believed Roni likely knew her killer. “Probably it was the person came over and she let them in,” she said.
Dateline reached out to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) for an interview about Roni’s case. The Community Relations Director, Megan McCann, told Dateline via email that “Veronica was found deceased on June 29, 1984 at an apartment complex located in the 800 block of West Second Avenue in Chico.” McCann also stated that “since this is an active homicide investigation, information we can release is limited.”
As time went by, there were still no answers in Roni’s murder, but that didn’t stop Jan. She became involved in multiple organizations supporting families of murder victims, before starting her own in April of 1994. “We started Citizens Against Homicide,” she said. They host fundraising events, including an annual golf tournament. The money raised, along with grants, is used to help pay for DNA processing. “It’s expensive and a lot of counties don’t have that much money,” Jan said. “Citizens Against Homicide has helped Butte County with some DNA processing on Roni’s case as well as other cases.”
Roni’s family also awards a scholarship each year at her high school — Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield, California. “We’ve been doing it for 41 years, giving out an award to someone that reminds us of Roni. That’s --that’s the key. We don’t care if you need money. We don’t care if you’re a boy or a girl. We don’t care what you’re studying. We don’t care what your GPA is,” Jan said.
When asked what standout qualities in a student would remind them of Roni, Jan answered, “When she walked into a room, you knew she was there. The smile just lit up the room. Um, she — the glass is always half full. She’s very upbeat.”
All of her efforts go toward one goal. “I don’t want to forget Roni. I want my grandchildren to know Roni,” Jan explained.
Megan McCann from the BCSO described Roni’s case as an active homicide investigation. “BCSO diligently investigates all homicide cases, and in the past few years we’ve been successful at solving multiple cold cases,” she said in her email. “BCSO continues to look at emerging technologies, to include advancements in DNA technology to assist in solving cold cases.”
In 2009, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a proclamation offering a reward of $50,000 for new information leading to an arrest and conviction in Roni’s murder.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the BCSO Felony Investigations Unit at 530-538-7671.
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