Police were finally tipped off to Jesperson after he killed his eighth victim, girlfriend Julie Winningham. Julie's mother had seen her get into Jesperson's truck. With the information from Julie's mom and help from Jesperson's employer, detectives tracked him down.

After a lengthy interrogation, Jesperson confessed to all eight murders. Melissa was a sophomore in high school when her father was sentenced to life in prison. He is serving life without parole.