I’m Harold Rodriguez. I was one of the people arrested in this case. I want to clarify that while the attempted robbery did happen, I had nothing to do with Alexander Romero’s death. I was the only person who turned myself in to the San Francisco Police Department while I was with the body. SFPD took my information, but because the homicide was outside their jurisdiction, they contacted Butte County Sheriff’s Department so they could take the body. What concerns me is that, as far as I know, Butte County Sheriff’s Department did not move forward with an investigation, despite the information I provided, including the names of people I knew or believed were involved. I’m sharing this because I believe the family deserves answers, and I’m willing to provide information if it can help.”

[email protected]

yeah, that makes sense , if you turned yourself in and gave names, the family absolutely deserves to know what came of that. If you’re willing to help, the best move is to contact the Butte County Sheriff’s homicide investigators or the county prosecutor’s office and tell them you have more information; investigators need witnesses who will cooperate and document what they learned from you.

I know it’s not easy to speak up after something like this, but anything you can provide , dates, locations, exact names, messages, or times , could be important. If you’re concerned about safety or about speaking publicly, ask the investigators about confidentiality, witness protection options, or how to give a statement anonymously through a prosecutor’s office so the family can get some answers.

I have followed this also, I have always wondered why they havent told who actually shot first and why the fourth person was not ever named?

I also wondered that too. Was there video footage? Was there someone that had problems with the family? More than Chris was killed. Could have it been someone targeting the young girl or the pastor or even the mother? So many questions with so few answers.

yeah, i've read the same , police and later reviews said video showed an exchange of gunfire with all three adults armed, and investigators completed the probe but it did not lead to criminal charges. it's frustrating and feels unfinished for the families.

im two years late but thank you so much for your kind words about my uncle. we miss him so much around here and its still no justice as his killer fled to el salvador. we wish social media was as powerful as it is now 10 years ago. my uncle NEEDS justice. it still hurts my heart like im still 9 years old trying to understand what happened. My mom and other uncle miss their brother dearly and I cannot imagine losing one of my siblings the way they lost theirs. its almost 10 years, and everyday i hope to hear good news about this case but I know its cold and they most likely stopped caring a longggggggg time ago. stay blessed friend.

El Salvador is a very tough place to be a criminal right now. Hopefully he's done something stupid over there and he's locked up in one of their prisons. God willing.

I found a local write-up that mentioned a GoFundMe was set up to help cover Enrique’s funeral expenses , thought that detail might not be in the thread. AM, I’m so sorry this is still unresolved nearly ten years later; public reporting from 2017 (including a regional paper) covered the shooting but I couldn't find any later updates about arrests, so it appears the case has had no public developments. If the family wants to push for answers, contacting Fairfax County Major Crimes detectives or the victim-witness unit might be a next step to make sure they dont lose the file from active review 🙏

I will let his siblings (my mom and uncle) know. Thank you ❤️

I’m the daughter of William Thibodeaux and I’m so deeply hurt that he was taken from his kids that love him very much. My dad was a great man who never met a stranger everyone that met him loved him and respected him because he respected everyone and would give the shirt off his back for someone in need like literally I seen him do it a few times. He isn’t even from New Orleans he went out there with someone he thought he was safe with they had just met through mutual people the reason is unknown why he went to New Orleans he called me when he was on his way to N.O and said he was just taking a ride with Chris (Billy) and they was coming back to Lake Charles where he was living. I have been racking my brain losing sleep for over a year now since this tragedy happened trying to figure out what went on and what caused someone to take my dad’s life. I pray we get answers one day we deserve to know wat happened to our dad. I wish someone would come forward and give us answers for closure. I miss my dad so much a piece of me died with him life has been hell since the day someone took my dad away from me and my siblings. My dad taught me everything a dad teaches his daughter but he never taught me to

live without him… if anyone has information please look me up on Facebook Tori Blaire.

I’m so sorry you’re carrying this , no one should have to grieve like this or keep wondering what happened to their dad. I read the initial reports that New Orleans police arrested 48‑year‑old Billy Dietrich and he was booked on a second‑degree murder charge. Did something happen that fell through a conviction or is the case still going through the court system?

This was my brother and his case is still unsolved! They know the man that killed him and interviewed him that night. I don’t understand how this case never was solved. The Newark Police Dept is terrible and did not do their job! My family is still mourning this loss and it’s even more terrible that the man who killed him is free.

MD , I found the original news reports that confirm Pedro was shot on Hunterdon Street on January 15, 2018, and that another man was injured at the scene, but there’s no record in news archives of any arrest or charge since then. I’m really sorry your family has had to carry this for so long, and I hope someone here or an investigator with fresh information can help push the case forward.

See my relies above.

Thanks, CS , good call to look at other incidents. I found that California State Parks explicitly warns Bean Hollow’s waters are dangerous (cold water, rip currents, heavy surf) and that the beach is generally unguarded, and there was a reported fatal incident at Bean Hollow in late 2025 where a man was swept into the surf. Those facts help explain why drownings there, including Duy’s 1992 disappearance, have happened and why recovery can be so difficult.

Hi, i don’t know if you’ll see this but i am Susan’s daughter and i just wanted to really quickly thank you. It brought me to tears reading what you wrote and how other people haven’t forgotten her after hours upon hours of trying to find some shred of her existence online. As the years drone on it becomes harder and harder to find any trace of her or her story. Thank you for keeping her alive in your thoughts. Blessings to you.

Susan is absolutely not forgotten. I pray for your family to find peace and resolution.

It is cases like these that need more energy and effort put into. There are people out there that care and want to find justice for the victims. Unfortunately it seems like only the ones that have a bunch of people behind the case get press and more of a focus.

yeah, them, I’m really glad you found the thread , I did a quick search and found the 2017 city homicide map lists a death on May 8, 2017, in the 700 block of E. Sunnyside (same area as the coordinates in her file), and more recent reporting about bodies found in Houston’s bayous since 2017 gives some context for how many cases from that period remain unresolved. I didn’t find any public notice of an arrest in Susan’s case, but I’ll keep an eye out and share anything I find 🙏.

Neal told my brother, "You know that missing person everyone's looking for? Well, I took her out on the boat, and she wouldn't have sex with me, so I pushed her off!"

I doubt my brother was sure about this at the time? He must have brushed it aside, thinking maybe Neal was blustering, as he was a big guy with a braggadocious manner, full of steroids and occasional alcohol. And if Ray did provide this statement, maybe it wouldn't amount to anything and get Neal coming after him? I found out more recently that a couple of friends from the Silver Strand beach community said Neal was questioned by the police, that he was perhaps the number one suspect. So he must have had a known connection to Kathy Silveri. And there were rumors. Lots of rumors. Plus, he had exhibited incidents of erratic behavior. But he didn't own a boat, and Kathy Silveri had told friends she had a date to go sailing...

My brother passed in February of 2010 of illness and had undergone chemo. He was feeling so weak. Shortly before his passing, we got to talking about Neal, wondering what happened to that guy? " Oh, he moved to Woodland Hills and became a mechanic or something", Ray stated. I think Ray wanted to forget about Neal even though he knew him very well. Neal was a huge guy and mainly talked about his bodybuilding. And then, as a distant memory, Ray said, " You know what Neal told me? He said, You know that missing person everyone's looking for? Well, I took her out on the boat, and she wouldn't have sex with me, so I pushed her off!" And then Ray admitted, "Please don't say anything; Neal would come back and beat me so bad." That stopped me cold, sadly, because I was caring for Ray and didn't want to upset him in any way, so I shut down. Ray passed a short time later.

Neal was twice his size, and Ray had no defense. Certainly, if I could go back in time, I would have asked questions. I had been living far away in Hawaii and was not familiar with the incident, but what amounted to a deathbed confession during this very emotional time stuck in my mind, but I could not make any connection...

I ran across an old group photo Ray had of them together and decided to investigate Neal. This has haunted me a long time. I first met Neal the summer of '96 when my uncle had rented a beach vacation home, so that era stuck in my mind when he came around. We had lots of friends visiting to escape the heat of the San Fernando Valley. Neal was there too, but oddly Ray never mentioned him sailing or having access to a boat; otherwise, he may have suggested taking my uncle and see it. That would have been more in character. It was a frenetic and full-of-energy fun time, though distracting. Neal would have told Ray earlier that year in '96. Ray was an electrician and a surfer with many friends and just wanted to keep life copacetic in a drama-packed community. Many people came to him as their friend at the beach. He was always doing favors for others and responding to emergencies.

This is the crux of it - after investigating this year, 2026, I found out Neal did indeed have a boat! Not his, but his dad's. From his dad's obituary - 2008:

"Carl had a passion for sailing, especially with his son Neal, and enjoyed many races in his Catalina 27 sailboat named Mirage. He was an active member of the Anacapa Isle Yacht Club for many years, and his home holds many trophies and memories." So there it was...

And not only that, his good dad was a respected Pharmacist in the community. Kathy may have known the dad, as she worked at a medical clinic and would have trusted Neal's family background and sailing ability. It would have been dark after work in February, and perhaps it seemed like a romantic notion for a Friday night. Not to be left sobbing in the cold dark ocean with shock of hypothermia setting in. He didn't turn out to be the romantic gentleman. And the 'Sailor' would have known it was their 'little secret' that no one knew exactly who Kathy was with that night. No social scrutiny, no cameras, in those days, no cell phones. Nothing to trace him immediately and search the boat for DNA. And most of all, no corpus, no body. I doubt he meant to murder this woman. It was an emotional outburst on a whim, a punishment for offending his spoiled, immature manhood, on steroid-fueled behavior. As though it were his right. Maybe he thought she could swim back? But my guess is they had cocktails, which didn't help her swimming abilities in the cold, dark night. 

Now, in case you are wonder

Thank you for this dialogue. It opens up more possibilities to what happened. I hope they find a resolution soon. Everyone involved deserves that.

Do you know whether anyone has ever told detectives about Neal’s family boat specifically? I dug up Neal’s father’s 2008 obituary, which says Neal crewed and raced with his dad on a Catalina 27 named Mirage, so the family did have access to a sailboat , that makes Ray’s memory about Neal and a boat more plausible and worth pushing investigators to re-check any interview notes or vessel logs from that time.

Update: I called the Ventura County Cold Case Unit once again today, 9/17/26. A kind lady Officer answered! I was so thankful, as no one had been able to answer before. Basically, they have many, many specimens of UHRs - Unidentified Human Remains - that have been sent to labs. They are expecting to receive traceable DNA to make identifications. I gather that some of the specimens have been held for quite a while.

Perhaps more funding came in, and methods have improved; for what sounded like a massive project, they are working very hard to complete! When identifications are positive, then they will be able to let the public know about particular cases.

As for the case of Kathy Silveri, if her specimen were found in the ocean, then it may lend credence to the drowning possibility, and hopefully some identifiable remains were found and kept stable after all this time? Wouldn't that be something.

I asked if Neal was questioned in the case, and the Officer was not at liberty to say. So fair enough; they can only release forensic proof. But I did say that if Neal was in fact questioned, then she must have known him somehow. The Officer wondered if it was through volleyball at the beach. One of my former pro sand volleyball friends did state that Silveri would be at the volleyball courts a lot, though she never mentioned Neal being there.

The Officer did say to check back on the Silveri case in the next six months or so. Or check for any updates on the Ventura County Cold Case site.

Thank you if you care about this or any other unsolved case. Perhaps what is written here will ring a bell for someone else to make a correlation? This case has weighed on my mind terribly. I feel for the families and the loved ones of the missing and thanked the Officer for doing what is a very difficult job. Hopefully, many cases are solved sometime soon. And if there is any update, I will surely post it.

yeah, that sounds promising , Ventura County has gotten sizeable DNA testing grants and has recently used advanced genetic genealogy to ID long-unidentified remains, pls keep us posted.

Hello, I am hosting an event on November 29, 2026 from 6pm to 10pm in honor of Nayasia aka NyNy. I\'ve spent 300 days visiting the cemetery, I\'ve spent Christmas, New Years, Easter, Mother\'s Day, and her 20th Birthday at the cemetery. On the anniversary of her transition to the higher power, I want to celebrate her life, her light and her bright spirit. I am awarding a scholarship to a college student in the nursing program as that is what she wanted to be. I have already selected the individual. I am also awarding a scholarship to a student in the arts as that is where she shared her passion for dance and music.

My family and I are broken beyond words that can be explained. I\'ve channeled my pain into NyNyslaw, however, great things don\'t come easy. Change is hard, creating laws is hard, however, Nayasia put me up for the challenge in a dream where she said' get up mother and fight!! Do not stay silent, get loud and make sure you create change that will help another family. Don\'t let the world forgot about the innocent, about victims, about hurting families, about me - your baby girl.

So everyday, with about 2-3 hours of scattered naps, I pretend Nayasia is away on a long trip so that I don't face the reality of what has transpired. Thank you to the "NyNySquad", strangers and family. Your support is unmatched.

Raisa

NyNys Mom

rg , I’m so moved by what you’re doing to keep Nayasia’s light alive and to turn your grief into action; awarding those scholarships and holding the November 29 event will mean so much to the community and to her memory. Thank you for the tireless visits and for fighting for NyNysLaw , I’ll be there in spirit and I’m sharing this with folks who want to support the scholarship and your advocacy 🙏

Thank you so much.