On November 26, 2000, detectives searching a residence in South-Central Los Angeles uncovered human remains buried in a grave about four feet deep in the crawl space beneath a house at 410 E. Vernon Avenue. The Los Angeles County coroner and Newton Area Homicide investigators recovered the remains after tips and prior searches with cadaver dogs had failed to locate them earlier in October. Authorities reported that the remains were believed to be those of Julia Morales and her son Jorge Sarmiento; Jorge is listed in coroner and press records as a 34-35-year-old man who died after being strangled.
Jorge Sarmiento was described in public records as the adult son of Julia Morales; both were reported missing in September 2000 by Londy Massiel Acevedo, a family member who lived at the same residence. The investigation was initially handled by the LAPD Missing Persons Unit and later referred to Newton Area Homicide Detectives when information suggested foul play. When detectives exhumed the crawl space on November 26 they found evidence of a burial; media accounts say the victims had been bound and gagged, and were in an advanced state of decomposition.
LAPD press releases and a Los Angeles Times report identified Alfonso Gabriel Cardenas Lara as a suspect and said detectives believed he, along with others named publicly, had fled the country; police sought the public's help locating Alfonso Cardenas Lara, Oscar Rudolfo Blanco and additional suspects believed involved in a robbery that turned violent. Public records and news coverage at the time describe detectives working leads and planning press conferences to seek information, but do not report an arrest or prosecution in Los Angeles tied to the discovery.
As of the records reviewed, the case remains unsolved with no public record of arrests, charges or a closure announcement. Anyone with information was asked by LAPD to contact Newton detectives at the numbers supplied in the department releases.
