On the morning of Friday, January 18, 2013, Los Angeles Police Department officers were dispatched to investigate a suspicious vehicle parked along the 500 block of West 146th Street. The quiet residential and light-industrial corridor sits in Harbor Gateway, a slender municipal corridor connecting central Los Angeles to the harbor communities. When officers arrived shortly after 9:15 a.m., their attention turned to a parked rental car left along the street. Upon opening the trunk of the vehicle, officers discovered the deceased body of an adult male concealed inside.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner responded to the scene to take custody of the remains. A few days later, on Monday, January 21, 2013, coroner officials officially identified the victim as 44-year-old Dion Michael Shivers, a Black male resident of North Hollywood. Lieutenant Cheryl MacWillie of the coroner's office confirmed his identity to the media. How Shivers traveled roughly thirty miles from his home in the San Fernando Valley to a secluded neighborhood in the Harbor Gateway remained a total mystery.
Homicide detectives immediately launched an investigation into the circumstances of his disappearance and death. Because the body had been hidden in the trunk of an unoccupied rental vehicle, detectives treated the incident as a suspected homicide from the outset. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the exact manner and cause of death, but officials did not publicly release the specific findings or details regarding physical trauma. In coroner and homicide records, his cause of death was categorized under other, leaving critical questions about what weapon or method was used unanswered.
Investigators examined the vehicle itself in hopes of uncovering forensic evidence, including fingerprints, DNA, and documentation from the rental agency. Detectives attempted to retrace Shivers' final movements to determine who had rented the car, when it arrived on West 146th Street, and who had parked it there. However, the initial inquiry yielded few answers. No surveillance cameras captured the vehicle being abandoned, and nearby residents could offer little information about when the car had first appeared or who was seen walking away from it.
The broader Harbor Gateway and South Los Angeles region had witnessed fluctuating rates of violent crime, but the deliberate concealment and abandonment of a victim from across the county presented an unusual and chilling puzzle. Despite police canvassing the area and seeking information from anyone who may have noticed suspicious activity along the 500 block of West 146th Street, the case quickly stalled. No descriptions of potential suspects or suspect vehicles were ever distributed to the public.
More than a decade after his body was discovered, the killing of Dion Michael Shivers remains unsolved. Law enforcement has made no arrests, announced no persons of interest, and filed no criminal charges in connection with his death. Investigators continue to urge anyone who knew Dion Michael Shivers, has information regarding the rental vehicle, or saw anything unusual on West 146th Street on or before January 18, 2013, to contact the Los Angeles Police Department or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers.
