Karina Alcaraz was 27 years old when her body was found on Saturday, November 17, 2018, down an embankment off Angeles Crest Highway in the San Gabriel Mountains, about seven miles north of La Cañada Flintridge. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of blunt force head trauma, and her death was ruled a homicide. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.
Karina was born on December 9, 1990, and was originally from the Costa Grande region of the Mexican state of Guerrero. She was a divorced mother of two young sons. Her family described her as "a very hardworking person" whose "main goal in life was to provide and give her children the best she could." She was last heard from on November 10, 2018, in Los Angeles, and her relatives in Mexico reported her missing and asked the public for help finding her.
A week later, at about 10:30 a.m. on November 17, U.S. Forest Service workers clearing debris from a turnout near mile marker 31 of Angeles Crest Highway found her body roughly 50 to 60 feet down the embankment below the road. Firefighters described the body as having been there for some time, and its condition was so poor that detectives at first could not determine whether the victim was a man or a woman. She was identified at the end of November. An autopsy found multiple cuts and fractures to her face and scalp, including fractures of her jaw and a fracture at the base of her skull. The medical examiner concluded that she died of blunt force head trauma or possibly asphyxiation.
The timeline suggests that Karina may have been killed soon after she disappeared and that her body was left on the mountainside, where it might never have been found if not for the cleanup crew. Angeles Crest Highway climbs from La Cañada Flintridge deep into the Angeles National Forest. Its upper stretches are remote, with steep canyons, few houses and no cell service in many places, and over the decades the highway has become known as a place where bodies are dumped. Whoever left her there likely knew the road or drove it at night, when traffic is light.
Her death left her two boys in the care of her brother. Her family raised money online to send her body home to Mexico for a proper burial.
A woman killed and left in a remote area is often killed by someone she knew, and detectives in such cases look closely at the people she was last with and the places she was last seen. Homicides across Los Angeles County in 2018 were near their lowest levels in decades, yet a large share of killings still ended without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Karina Alcaraz could be found in news archives or public records. Nearly eight years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who saw or spoke with Karina between November 10 and November 17, 2018, or who noticed a vehicle stopped near mile marker 31 of Angeles Crest Highway during that week, may hold information that could help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
