Miguel Ortega was 37 years old when he was found dead on Monday, May 18, 2015, in Central-Alameda, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma in the 5700 block of Fortuna Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by detectives from its Newton division.
For nearly two weeks he had no name. Shortly after 3:30 that morning, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a "rubbish fire" on a sidewalk on Fortuna Street, according to LAPD Det. David Torres. A neighbor who had seen the fire called authorities, Torres said. The man later identified as Miguel Ortega was found there. Police believe that he "was driven to the location and dumped on the sidewalk," the Los Angeles Times reported.
An autopsy found that he died of multiple blunt-force injuries, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of investigations for the coroner's office. At first, Winter said, a medical examiner could not determine the race or age of the victim, and the coroner's office listed him as John Doe #107. On June 1, 2015, the coroner's office identified him as Miguel Ortega, 37.
The details released by police point to a deliberate effort to get rid of a body. Investigators believed he had been killed somewhere else and brought to Fortuna Street, which suggests that whoever was responsible had a vehicle and may have hoped the fire would destroy evidence or delay identification. Police have not said where he was killed, whether he knew the people involved, or whether the fire was set on purpose.
Little else about Miguel Ortega has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. Miguel Ortega is a very common name, and searches turn up many other men, including a 45-year-old Los Angeles man shot to death in 2022, none of whom can be tied to the man found on Fortuna Street.
Central-Alameda is a working-class area just south of downtown Los Angeles, made up of small houses, apartment buildings, warehouses and industrial businesses near the Alameda Street rail corridor. Many of its side streets are quiet in the early morning hours, when a car could pull up and leave again without drawing much attention. Even so, at least one neighbor was awake and watching that morning.
By the mid-2010s Los Angeles was recording roughly 250 to 300 homicides a year, among the lowest totals in decades, yet many of those killings still went unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Miguel Ortega could be found in news archives or public records. More than ten years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near the 5700 block of Fortuna Street before dawn on May 18, 2015, who saw a vehicle stop there, or who knew a man named Miguel Ortega who went missing in mid-May 2015, may hold information that could help. Detectives asked anyone with information to call LAPD Newton detectives at 846-6556. 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
