Denise Rene Moe was 43 years old when she died on Sunday, March 3, 2013, in Pacoima. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 11243 N. Glenoaks Blvd. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Foothill Area case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded only the basic facts: her name, her age, the date, the address and the cause of death. It did not publish a story about her, and no other news report about her death could be found.
Beyond that, almost nothing about Denise Rene Moe has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for her. The name Denise Moe belongs to several other women across the country, including a Minneapolis woman who died in 2015 and a Maryland woman who died in 2010, and none of their records can be tied to the woman who died in Pacoima. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown. The record does not say whether she was attacked indoors or on the street, whether she knew the person responsible, what time of day she was hurt or whether she died at the scene.
Pacoima is a neighborhood in the northeast San Fernando Valley, within the city of Los Angeles. It is a largely working-class community of modest single-family homes, apartment complexes and small businesses, and it is home to Whiteman Airport. The rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens grew up there, and the neighborhood has long been known for its murals and its strong community ties. Glenoaks Boulevard is one of the long streets that run along the northeast edge of the Valley through Pacoima and neighboring communities.
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. The case belongs to the LAPD's Foothill Division, whose station is in Pacoima and which covers the northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley, including Sylmar, Lake View Terrace, Sunland and Tujunga. Detectives there handle a steady caseload of violent crime spread across a large and partly rural area at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Denise Rene Moe could be found in news archives or public records. More than 12 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew her, or who lived or worked near Glenoaks Boulevard in Pacoima in early March 2013, may hold information that could help investigators. 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.
