Deborah Kay Boles was 49 years old when she died on Sunday, December 16, 2012, in Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Central Area case. The public record does not give the address where she was hurt.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report listed her as a white woman. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Deborah Kay Boles has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Deborah Boles is not a rare name, and searches turn up obituaries for other women of that name in Massachusetts, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Texas and Northern California, none of whom had any known connection to her death.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was beaten in a fight, attacked by a stranger, assaulted indoors or on the street, or struck by a vehicle, all of which can lead to a finding of blunt force trauma. It does not say what time of day she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. Even the place where she was injured has not been released. The only geographic clue is that the case was assigned to the LAPD's Central Area, which suggests that she was hurt somewhere in or near downtown Los Angeles.
The LAPD's Central Area covers the heart of the city: the financial district, the Historic Core along Broadway and Spring Street, the Fashion District, Little Tokyo, Chinatown and Skid Row. By 2012 new loft apartments and restaurants had brought more residents downtown, but the area also held one of the largest concentrations of homeless people in the country, along with single-room-occupancy hotels, shelters and missions. People living on the streets or alone in small rooms downtown have long been especially vulnerable to robbery and assault, though nothing in the record says whether Deborah Kay Boles lived in such circumstances.
In mid-December, downtown streets are busy with holiday shoppers, workers, visitors and the people who live on its sidewalks. Shelters and missions in the area are often crowded in the weeks before Christmas. Someone who knew Deborah Kay Boles, or who saw her in the days before she died, may hold a piece of the story that detectives never received.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Deborah Kay Boles could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was in downtown Los Angeles in mid-December 2012 and knew Deborah Kay Boles, or remembers a woman of about 49 being hurt or found injured around that time, may hold information that could help detectives. 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.
