Mary Eloise Trudeau-Mottola was 59 years old when she died on Sunday, April 18, 2010, in Long Beach. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 3903 Lewis Avenue. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Long Beach Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded only the basic facts of her death: Mary Eloise Trudeau-Mottola, a 59-year-old white woman, died that Sunday "after sustaining blunt force trauma in Long Beach." The entry gave no account of what happened to her, and no news report about her death could be found.
The one public trace of her life is an online memorial on Legacy.com, which lists her as "Mrs. Mary Eloise Trudeau-Mottola" of Long Beach. The title suggests she was married, and her hyphenated surname may join a family name with a married name, though the page does not say. A guestbook entry on the memorial reads: "I feel honored to have known such a wonderful human being." Beyond that, no obituary text, family fundraiser or news article about her has been found. She surely had relatives, friends and neighbors who remember her, but what they know has not entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was attacked in her home or outside it, whether she knew the person who hurt her, what time of day she was injured, or whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital. It does not say whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. An address on a residential street suggests, but does not prove, that she was hurt at or near a home.
Long Beach is the second-largest city in Los Angeles County, a port city on San Pedro Bay with its own police department, which investigates homicides within city limits. Away from its downtown and waterfront, much of the city is made up of quiet residential neighborhoods of single-family homes and small apartment buildings, where neighbors often know one another by sight.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Mary Eloise Trudeau-Mottola could be found in news archives or public records. More than 15 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived near the 3900 block of Lewis Avenue in April 2010, who knew Mary Trudeau-Mottola or saw someone coming or going from the area in mid-April, may hold information that matters. 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 Long Beach Police Department's Homicide Detail at 562-570-7244, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
