Arnulfo Cardena Gonzalez was 50 years old when he died on Saturday, May 30, 2009, in Bell Gardens, a small city in southeast Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 6662 Loveland Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Bell Gardens Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave only the most basic facts about his death: his name, his age, the date, the address and the cause. It described him as a Latino man of 50. It did not say how he was hurt, whether the Loveland Street address was his home, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital.
A memorial listing at Rose Hills Mortuary in Whittier names an Arnulfo Gonzalez who was born on March 3, 1959, and died on May 30, 2009. The birth date matches his age and the date of death matches the Homicide Report, which suggests that the listing is for the same man and that his family arranged his services at the large cemetery in the hills above Whittier, not far from Bell Gardens. The listing gives no other details of his life, work or family. Beyond that, nothing about him has been made public, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. His name is shared by many men, and searches turned up obituaries for namesakes in Texas and elsewhere in California.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he 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 he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Bell Gardens is one of the small, densely populated cities of southeast Los Angeles County, often grouped with neighbors such as Bell, Cudahy, South Gate and Downey. It covers only a few square miles and is a largely working-class, largely Latino community of modest single-family homes, apartment buildings and small businesses. The city is perhaps best known as the home of the Bicycle Casino, one of the largest card clubs in the region. Bell Gardens has its own police department, which investigates crimes within city limits, including homicides. Loveland Street is one of the city's residential streets.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. The death of a 50-year-old man in Bell Gardens received only a brief entry in the Homicide Report.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Arnulfo Cardena Gonzalez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 16 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near Loveland Street in Bell Gardens at the end of May 2009, or who knew Arnulfo from the neighborhood, from work or from church, 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 contact the Bell Gardens Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
