Eric Michael Borsting was 47 years old when he died on Sunday, April 13, 2008, in Long Beach. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 14th Street and Pine Avenue in Long Beach. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Long Beach Police Department case.
An obituary published in the Press-Telegram in May 2008 gives a picture of the man behind the coroner's entry. Eric was born on March 6, 1961. He "first lived in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, until his family relocated to Long Beach in the fall of 1967." He graduated from Wilson High School and Long Beach City College, and he also attended Cal State Long Beach.
As a young man he was active and outdoorsy. "As a youth Eric participated in soccer, swimming, sailing, and Boy Scouts eventually earning the rank of Eagle Scout," the obituary said. He played three years of high school football for the Wilson Bruins and two more years for the Long Beach City College Vikings. After college he worked in the insurance industry at a local brokerage, and he later worked in the hotel and restaurant industry, at one point relocating briefly to Mobile. The obituary said he took "great joy spending time with friends and family."
He was survived by his parents, Otto and Edith, his brother Kurt and sister-in-law Elizabeth, a niece and nephew, and aunts, uncles and cousins "both in the U.S. and Germany." A memorial service was held on Friday, May 9, at a church in Long Beach, and the family asked that donations be made to the St. Mary's Medical Center Foundation in place of flowers. The obituary does not describe how he died, and no news story about his death could be found.
The place where he was hurt lies in central Long Beach, a short distance north of downtown. Pine Avenue is one of the city's main north-south streets and runs south into the heart of downtown, toward the restaurants, offices and convention district near the waterfront. The blocks around 14th Street are a dense mix of apartment buildings, older homes and small businesses. Long Beach is the second-largest city in Los Angeles County and has its own police department, which investigates killings within the city limits.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. A death that never makes the news can leave a family with an obituary and a memorial service, but no public account of what happened.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Eric Michael Borsting could be found in news archives or public records. More than 17 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible.
Someone who lived near 14th Street and Pine Avenue in April 2008, or who knew Eric through school, sports, work or the neighborhood, may remember who he was with that weekend or what happened to him. 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.
