Roy Elgin Anderson was 79 years old when he died on Saturday, January 27, 2007, in Gardena. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 15823 S. Western Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Gardena Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him only as a white man of 79. The entry gave the address and the date, and nothing more. It did not describe what happened to him, whether he lived at that address, or whether investigators had any idea who was responsible.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Roy Elgin Anderson 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. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. His age alone sets his case apart. Most homicide victims in Los Angeles County are young men, and the killing of a man nearly 80 years old is far less common.
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. For an older man, even a fall after a shove or a single blow can be fatal, and the record does not say which of these, if any, took place.
The name Roy Anderson is shared by many men across the country, and searches for it return obituaries, veterans' records and genealogy listings for people with no connection to Gardena. His full name, with the middle name Elgin, is far less common, but it does not appear in any published account of his death.
Gardena is a city of about 60,000 people in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, just south of the city of Los Angeles. It has long been known for its card clubs, which made the city a gambling destination for much of the twentieth century, and for its large and long-established Japanese American community. Western Avenue is one of its main commercial streets, lined with shopping centers, restaurants, motels and apartment buildings.
Gardena 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.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Roy Elgin Anderson could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew him, lived near the 15800 block of South Western Avenue, or saw anything unusual in that area in January 2007 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 contact the Gardena Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
