On Friday, June 30, 2006, a Latino boy or man whose name has never been made public died in the City of Industry. The coroner's office recorded him as John Doe #127. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 15650 Salt Lake Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded the death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. Unlike most entries, the narrative gave no age at all. The Times database lists his age as 0 and places him in the youngest age range, up to 5 years old, which suggests that he may have been an infant or a very young child. It is also possible that the age field was simply left blank because his age was unknown, and the public record does not settle the question.
A John Doe designation means that when the coroner's case was opened, investigators did not know who he was. Nothing published since says whether he was later identified, whether family members ever came forward, or where he was laid to rest. Searches for the designation turned up only unrelated court filings that use "John Doe" as a placeholder name.
If he was an infant, the case is one of the most painful kinds there is. A baby cannot speak for himself, and the adults around him are usually the only people who know what happened. The record does not say whether he was found at the address, brought there, or abandoned, and it does not say whether anyone was ever questioned. Investigators sometimes keep such details private while a case is open, but no later account appears to have been released.
The City of Industry is a city in the San Gabriel Valley that is almost entirely given over to business. It is lined with warehouses, factories, distribution centers and rail lines, and only a few hundred people live within its limits, far fewer than the number who work there each day. It contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services, which is why this death became a Sheriff's Homicide Bureau case. Salt Lake Avenue runs through this commercial and industrial landscape.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. Deaths of unidentified people, and especially of very young children, can leave detectives without the family members and friends who usually help an investigation move forward.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of John Doe #127 could be found in news archives or public records. More than 19 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who worked on or near Salt Lake Avenue in the City of Industry in late June 2006, or who knows of a Latino child or man who went missing or was never accounted for around that time, may hold information that could help. Even a name could allow investigators to begin again. 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 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
