Nestor Flores-Olmos was 61 years old when he died on Monday, March 20, 2006, in downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 206 W. 6th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the Central Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It gave his age, described him as a Latino man and placed his death downtown. It did not say how he was hurt, who found him or whether investigators had identified a suspect. No LAPD press release or news story about the case could be found.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Nestor Flores-Olmos 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 name is not especially rare, but searches for it turned up nothing at all connected to his life or his death, not even a namesake who could be ruled out.
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.
The address itself says something about the setting. The 200 block of West 6th Street lies in the older part of downtown often called the Historic Core, among early twentieth century office buildings, storefronts and the theaters and shops of Broadway. In 2006 the area was in the early years of a change, as old office buildings were being turned into lofts and apartments, while many people with little money and no stable housing still spent their days and nights on its sidewalks and in nearby Skid Row. The record does not say whether Nestor lived, worked or simply passed through there.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Nestor Flores-Olmos 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 was on or near the 200 block of West 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles in March 2006, or who knew a 61-year-old man named Nestor Flores-Olmos, may hold information that could help. Even knowing where he lived or who his family were could give detectives a place to start. 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
