Anna Emma Vader was 84 years old when she died on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002, in Hawthorne, a city in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 4518 W. 129th St. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave only the most basic facts. It described her as "a 84-year-old white female" who "died Tuesday, Aug. 20, after sustaining blunt force trauma in Hawthorne, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records." The entry did not name a detective, did not describe what happened and did not ask the public for help.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Anna Emma Vader 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. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Her surname is uncommon in the United States, but searches for it turn up mainly other women, including people in Dutch family records and a scientist, none of whom can be tied to the woman who died on 129th Street.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she 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 she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Her age makes the case especially troubling. A woman in her mid-80s is among the most vulnerable people in any community. The record does not say whether she lived at the address where she was hurt, whether she lived alone or with others, or whether anyone had reason to harm her.
Hawthorne lies east of Los Angeles International Airport and has long been tied to the aerospace industry, with major plants and, in more recent years, the headquarters of SpaceX. The city is made up largely of small single-family homes and apartment buildings along a grid of numbered streets. Hawthorne has its own police department, but the Times listed this death as a Sheriff's Department case, and the record does not explain why.
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 Anna Emma Vader could be found in news archives or public records. More than 23 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Anna, who lived near the 4500 block of West 129th Street in Hawthorne in August 2002, or who cared for or visited her in the months before she died, may remember something that matters. 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.
