Elsie Atkinson was 86 years old when she died on Wednesday, April 3, 2002, in Covina, in the San Gabriel Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 1161 East Covina Blvd. in Covina. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Covina Police Department case.
The coroner's record describes her as a white woman of 86. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Elsie Atkinson has been made public. No news outlet appears to have reported on her death, and no memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but little of that has entered the public record. Elsie Atkinson is not a rare name, and searches turned up obituaries for many other women who shared it, in Illinois, Tennessee, Nevada and elsewhere. One local obituary from that spring may refer to her, but its details do not match the coroner's record closely enough to be sure.
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.
The killing of a woman in her late 80s is rare. Women of her age are seldom victims of homicide, and when they are, the cases often involve someone who knew them, cared for them or came into their home. Nothing in the public record says whether that was true for Elsie, and no suspect has ever been publicly named.
Covina is a city in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, east of West Covina and south of Azusa and Glendora. It began as a citrus town in the late 1800s, and its old downtown along Citrus Avenue still reflects those roots. After World War II the orange groves gave way to tract homes, shopping centers and apartment complexes, and the city became a quiet commuter suburb. East Covina Boulevard is a busy east-west street lined with homes, apartments and small businesses. Covina has its own police department, which handles homicides in the city.
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 Elsie Atkinson 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 Elsie, who lived near East Covina Boulevard in the spring of 2002, or who remembers talk of an elderly woman hurt there may hold information that could help detectives. 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 Covina Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
