Matthew Bruce Kirkbride was 42 years old when he died on Monday, February 25, 2002, in the Santa Susana Mountains of northern Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 29320 The Old Road, in an unincorporated area. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
The coroner's record describes him as a white man of 42. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Matthew Bruce Kirkbride 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. Kirkbride is not a common surname, but searches turned up only other men named Matthew Kirkbride, among them a teenager who died in Virginia Beach in 2008 and a young man who died in Ohio in 2015. None of them is connected to the man who died in Los Angeles County in 2002.
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 location adds to the questions. The Old Road is not a neighborhood street, and the record does not say whether he lived nearby or was passing through.
At 42, he was a man in the middle of his life. Because his middle name and full name are on the public record, relatives or old friends who search for him may one day recognize him and come forward with what they know.
The Old Road is a frontage road that runs alongside Interstate 5 through the Newhall Pass and the western edge of the Santa Clarita Valley, roughly following the route of the original highway between Los Angeles and the Central Valley. The Santa Susana Mountains rise to the west, separating the San Fernando Valley from the Santa Clarita Valley and Ventura County. Much of the land along that stretch is hilly and open, mixed with gas stations, truck stops, motels, business parks and newer housing tracts. Because the area is unincorporated, crimes there are handled by the Sheriff's Department, and homicides by detectives from its Homicide Bureau.
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 Matthew Bruce Kirkbride 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 Matthew, who traveled or worked along The Old Road near Interstate 5 in late February 2002, or who remembers anything unusual 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 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
