Leticia Andrade, 31, died on Thursday, March 16, 2000. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Foothill Division case. The public record does not give the address or neighborhood where she was hurt.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Leticia Andrade 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.
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.
Leticia and Andrade are both common names in Southern California, and searches turn up many living women with the same name, including teachers, athletes and fundraiser organizers. None of those records could be tied to the woman who died in March 2000, and none is used in this story. That makes it harder for the public to learn who she was, but it does not mean she was forgotten by the people who knew her.
The Foothill Division of the Los Angeles Police Department covers the northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley, an area of working-class and suburban neighborhoods that includes communities such as Pacoima, Sun Valley, Sunland, Tujunga, Lake View Terrace and Shadow Hills. The area sits against the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and is crossed by major freeways, rail lines and long commercial boulevards. Because the record does not list an address, it is not known exactly where in the division Leticia Andrade was hurt, or whether she lived nearby.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Leticia Andrade could be found in news archives or public records. More than 25 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Someone who knew a 31-year-old woman named Leticia Andrade in the northeast San Fernando Valley in March 2000, or who heard about a woman being badly hurt there that month, may hold a piece of information that detectives never received. Family members, coworkers, neighbors or friends who lost touch with her around that time may also remember details that could help. 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.
