Sandra L. Concul Calderon was 36 years old when she died on Sunday, March 14, 2021, in Westlake, a neighborhood just west of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after being stabbed near 1643 W. 4th St. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Central Bureau Homicide case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described her as "a 36-year-old Latino female" who "died Sunday, March 14, after being stabbed near 1643 W. 4th St. in Westlake." That brief entry is close to everything that has been made public about her death. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Sandra L. Concul Calderon 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 stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone she knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. 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.
Sandra Calderon is a common name, and searches return many other women who share it, including people whose obituaries were published in other states and women who organized fundraisers for unrelated causes. None of them can be connected to this death. Her second surname, Concul, is far less common, but it does not appear in any news report or public notice found for this story.
Westlake is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles, a district of older apartment buildings, small shops, street vendors and busy bus lines. It is centered on MacArthur Park, one of the city's best known parks, and has long been home to many immigrant families and working people. Its streets are crowded during the day, and many residents live close together in apartment buildings where neighbors can hear and see a great deal of what happens outside. A killing on a residential street like Fourth Street may have been noticed by people who were afraid to come forward or who did not realize that what they saw mattered.
Los Angeles recorded about 260 homicides a year in 2018 and 2019, among the lowest yearly totals in more than half a century, yet many of those killings still went unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Sandra L. Concul Calderon could be found in news archives or public records. More than four years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on or near West Fourth Street in Westlake in mid-March 2021, or who knew Sandra Calderon and saw her in the days before her death, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
