Franklin Ray Straub was 49 years old when he died on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, in downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds near Wall and Winston streets. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Northeast Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 49-year-old white male" who "died Tuesday, Dec. 10, after being stabbed near Wall & Winston streets in Downtown." The location was given only as an intersection, which suggests he may have been hurt outdoors, on or near the street, but the record does not say so. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
There is one puzzle in the record.
The case was assigned to the Northeast Division, which ordinarily covers neighborhoods north and east of downtown, such as Highland Park and Eagle Rock, while the intersection lies in the heart of downtown, an area patrolled by the Central Division. The record does not explain the difference, which suggests that the case may have been transferred or that the agency may have been entered in error.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Franklin Ray Straub 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. Straub is a fairly uncommon surname, and searches for his name turn up only older obituaries and memorials for other men called Franklin Straub, none of whom can be connected to this death. The uncommon name may make it easier for someone who knew him to recognize it.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. 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.
Wall Street and Winston Street meet on the eastern side of downtown Los Angeles, in or near the area long known as Skid Row, where thousands of people live in shelters, residential hotels and tents along the sidewalks. The surrounding blocks also hold wholesale businesses, including the toy and flower districts, which bustle by day and empty out at night.
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 Franklin Ray Straub could be found in news archives or public records. More than six years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Wall and Winston streets in downtown Los Angeles in December 2019, or who knew a 49-year-old man named Franklin Straub, may hold information 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.
