Francisco Reynaldo Cruz

Francisco Reynaldo Cruz was 52 years old when his body was found on Wednesday, May 16, 2018, in the unincorporated Santa Monica Mountains south of Calabasas. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 1600 block of Las Virgenes Canyon Road. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.

News reports filled in some of what happened. Radio Malibu reported that Cruz, "a 52-year-old Los Angeles resident," was "found by a passerby at midday on Wednesday May 16th in a drainage ditch" next to the Malibu Hindu Temple. NBC Los Angeles, citing the coroner's office, reported that he had been killed by "sharp force injuries" to the chest and neck, as well as from a "blunt force injury to the head." The station added that sheriff's deputies had told Malibu radio station KBUU that Cruz "had been killed somewhere else, and dumped in the isolated canyon." The Acorn, a local newspaper, later wrote that it "was unclear if the death occurred at that location or if the body had been moved there."

His death drew wider attention a month later, when Tristan Beaudette was shot and killed while camping at nearby Malibu Creek State Park. Investigators were quick to rule out any connection between the bodies found in the canyon and that shooting, and the man later charged in the Beaudette case has never been linked to Cruz. In a report on remains found in the area, The Acorn quoted Detective Karen Shonka of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau as saying that a Los Angeles-based street gang was likely responsible for deaths in the canyon and appeared to be using it as a dumping ground. "It happens quite a bit in the Angeles National Forest, but it appears as though has changed its location as far as a dumping ground " she said. The paper noted that it was unclear whether Cruz's death was related to the killing of a 19-year-old man whose body was found on Piuma Road that July.

Nothing published describes Cruz's life, his work or his family, and no obituary or memorial page could be found for him.

Las Virgenes Canyon Road, which becomes Malibu Canyon Road, winds south from Calabasas through the Santa Monica Mountains toward the Pacific Coast Highway. The Malibu Hindu Temple, a white temple devoted to the god Venkateswara, sits along the road a few hundred yards from the entrance to Malibu Creek State Park, a large park known for its hiking trails and for the site where the television series "M*A*S*H" was filmed. The canyon is quiet and thinly settled, with long stretches of road where a passing driver may see no one at all.

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 Francisco Reynaldo Cruz could be found in news archives or public records. More than seven years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Francisco Cruz in Los Angeles, who saw him in the days before mid-May 2018, or who noticed a vehicle stopping along Las Virgenes Canyon Road near the temple around that time, 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.