Juan Humberto Chacaj Jr. was only 16 years old when he died on Thursday, May 10, 2018, in Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded only that he "died Thursday, May 10, after being stabbed." Unlike most entries, it gives no neighborhood, street or city, and no news outlet appears to have reported on his death.
A few traces fill in part of the picture. An obituary page posted by a funeral home lists a Juan Chacaj Poncio who was born on November 4, 2001, and died on May 10, 2018. The first name, family name and dates all match the boy in the coroner's record, which suggests it is the same young man, recorded there under a second surname.
The page saved for this story does not include a life story, survivors or service details.
A discussion thread on Websleuths, an online forum where volunteers follow unidentified remains cases, offers one more clue. The thread concerned an unidentified Hispanic male, believed to be between 15 and 25, found near the Angeles Forest Highway in the Palmdale area in May 2018. A later post in the thread said that "He was indeed identified as Juan Chacaj, Jr., 16," and that "His death was ruled a homicide - multiple sharp force injuries." If that account is correct, it means Juan's body was found in a remote area and that he went unidentified for a time, so that his family may not have learned right away what had happened to him. Those details come from a forum post, not from an official statement or news report, and they could not be confirmed for this story.
Even so, the most basic facts remain unknown to the public. The record does not say where Juan was stabbed, whether he was attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, whether he died where he was found, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. Nothing published describes his school, his friends or his family.
The Angeles Forest Highway climbs from the high desert near Palmdale into the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles National Forest. Much of the land along it is open, rugged country with few homes, and long stretches of road where traffic is light, particularly at night. In 2018 a sheriff's homicide detective working a separate case told a local newspaper that bodies of people killed elsewhere are left "quite a bit in the Angeles National Forest."
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 Juan Humberto Chacaj Jr. 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 Juan, who saw him in the days before May 10, 2018, or who noticed unusual activity along the Angeles Forest Highway 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.
