Na Li

Na Li was 37 years old when she died on Monday, July 4, 2016, in Bellflower. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds after she was attacked in the 16400 block of Lakewood Boulevard. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave an unusually detailed account of the attack, which took place on Independence Day. "Li was stabbed in the chest about 12:23 p.m. by a man with bushy hair in the hallway outside her room at the Bellflower Travel Inn," said Sheriff's Department homicide Det. Phil Martinez. The attack was caught on camera, but that did not settle the question of who was responsible. "The stabbing was recorded by surveillance cameras, but the quality was so poor that investigators can't make out many details about the attacker," Martinez told the Times.

According to the detective, the assailant fled down a stairwell into the parking lot. "The video showed Li walking briefly back into her room, and then she followed her attacker outside, collapsing on the stairs," the Times reported. She was taken to a hospital, but she was pronounced dead during emergency surgery at 8:53 p.m., according to coroner's records.

What happened after her death made the case even more unusual. Li was identified by the FBI through her fingerprints, and coroner's spokesman Ed Winter said she appeared to be a Chinese national. She had no driver's license or passport, and Martinez said investigators had been unable to find her family. A woman who said she was a relative came to the hospital and left Li's name along with an address and a phone number, but, according to Martinez, she "left without asking questions about Li's condition or trying to see her." Neither the address nor the phone number led detectives to Li's family. Investigators also did not know why she was in Bellflower.

Beyond those details, almost nothing about Na Li has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found, and Na Li is an extremely common name in China and among Chinese communities abroad, so searches turn up many other women with no connection to this case.

Bellflower is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, between Downey and Lakewood. It is a largely residential, working-class community of modest homes and apartment buildings, and Lakewood Boulevard is one of its main commercial streets, lined with shops, restaurants and small motels. The city contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services, which is why deputies, not a city police force, investigated her death.

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 Na Li could be found in news archives or public records. More than nine years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was at or near the Bellflower Travel Inn on Lakewood Boulevard around midday on July 4, 2016, or who knew a 37-year-old woman named Na Li, 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.