Cristian Alvarez

Cristian Alvarez was 28 years old when she was found dead on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, in Wilmington, in the Los Angeles Harbor area. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of a slash wound to the neck in the 700 block of East L Street. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case, handled by detectives of the Robbery-Homicide Division.

The coroner's office identified her as a white woman and at first listed her age as 25 before correcting it to 28. An obituary posted by Dignity Memorial gives her full name as Cristian Zugey Alvarez, of Wilmington, and records that she was born on June 5, 1983. Robbery-Homicide Detective S. Eguchi told the Los Angeles Times that she was found at about 5:30 p.m. that day. "A citizen was walking by and noticed something on the other side of the fence," he said. She was lying in an open area that he described as a wooded lot of shrubs and trees, roughly 50 by 25 yards, on private property that "maybe belonged to a railroad company." According to coroner's records, the wound to her neck was so severe that it "resulted in near decapitation." She was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests had been made, and officials released no further details.

Her death shook the neighborhood. The Daily Breeze reported a week later that false rumors of a serial killer were sweeping through the Harbor Area, and that family members and residents had gathered in Wilmington for a candlelight vigil in memory of Cristian, whom the paper described as a 28-year-old mother. City of Los Angeles records from April 2012 show that a reward offer was later made in her case for information about the person or persons responsible.

The record does not say when she was last seen alive, whether she was killed where she was found or brought there, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. It does not say whether she knew her attacker. Her name is shared by many other people, which makes it harder to trace any further public record of her life.

Wilmington is a working-class community at the southern end of Los Angeles, next to the Port of Los Angeles. It is known for its oil refineries, rail yards, warehouses and trucking routes, as well as its many family homes and its long history as a largely Latino port town. Rail lines and industrial land cut through the neighborhood, leaving fenced and overgrown lots close to residential streets.

Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved.

No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Cristian Alvarez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived or worked near East L Street in Wilmington around New Year's 2012, who saw Cristian in the days before Jan. 2, or who noticed a person or vehicle near the fenced lot, may hold information that could help detectives. The Times asked tipsters to contact Detectives Eguchi or G. Garcia of the Robbery-Homicide Division. 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.