Carey Snyder was 63 years old when he died on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in Highland Park, in Northeast Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 5813 N. Figueroa St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Northeast Division case.
The coroner's records describe him as a white man. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave a short account of how he was found. A security guard on patrol came upon him "with multiple stab wounds outside a strip mall about 12:55 a.m.," said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Bruce Borihanh. Paramedics were called and pronounced him dead at the scene. "No one saw the assailant," the Times reported, and Borihanh said it was unknown what the motive for the killing might have been. The victim appeared to be a transient, he said.
That is nearly all that has been made public.
The reports do not say how long he had been in the area, whether he usually slept near the strip mall, or whether he had had trouble with anyone in the days before. They do not say whether anything was taken from him, how long he had been lying there before the guard found him, or whether there were cameras at the shopping center that recorded anything. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Carey Snyder 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. Searches for his name turned up only other people named Carey Snyder, among them a university professor in Ohio and men and women whose obituaries were published in other states, none of whom is the man who died on Figueroa Street.
Highland Park is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, settled in the late 1800s along the Arroyo Seco between downtown and Pasadena. It is known for its Craftsman homes, its historic commercial strips and its long history as a largely Latino working-class community, and in the years around 2011 it was beginning to change as new shops and restaurants arrived. North Figueroa Street is its main commercial corridor, lined with storefronts, small shopping centers, restaurants and bus stops, and it stays lit and busy into the evening.
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 Carey Snyder could be found in news archives or public records. More than 14 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near the 5800 block of North Figueroa Street late on Dec. 28 or early on Dec. 29, 2011, who knew Carey from the street or the nearby businesses, or who heard talk afterward about the stabbing, may hold information that could help detectives. The Times asked tipsters to call Northeast Division homicide detectives at 344-5744. 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.
