Raymundo Perez was 34 years old when he was stabbed to death on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, in Santa Clarita. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds suffered at 18358 Soledad Canyon Road. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that Perez "was stabbed in the chest and found in a river bed, said Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office." He "was taken to the hospital where he died at 10:03 p.m." Winter "said it could have been a gang killing." No investigator was quoted, and no follow-up report explained why gang violence was suspected.
The coroner's spokesman's remark is the only hint of a motive in the public record, and it was offered as a possibility, not a finding. The report does not say whether Perez was attacked in the river bed or brought there, who found him, or how long he lay there before help came.
It does not say whether he lived in Santa Clarita, whether he was alone, or whether anyone else was hurt.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Raymundo Perez 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. Raymundo Perez is also a very common name in California and across the Spanish-speaking world, and searches turn up dozens of other men who share it, none of whom can be tied to this death.
Because so little was released, the basic circumstances remain unknown. The record does not say whether he knew his attacker, whether there was a fight or a robbery, or whether anyone saw what happened that evening. It also does not say whether detectives ever identified a suspect.
Santa Clarita is a city in the Santa Clarita Valley, north of the San Fernando Valley, made up of the communities of Valencia, Newhall, Saugus and Canyon Country. Soledad Canyon Road is one of its main east-west roads, running through shopping centers and residential tracts and alongside the largely dry bed of the Santa Clara River, which may be the river bed where he was found, although the record does not name it. The city contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services, and it is generally known as a suburban community with relatively little violent crime.
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 Raymundo Perez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 16 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 34-year-old man named Raymundo Perez, or who was near Soledad Canyon Road and the river bed in Santa Clarita on Oct. 26, 2009, may hold information that could help. 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 (8477).
