Raul Antonio Gonzales was 24 years old when he died on Saturday, February 28, 2009, somewhere in the city of Los Angeles. 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 case of the Los Angeles Police Department's South Bureau Homicide unit. The location where he was hurt was never published.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single line, describing him as "a 24-year-old Latino male" who "died Saturday, Feb. 28, after being stabbed." Unlike most entries, it did not name a neighborhood, a street or even a block. The only clue to where the attack took place is the agency listing.
South Bureau Homicide handles killings across much of South Los Angeles, which means the stabbing most likely happened somewhere in that part of the city, but the record does not say where.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Raul Antonio Gonzales 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. The name Raul Gonzales is very common, and searches for it turn up obituaries and records for many other men in Texas, Washington, Indiana, Michigan and elsewhere. None of them can be tied to this death, and no record matching his full name, age and the date of his death could be found.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
The absence of a location makes this case unusual even among the many killings that received little attention. Without a neighborhood or street, people who might remember something have no obvious way to connect what they saw to his name.
South Los Angeles covers a large area south of downtown, taking in neighborhoods such as Florence, Vermont Square, Watts and many others. It is largely residential, with long avenues of single-family homes and small apartment buildings broken up by commercial corridors. In 2009 the LAPD's South Bureau covered several patrol divisions in that region, and its homicide detectives handled many of the city's killings.
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 Raul Antonio Gonzales 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 24-year-old man named Raul Antonio Gonzales, or who knows of a stabbing in South Los Angeles in late February 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
