Tutunoa Tunupopo was 28 years old when he died on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008, in Long Beach. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1601 San Francisco Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Long Beach Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said he "was found dead of an apparent stab wound to his neck along a bike path south of Pacific Coast Highway." Long Beach police arrived about 8:40 p.m. "after someone called 911 to report a wounded man," and found him "on the east side of a flood control channel." The Long Beach Press-Telegram reported that he was found on the bicycle path along the Los Angeles River, about 250 yards south of Pacific Coast Highway, and that a week later police were "asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect." Sgt.
Dina Zapalski said then that authorities had no new leads.
His wife of four years, Shallan Tunupopo, told the Press-Telegram that he was of Samoan descent, was born and raised in the Long Beach area, and "worked in manual labor for warehouses throughout the city." The light of his life, she said, was their 3-year-old son, whom he called his "mini me." She said she had not yet found a way to tell the boy what had happened: "For now, I just tell him his daddy went back to Samoa."
She described his last evening. He had been at his sister's house but left upset after the two argued, and he went walking along the nearby bike path to "blow off some steam." She said he was possibly with someone else. "He never walks alone at night," she said. "I know somebody knows something." She added: "I want people to know that he was not just another 'John Doe.' I don't want him to ever be forgotten."
Her words suggest that at least one other person may have been with him on the path, or knew where he was going, but the record does not say who that was or whether police ever found that person.
The Los Angeles River runs along the west side of Long Beach on its way to the harbor, inside a concrete flood channel lined with a paved bike path. The path is used by cyclists, walkers and joggers during the day, but long stretches of it are dark and isolated at night, separated from nearby streets by fences and embankments. The neighborhoods beside it are working-class areas of houses and apartments, crossed by Pacific Coast Highway.
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 Tutunoa Tunupopo could be found in news archives or public records. More than 17 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on the river bike path near Pacific Coast Highway on the evening of Dec. 9, 2008, who walked with him that night, or who heard someone talk about what happened there, may hold information that could help detectives. The Times listed Long Beach homicide Dets. Dennis Robbins and Daniel Mendoza at (562) 570-7244. 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 Long Beach Police Department's Homicide Detail at 562-570-7244, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
