Flora Fuentes was 71 years old when she was found dead on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007, in her apartment in Westlake, the crowded neighborhood just west of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 725 S. Alvarado St. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that Fuentes, "71, a Latina, was discovered dead of stab wounds in her apartment at 725 S. Alvarado Street in Westlake at about noon on Saturday, Nov. 24." It described a woman with a fixed daily routine. "She ran a Salvadoran restaurant with her family, and usually opened the business up early in the morning. When she failed to do so on this day, family members went to the apartment, where she lived alone, and discovered her dead on the floor with numerous stab wounds, said Rampart Det. Fred Faustino."
The report added: "There was no sign of forced entry, detectives said."
That last detail is the most important one in the public record. With no sign of forced entry, it is possible that Fuentes opened the door to someone she knew or trusted, or that the person who killed her had a way to get inside, though the report does not say which. It also does not say when she was last seen alive, whether anything was taken from the apartment, or whether neighbors heard anything during the night. The fact that she was missed when the restaurant did not open on time suggests that she was killed sometime between the previous evening and that Saturday morning, two days after Thanksgiving.
At 71, Fuentes was still working, opening a family business early each morning. That routine was well known enough to her relatives that its break was the first sign something was wrong. No obituary, memorial page or news follow-up could be found for her, and Flora Fuentes is a common name, shared by many women across the United States and Latin America who have no connection to this death. Her family surely remembers her as far more than the brief entry that is all the public record holds.
Westlake is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles, centered on MacArthur Park. Alvarado Street is its busy main commercial street, lined with apartment buildings, small shops, street vendors and restaurants. For decades the neighborhood has been a home to many immigrants from Central America, including many Salvadoran families, and its storefronts include many restaurants serving pupusas and other Salvadoran dishes.
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 Flora Fuentes could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived in the building at 725 S. Alvarado St. in November 2007, who saw someone visiting Flora Fuentes on the evening of Nov. 23 or the morning of Nov. 24, or who knew her through the restaurant, may hold information that could help detectives. 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).
