Sandra Patricia Casas was 26 years old when she died on Monday, October 9, 2006, in Temple City. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 5633 Santa Anita Ave. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described her as "a 26-year-old Latino female" who "died Monday, Oct. 9, after being stabbed in Temple City." That brief entry, drawn from coroner's records, is almost everything that has been made public about her death.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Sandra Patricia Casas 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.
She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone she knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Sandra Casas is a fairly common name, and searches turn up many other women who share it, including a retiree in Iowa, a woman in Texas and scientists in Spain and Louisiana. None of them can be connected to this death. A young woman of 26 almost certainly left behind parents, siblings or friends, and possibly children, who still remember her, but none of their words have entered the public record.
Temple City is a small, mostly residential city in the San Gabriel Valley, east of San Gabriel and Rosemead and south of Arcadia. It is known for its annual Camellia Festival, a tradition that dates back decades, and for a commercial strip along Las Tunas Drive lined with restaurants and shops. Santa Anita Avenue is one of the main north-south streets of the area, running past homes, apartment buildings and small businesses. Temple City has no police department of its own and relies on the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which is why the case belongs to sheriff's homicide investigators. In a close community of this size, someone may have seen or heard something that day without understanding its meaning.
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 Sandra Patricia Casas could be found in news archives or public records. More than 19 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on or near Santa Anita Avenue in Temple City in October 2006, or who knew Sandra Casas and spent time with her in the days before her death, 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).
