Kathryn Cindy Cook was 58 years old when she died on Tuesday, September 26, 2006, in Rosemead. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 8927 Ralph St. 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 58-year-old white female" who "died Tuesday, Sept. 26, after being stabbed in Rosemead." That short entry, drawn from coroner's records, is nearly all that has been made public about her death.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Kathryn Cindy Cook 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.
Kathryn Cook is a common name, and searches turn up many other women who share it, with obituaries in states from New York and Pennsylvania to Kentucky and Minnesota. None of them can be connected to this death. The middle name Cindy may have been the name that friends and family actually called her, but the record does not say. A woman of 58 had lived a long life before September 2006, and there are surely people who remember her as a neighbor, a coworker, a relative or a friend.
Rosemead is a city in the western San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles, bordered by communities such as San Gabriel, Temple City, El Monte and Montebello. It is largely residential, with streets of single-family homes and apartments and busy commercial corridors along Rosemead Boulevard, Garvey Avenue and Valley Boulevard. The city is also home to the headquarters of Southern California Edison. Ralph Street is a residential street, and the address listed in the coroner's records suggests that she may have died at or near a home, though the records do not say whether it was her own. Rosemead contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for police services, which is why sheriff's homicide investigators handled the case.
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 Kathryn Cindy Cook 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 lived on or near Ralph Street in Rosemead in September 2006, or who knew Kathryn Cook 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).
