Mara Ruth Del Real was 19 years old when she died on Thursday, June 22, 2006, in West Whittier-Los Nietos, in southeastern Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 7319 Richview Lane. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded her death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records.
It described her as "a 19-year-old Latino female" who "died Thursday, June 22, after being stabbed in West Whittier-Los Nietos." The entry gave a street address on a residential lane, but it did not say whether that was her home, the home of someone she knew or simply the place where she was found. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Mara Ruth Del Real 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. Del Real is a fairly common surname in Southern California and in Mexico, and searches for her name turn up only unrelated people, including a fundraiser for a different young woman called Mara whose real name was withheld.
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.
She was only 19, barely past high school age, with most of her adult life still ahead of her. Somewhere there are surely classmates, relatives or friends who remember her, and who may still wonder what happened on Richview Lane that June.
West Whittier-Los Nietos is an unincorporated community lying just west of the city of Whittier. It is made up mostly of modest single-family homes on quiet residential streets, along with schools, churches and small shopping strips. Because it is not part of any city, it is policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and homicides there are investigated by the department's Homicide Bureau.
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 Mara Ruth Del Real 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 Richview Lane in West Whittier-Los Nietos in June 2006, or who knew a 19-year-old woman named Mara Del Real, 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).
