Iselda Castro

Iselda Castro was 37 years old when she died on Thursday, December 30, 2004, in Inglewood. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 4027 W. Century Blvd. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as an Inglewood Police Department case.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded her death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described her as "a 37-year-old Latino female" who "died Thursday, Dec. 30, after being stabbed in Inglewood." The entry gave a street address on Century Boulevard, but it did not say whether that was a home, an apartment, a business or simply the place where she was found. No follow-up story about her death appears to have been published. She died the day before New Year's Eve, at the very end of the holiday season.

Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Iselda Castro 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. Iselda is an uncommon first name, though Castro is a very common surname, and searches turned up only scattered listings such as a school alumni directory and a name registry in Mexico. None of them can be tied to the woman who died in Inglewood.

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.

Inglewood is a city in the southwestern part of Los Angeles County, just east of Los Angeles International Airport. For decades it was best known as the home of the Forum, where the Lakers once played, and the Hollywood Park racetrack. The racetrack later closed, and the land became the site of SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020. Century Boulevard is one of the city's main east-west streets and leads west toward the airport.

She was 37, an age when many women are raising children, working and looking after parents and relatives. Whoever stabbed her took her away from the people who depended on her and loved her, and no one has had to answer for it.

Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. Cases with little public information, like this one, are often the hardest to move forward, because so much depends on someone deciding to come forward.

No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Iselda Castro could be found in news archives or public records. More than 21 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 37-year-old woman named Iselda Castro, or who lived, worked or spent time on or near West Century Boulevard in Inglewood in December 2004, 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 Inglewood Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).