Myron Lynell Dorsey was 42 years old when he died on Sunday, December 14, 2003, in Lancaster, in the Antelope Valley of northern Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 44465 Valley Central Way. His 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 him as "a 42-year-old black male" who "died Sunday, Dec. 14, after being stabbed in Lancaster." That short entry is nearly all that has been made public about his death. The record gives a street address, but it does not say whether he lived there, was visiting, or was simply found there.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Myron Lynell Dorsey 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.
He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he 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 he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Myron Dorsey is not an especially common name, and his middle name, Lynell, is rarer still. Even so, searches turn up only unrelated men, among them men of that name remembered in obituaries in Dallas and Milwaukee in 2009 and others named as relatives in obituaries in Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland and Iowa. One people-search record lists the name Myron Lynell Dorsey among several names tied to Lancaster, but it mixes records of different people and says nothing about his life or death. None of these can be relied on to tell his story.
Lancaster is one of the two largest cities in the Antelope Valley, on the western edge of the Mojave Desert, about 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It grew up along the railroad and later expanded with the aerospace industry, drawing workers to Edwards Air Force Base and to the aircraft plants in nearby Palmdale. Lancaster contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services, so homicides in the city 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 Myron Lynell Dorsey could be found in news archives or public records. More than 22 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Myron Dorsey, or who was on or near Valley Central Way in Lancaster in December 2003, may hold information that could help investigators. 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).
