Abigail Kelly Pumpido was 26 years old when she died on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2001. She lived in Duarte, and her body was found that morning in La Verne, at the eastern edge of Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded her death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records, describing her as "a 26-year-old white female" who "died Sunday, Sept. 2, after being stabbed." It gave no address. More detail appeared on Sept. 14, 2001, in the Campus Times, the University of La Verne student newspaper.
According to that report, a La Verne resident found her "fully clothed and with identification, at about 8:10 a.m., Sept. 2, at the corner of De Anza Heights Drive and Van Dusen Road," inside a gated community.
The La Verne Police Department turned the case over to the Sheriff's Department "because of its expertise in forensics," the paper said, and the two agencies continued to work on it together.
Sheriff's officials said she had been stabbed to death. The paper reported that, "based on new evidence and evidence found at the scene, the body was dumped and the stabbing probably took place outside La Verne's city limits." Lt. Scott Pickwith of the La Verne police said the person responsible had entered the community through an ungated entrance off Puddingstone Road. As of that week, the paper reported, "No arrests have been made."
That account suggests that whoever killed her may have driven her body into La Verne from somewhere else, which would mean the place where she was actually attacked has never been publicly identified. The report did not say what the "new evidence" was or whether she knew her attacker.
Beyond those reports, little about her life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. She surely had family and friends who remember who she was.
The killing shook the La Verne campus. "I'm quite shocked. The world's a crazy place, but you would never expect La Verne having anything to do with a stabbing," one student told the paper.
La Verne is a small city in the Pomona Valley, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, home to the University of La Verne and to quiet residential neighborhoods in the hills. Duarte, where she lived, is a smaller city to the west in the San Gabriel Valley, best known as the home of the City of Hope medical center.
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 Abigail Kelly Pumpido could be found in news archives or public records. More than 24 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Abigail Pumpido in Duarte, who saw her in the days before Sept. 2, 2001, or who noticed a vehicle near Puddingstone Road or De Anza Heights Drive in La Verne early that morning, may hold information that could help detectives. 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).
