Alvaro Ancelmo Montenegro was 36 years old when he died on Sunday, June 4, 2000, in Van Nuys. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 14653 Calvert Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Van Nuys Division.
The Los Angeles Times reported on his death two days later. Montenegro had been living in Los Angeles for about 20 years. About two months before his death, police said, he had welcomed a 16-year-old nephew from Mexico into his home, an apartment complex in the 14600 block of Calvert Street, and had helped the teenager get a job at a fast-food restaurant.
At about 1:30 a.m. that Sunday, according to LAPD homicide Det. Al Aldaz, Montenegro tried to counsel the youth about drinking. The two then fought, and Montenegro was stabbed in the upper torso with a kitchen knife. He died at a hospital.
Police named the nephew as the suspect and began searching for him. Officers used dogs to trace his path to St. Elisabeth Church, about two blocks from the scene, where the trail was lost.
"There was an early-morning Spanish Mass and we are afraid somebody may have given [him] a ride without knowing he is wanted for murder," Aldaz told The Times. "We know he is somewhere in the city," Aldaz said. "He has no place to go."
Montenegro's wife, Marisa Mendoza, appeared before television cameras and pleaded with her nephew to surrender. Police said Montenegro was survived by his wife and three children, who were 17, 15 and 3 years old at the time. The stories describe a man who had opened his home to a young relative and tried to steer him away from trouble.
No later report could be found saying that the nephew was found, arrested or brought before a court. Because he was 16 at the time, any juvenile proceeding may not have been made public, so it is possible that something happened that never reached the news.
Van Nuys sits in the heart of the San Fernando Valley and serves as one of the Valley's civic centers, home to government buildings, courthouses and a busy airport. Around its commercial streets lie neighborhoods of apartment complexes and small houses, many of them home to working Latino families in 2000.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Alvaro Ancelmo Montenegro could be found in news archives or public records. More than 25 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew the family, who lived near the 14600 block of Calvert Street in June 2000, or who gave a teenager a ride near the church that Sunday 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
