A woman is found strangled to death
On what should have been a festive Christmas morning in 2001, a tragedy was unfolding in a quiet Taylorsville, Utah home. Doris Anaid Vazquez Hernandez, a 24-year-old Hispanic female who had moved to the Salt Lake area from Guadalajara, Mexico just five months prior, was found murdered in her residence. Friends discovered her body later that afternoon after she failed to show up for their planned Christmas Day celebrations. They had become concerned and contacted the police when they couldn't reach her.
Doris was living in the upstairs portion of a house on Southridge Drive and was alone for the holiday, as her roommate was traveling. Investigators determined she had been attacked earlier that Christmas morning. The evidence at the scene pointed to a violent struggle; she had fought her attacker before her life was taken. An autopsy would later confirm that the cause of death was strangulation.
In the course of the investigation, a suspect was identified and charged with her homicide. Fernando Leal Cervantes was seen with injuries on the morning of Doris's death, which drew the attention of law enforcement. However, before he could be apprehended, Cervantes fled. Despite being charged with the murder, he has remained at large ever since. The case of Doris Anaid Vazquez Hernandez's death is officially considered unsolved, a cold case waiting for the day her fugitive alleged killer can be located and brought to justice.
