In the pre-dawn hours of May 30, 2024, a grim discovery was made in the town of Oxford, Connecticut. Firefighters responding to reports of a vehicle fire around 4 a.m. off Route 34, also known as Roosevelt Drive, found a car completely engulfed in flames. As they worked to extinguish the blaze, they uncovered a horrific scene within the vehicle: the bodies of two men. One of the victims was later identified as 36-year-old Hispanic male, David Rivera, of Hartford.
The other man was identified as 39-year-old Carlos Calderon, also from Hartford. The location of their deaths, a gravel road near Lake Zoar, was a place to which neither man had any known connection.
The subsequent investigation by the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad quickly determined this was no accident. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Rivera's death a homicide, caused by a gunshot wound to the head. Calderon's death was also deemed a homicide resulting from "homicidal violence of unknown type." Authorities have stated they believe both men were targeted victims who were deliberately taken to the secluded location. The case is being investigated as a calculated and premeditated double homicide, with the state's fire marshal also investigating the origins of the car fire.
As of late 2025, the double homicide remains unsolved, and no arrests have been made. There are no publicly named suspects in the case. In an effort to generate new leads, state authorities, with the approval of Governor Ned Lamont, have announced two separate $50,000 rewards for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for the murders of Rivera and Calderon. Investigators have urged anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it might seem, to come forward. Rivera's family has made public pleas for justice, expressing their profound grief and the burden of not knowing who is responsible for his death. His mother, Carmen Muniz, has spoken of her anger and the family's desperate need for closure. His uncle described the terrible void left by the loss of a man who was a joyful part of their family and a great father to his children, including a daughter who has since had to celebrate her fifteenth birthday without him.
