Sandra Del Carmen Polanco, 54, was found dead in her Whittier apartment on Floral Drive on September 12, 2017. Officers who responded at about 7:30 a.m. discovered her unresponsive on the living room couch with a gunshot wound to the head; she was pronounced dead at the scene. Born December 22, 1962, in Santa Ana, El Salvador, Polanco had lived in Whittier.

Investigators quickly focused on Rafael Ayala Castillo, Polanco’s boyfriend of more than ten years, who lived with her in the same apartment. Witnesses described relationship problems between the couple in the period before the killing. Castillo was arrested the night of September 12, 2017 on suspicion of murder, and later a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder with a special allegation that he intentionally shot Polanco.

If anyone knew Sandra or observed the couple in Whittier around that time, please share information that might add to the record.