Rafael Cerda-Ramirez, 26, was found with a gunshot wound in the IHOP parking lot on Highway 70 SE in Hickory, North Carolina, shortly before midnight on January 15, 2018. Officers arrived about 11:56 p.m.; he was taken to Catawba Valley Medical Center and pronounced dead soon after arrival.

Investigators determined he had been shot but described the lead-up to the shooting as unclear. The Hickory Police Department identified two white males as persons of interest; they were seen at the IHOP between about 10:30 p.m. and midnight and were reported to be driving a small burgundy car. No arrests were announced immediately after the incident and investigators continued to seek information from anyone who was at the restaurant that night.

What did readers in the area see at the IHOP that evening, and who might have seen the small burgundy car?