Alvaro Bert Montoya, 51, was one of several vulnerable tenants who disappeared from a boarding house at 1426 F Street in Sacramento during the 1980s. Montoya, who had developmental disabilities and relied on Social Security, was reported missing after his checks continued to be cashed. Investigators later found his remains buried in the boarding house yard alongside other victims.

The property’s operator, Dorothea Montalvo Puente, 59, had a criminal history involving drugging and robbing elderly people. She was charged in Montoya’s death and was implicated in at least eight other deaths of tenants whose government checks she allegedly continued to collect. A handyman who worked for Puente, 46-year-old Ismael Carrasco Florez, admitted to building a makeshift coffin at her request and helping dispose of it; he said he believed it contained her personal belongings and was released on $3,000 bail.

The case drew national attention for its brutality and the victims’ vulnerability; preliminary hearings began in 1990 and the trial concluded in 1993. Does anyone have memories of the boarding house or knowledge about the victims that could add context to Montoya’s story?