Malietoa Rasmussen, 38, was found fatally wounded in a canyon off the 400 block of Country Club Lane in Oceanside on the morning of June 7, 2025. Officers arrived about 11:16 a.m.; lifesaving measures were attempted but Rasmussen was pronounced dead at the scene. Patrol officers originally responded to a report of a gunshot victim in the gorge.

Detectives from the Oceanside Police Department’s Crimes of Violence Unit developed a lead and on June 18 served a search warrant at a home in the 1600 block of Kraft Street. Osvaldo Sixtos Lopez, 36, was arrested there, booked into the San Diego County jail on suspicion of murder and held without bail. By June 20 prosecutors had filed a murder charge with a firearm-use allegation; Lopez pleaded not guilty in Vista Superior Court that afternoon.

Police and local reports described Lopez and Rasmussen as acquaintances or friends, but investigators did not disclose a motive. Family members and community posts have confirmed Rasmussen’s name and the June 7 date of death, and an online fundraiser was organized to memorialize him. Does anyone have information about Rasmussen’s movements in Oceanside on or before June 7?