On June 19, 1996, the body of 40-year-old Alfredo Velasquez, a Hispanic male who worked as a janitor for Mervyn’s, was found lying in the street near North Willamette Boulevard and Philadelphia Avenue in Portland, Oregon, beneath the support struts of the St. John’s Bridge. Investigators at the time concluded his death appeared violent; he seemed to have been run over by a vehicle and possibly strangled.

Witnesses reported hearing an argument involving unknown individuals, including at least one female voice, shortly before Velasquez was found, and they heard squealing tires as if someone left the scene in haste. Those accounts and the physical evidence did not lead to any arrests, and no suspects have been publicly identified.

The Portland Police Bureau Cold Case Homicide Unit continues to list the death as an open investigation. If anyone remembers that night or has information about the argument, the vehicle, or persons seen near North Willamette Boulevard and Philadelphia Avenue on June 19, 1996, please come forward.