Jose Melendez, 52, was killed on July 14, 2010, during a carjacking in East Chicago, Indiana. A retiree from Local #17 Heat and Frost Insulators of Chicago, he was active in Harbor Lighthouse Church and had coached East Chicago Little League. He left behind a wife and four children.

Investigators identified two suspects, Terrance Strong and Jeremy Brazill. Strong, who admitted gang membership, was arrested in Will County, Illinois, in September 2014 and extradited to Lake County, Indiana. His first trial ended in a mistrial after a juror had contact with one of Melendez’s sons; in a subsequent April 2015 trial Strong was acquitted of murder, murder in perpetration of a robbery, and attempted robbery. One of the perpetrators, who was 19 at the time of the crime, later said the plan was only to steal the vehicle and that the death was not intended; that individual received a 25-year prison sentence.

Melendez’s murder left a deep void in his family and the East Chicago community. If anyone knew Jose, his routine, or saw anything about the carjacking on July 14, 2010, please come forward with information.