Issac Angelo Valdez

Issac Angelo Valdez was 21 years old when he died on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2000, in South Whittier. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 14206 Mystic St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 21-year-old Latino male" who "died Thursday, Feb. 17, after being stabbed in South Whittier." The entry gave a residential street address on Mystic Street, but it did not say whether that was his home, the home of someone he knew or simply the place where he was found. The only other places his full name appears online are websites that copied that same sentence.

Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Issac Angelo Valdez has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. His first name is spelled Issac in the coroner's record rather than the more common Isaac, and searches for either spelling with the surname Valdez turn up many other people, including a World War II veteran from New Mexico and relatives named in obituaries in several states. None of them has any known connection to this death.

Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.

South Whittier is an unincorporated community in southeast Los Angeles County, lying just south of the city of Whittier and close to the cities of Santa Fe Springs, Norwalk and La Mirada. Because it is not part of any city, its policing is handled by the Sheriff's Department. It is a largely residential area of single-family homes, many of them built in the years after World War II, set along quiet streets with neighborhood parks, schools and small shopping centers along the larger boulevards. In 2000 it was a place where many families had lived for decades, and where news of a young man's death would likely have spread quickly among neighbors.

Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.

No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Issac Angelo Valdez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 25 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 21-year-old man named Issac Angelo Valdez, or who lived near the 14200 block of Mystic Street in South Whittier in February 2000, may hold information that could help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).