Episode 101 - Father and Son Time

-Juluu, se olisi siis aivan suuremmoisen oskomaton. -Oi. Upe-hotelli, erikoiskahvi ja aamiaisella, ihanat ravintolat, ihanat auta, kaikki kävelymat kant päässä. Ohja, mitkä putiikit? -No huuhutelti siis kreikassa kanari, fa laikuana kun maarvaa riviära. -Ei, kun jumppossa. -Sis jumpponiin kuin se kauppakessuus. -Joo, että miten gaset nyt suupannaa? -Suuuremmoista! -Suuuremmoisen elämä. -Joo. Pianorilla saat kaikkiin rengasostoiin 30 vuorokauden tyytyväisyistä kuun. Mikäli et ole tyytyväinen voipahtaa ostamasirenkatoisiin? -Renkat ja autohuoto. Valtmina joka lähtee. Pianor. -Janellä, katini pasa on en tos di kaikillaan oltoikein mukaan lentaa, kun palkitunuksen on 24-24, seittelen pinkoonin olle kasiin seiskaan 4-sä parisissa oikein mukaan lämmin. -Ei, ihan kaikkia ei ole pakko jakaa. Miksi levitellä palkitunuksia, kun verkossa maksamisen riittää mobile-peen? -Tärkeimmät koulun alkuun sittarista. Tutustu tarjouksin myymälässä tai osoitteessa koviva ruokapistefi. KFI AM640, periaalista, kun ei ole koko koko. On any given day in Southern California. Hundreds of investigators are working more than 10,000 unsolved cases. That's thousands of friends and families who have lost loved ones, thousands of people who got away with a crime, and thousands of murderers who still walk the streets. Killers who may be your neighbor, go to your church, or could be dating a close friend. For the next two hours, we'll highlight cases that have gone cold, baffled investigators, or just needs that one witness to speak up. This is unsolved whiskey of Gregory. In this episode, the murder of Jesse Ovalos, LA County Sheriff's case 01480024-0284011, the murder of Eduardo Robles, LA County Sheriff's case 015-09332-0283-011, and the murder of Amanda Niki Lopez, LA County Sheriff's case 018-6106-0282011. In July of 2021, I got a call from my friend and colleague, Oswondo Böriys. He's with Univision, KMEX Channel 34 here in Los Angeles. He told me about a case he was tipped off on. It was a strange one, where three people had been killed over a four-year period from 2014 to 2018. But now, detectives with the LA County Sheriff's Department figured the murders were probably done by the same person with an accomplice. So I reached out to Captain Joe Mendoza. He's the head of the Department's Homicide Bureau, and I asked him if I could get in on the action, meaning I'd like to do some coverage. I want to be in the loop for any developments. Captain Mendoza referred me to Ray Lugo, one of the detectives run in the case, Lugo agreed to meet Oswondo and I at the scene of one of the murders near commerce. Keep in mind, these are preliminary interviews, so details may differ from the final outcome. And these are exclusive interviews, and have not aired before in their entirety. But I wanted to give you a peek behind the scenes, how we actually work to put this story together. You're also going to hear the voice of my friend and colleague, Oswondo. In the raw audio, as we call it, we'll be different volume levels. You'll hear a lot of background noise, and some of those we interviewed wore masks the whole time. But I wanted to bring you into my world as much as possible. I think it's an interesting world. I also want to caution you, some of the details may be too graphic for some. Detective Ray Lugo, Ali County Sheriff's Homicide. Let you start. Okay, back on February the 10th, 2014, victim Jesse Avalos received a telephone call at about 10, 50 in the evening at night, where a friend asked him for a battery jump, and that his friend said that he was near the, his car was stuck near the intersection of Telegraph Road and Arizona Avenue. At about on the following morning on February the 11th, 2014 at approximately 0, 300 hours, East LH Sheriff's Station received a 911 call, that they had found a individual sitting in a blue SUV, parked on the wrong side of the street with its hood up. When deputies arrived and detectives arrived, they found the victim Jesse Avalos still sitting in his driver's seat with his seat belt on, and the hood of his car up the hood of his truck, blue truck. So this is, well, it's kind of a Telegraph Road right across the street from the San Ana Freeway, the Phi Freeway. And this is a mix of residential and industrial. So if you're parked on Telegraph Road, that's all commercial industrial area. And once you go north, for instance here on federally, this is a residential area. So when did you know that his murder was tied to the others we're talking about? We found out several months ago that the murders were related and that we tied them up by ballistic evidence. And what was his particular role? I mean, what was the mode of behind his particular death? At this time, we don't know. Was there any video or any surveillance video that helped you at all in this particular crime? We don't want to say it this time. Okay, so, but you are convinced that this death is tied to the others involved in the same suspect? Yes, both suspects are involved with all three murders. At this point, Avalosa's sister Maria arrives and spoke to us briefly about what it's been like for her and her family. We miss him. We miss him so much. His kids miss him. I can't even explain to you the pain that this still causes my mother and my father. We've never had justice served. And we feel that everybody deserves that, you know, at least. We know that it's not going to bring them back, but at least we'll get some closure. Little did Maria know she actually drove by the scene of her brother's death just hours after it happened. I actually passed by the street on telegraph, going to my job. And I saw the tape, but I never realized it was my brother. I arrived to work and about two or three hours later, my eldest daughter called me. She was at that point, at that time staying with my mom. And so the detectives went to my mother's house and let her know that my brother was found and he was assassinated. And that she called me at work. And I was devastated. I thought it was a bad dream and I wished that something had went wrong, that perhaps it would be a different person. She said she prayed every night to give not only her brother some peace, but also her parents. Who said goodbye to Maria and was turned her family well. And as she leaves, Detective Lugo walks back over. He wanted to tell us about the second murder, which happened very close by. On July 6, 2015, Victor Mady Robles was near the intersection of Eagle Street and Humphrey's Avenue in East LA when he was involved in a fight with another individual. The individual after the fight, the individual jumps over the Rodiron fence and walks over to Victor Mady Robles's GMC SUV and punctures the tires, the suspect, and the other both suspects left the location, returned approximately five minutes later and shot the Victor Mady Robles numerous times in the upper torso. After shooting the victim, the suspect entered a green, light green vehicle and the suspect vehicle was last seen driving Eastbound on Eagle Street and out of view. When we come back, we'll head over to the East LA courthouse. It's the scene of the third murder. But first, this is KFI AM640 time for a news update. KFI AM640 heard everywhere live on the I Heart radio app. Welcome back to Unsolved. I'm Steve Gregory. Before the break, we reviewed two of three murders which happened from 2014 to 2018 in the area of East LA. We've been talking with Detective Ray Lugo from the LA County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau. Now he's going to give us a rundown of the third murder. Lugo met me and fellow reporter Oswaldo Varais at the East LA courthouse. Deputies from East LA Sheriff's Station received a phone call around 024D hours in the morning of a person that had been shot near the offices of supervisor Hildos Solis. Deputies responded and found the victim in a yellow tent shot in the upper torso right around this area right underneath this canopy. We have information that the suspects drove up East Pond on Civic Center drive just north of us, just north of the East LA courthouse, the right from passenger exited. He was wearing a ski mask, a dark or black colored ski mask and dark clothing. The suspect walked in a southerly direction, checking tents appeared to be checking tents. As he walked past the plaza in front of the courthouse to the location where the front door of Hildos Solis's supervisor Hildos Solis's field office, he came to an area which had a yellow tent. He opened the tent, stuck a firearm in the tent and fired one round. The suspect walked in a westerly direction and then in a southerly direction and entered a silver colored PT cruiser on the right passenger side. Suspect vehicle, the PT cruiser drove, turned right on federally here and made a right on third street and was last seen traveling westbound on third street and not a view. The suspect is described, he was approximately 5'8" to 5'9", 185 pounds and wearing dark clothing is all we have. We have information from witnesses that the driver appeared to be a little older. He was described as a male Hispanic approximately 5'9" or so, heavy set, possibly had a mustache is what we were told. These suspects are extremely dangerous. We're hoping for the public's help. We have a thanks to supervisor Hildos Solis. We received a $80,000 reward for information, wanted in connection with all three of these murders. We believe they are all related and we believe the killers are serial killers and could strike again. You were talking about, person came up and was looking intense. So it's a serial killer but were these targeted attacks? Yes, they appeared to be. Can you elaborate at all about that? We believe that the victims knew the suspect is all we could say at this point. Now you got, you say you were able to get a description of the shooter and how were you able to get that description? There was numerous witnesses, there was an encampment located in front of the East L.A. warehouse, there was approximately 20 to 25 people living in the encampment, there were homeless people, most of them know each other. Most of them knew the victim, Amanda Nicole Lopez and they initially were cooperating with investigators but suddenly they decided to change their mind and then decided not to cooperate with the investigation. Is there a reason why you think that they were scared or intimidated? I believe they were, we were told they were approached and intimidated. By the suspect? By the suspect and family members. Of the suspect? So you're looking at, I mean there's the shooter and then you see the driver of the car but this could have a bigger footprint than initially thought. Yes. So you have a serial killer that might be supported by the killer's family? Possibly? Yes. Family and possibly friends. Now for those people who may not be aware of the law, to even be a part of this, to have knowledge of this makes you as much of a criminal as the person who committed the murder. Yes. So what do you want to say to them? You, if you continue, I want to say this to the public, there's no reason to be afraid anymore. We can't let, continue to let people get away with murder and if you want to be involved with the murderer or a serial killer, you will be prosecuted also. Based on obviously information you know that we don't, do you think that this person's done or do you think this person's going to keep going? We believe that he may have been involved in possibly another murder and we do believe that if we don't catch him, that he will continue to kill people. Detective, what is the common theme here in the victims? Is there a common theme at all that you can talk about? We believe that the victims all knew the suspect. In some way or another. Romantically or otherwise? Possibly. But what about the ballistics? Because I am sure that that has, does it have any relation? Any of the ballistic analysis and forensics that you have done have yielded the fact that it was the same weapon, the same type of caliber, etc. We're not going to talk about ballistic evidence. But you're comfortable enough obviously that the person that you're looking for is the same one that's tied to most all of these or all of them. I'm extremely confident. The mother of Amanda Lopez shows up while we're talking with detectives, we'll listen to her comments next. But first, this is KFI AM640. KFI AM640 heard everywhere live on the iHeart radio app. This is Unsolved. I'm Steve Gregory. For a deeper dive on these cases, go over to kfiam640.com and type in the keyword Unsolved. We just wrapped up an interview with Ray Lugo. She's a detective with the Elly County Sheriff's Department and as we're finishing up, a woman approaches us. Lugo introduces her as the mother of Nikki Lopez, the third victim of the East Elly Murder Spring. If I may, ask you your full name please. Roselle Lopez. Roselle, the name of your daughter in her age. Amanda, Nicole Lopez. At the time of her death, she was 27. Roselle has a mask on and that's why it sounds muffled. My daughter was a very fun, loving person. She loved her son. She was a mother. She loved her family, her friends. She was just all around good girl. So take us to the day. How did you find out what happened to your daughter? A friend of hers had called me. I was also friends with her. She grew up in our family and told me what had happened. And I needed confirmation. So my sister called the East Elly Sheriff's Department Homicide Division. And they sent to detect us over to confirm that it was my daughter. So what did they say happened? Just that she was shot. So any idea at all as to, I mean, did you think that she was targeted? Did you think this was random? Did you have any idea why someone might have wanted to hurt her? I had no idea whatsoever. She wasn't in trouble. I mean, I had no idea why anybody would want to do this. What were detectives able to tell you at all about the case? And what were they able to tell you about how things are permoving? Not much, just what had happened. And they were going to work on it. We just had the three-year anniversary of her passing. So it was really not much on that front. Now, when we just arrived here, I couldn't help by noticing your pain. I mean, this is an incredibly difficult situation for you, particularly because we're standing, which she was sadly murdered. Yes. It's very hard. Every time I come to this spot, it's extremely hard. It's a pain that no parent should have to go through. Now, somebody out there knows. Somebody out there may be watching what you're saying here. What do you want to say to the killer, to the person who was driving that vehicle to? Anybody who may be withholding information that is needed now to get some justice for you and your family? And just anyone who has any information can they please come forward and contact the East LA Sheriff's Department homicide division. We know that there were people there at that time. Why they're not coming forward? We don't know. So please, if you have any information, just please come forward. Why was she here? What was going through her life? And how are things with her that she was here? She became homeless. So that's how she ended up here. Had you been in touch with her on a regular basis? The last two weeks before she passed. No. I had not spoken for her. So her son, you mentioned that she has a son? Yes. Tell us about how she coping. Is he aware of what happened? I don't know if he's aware. His father has cut off all contact with my side of the family. So I haven't seen my grandson in over four years. Is there anything else that you want to tell us about her or anything that perhaps would trigger some sort of reaction in our community that somebody may know or have any idea anything? I'm now going to grew up in this area in East LA. She was known as Nikki to her friends. And all around the area, she's known as Nikki. And that's in its name she gave herself. And she just loved the area. I've always lived here. Is there anything else that you would like to add that we haven't asked you that you would want to say? Just that my daughter was a good person. And whoever is responsible for this needs to be brought to justice. She didn't deserve to die this way. This why? They felt that they needed to be judged, jury, and executioner and take my daughter's life. What could she have done that was so wrong? Well, that's sort of a rough background on each of the murders. And you heard Detective Lugo offer up a vague motive. Now keep in mind, he can't reveal all of his intel, doing so could jeopardize the case. The victims of the murder were arrested for two or three years, and they were arrested for the murder of Shopee-Faissa, and they were also arrested for the murder of Irman Technista. They were arrested by the police and the front-end and were arrested for the murder. If Shopee-Fa had been arrested, it would have been a crime murder. That's how it happened and we were arrested for the murder of Shopee-Faissa. The murder of Aloi, Shopee-Faipiste-Kom, was the case. Your whole neighborhood goes black in seconds. Except your house. 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It is now my pleasure to introduce the captain of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, homicide bureau, Joe Mendoza. Hello, good morning. Thank you for being out here with us today. Now, some of this we've already heard by Detective Lugo, but I couldn't air all of what he told us yet. Now you'll hear Captain Mendoza reveal just a little bit more. This is the murder of Jesse Avalos, who was murdered on Monday, February 10, 2014. At approximately 325 in the morning, he was a seat belted in his vehicle, in the driver's seat of his blue SUV, and the hood of the vehicle was open. Deputies observe Avalos has sustained numerous gunshot wounds to his body. During this time, the vehicle, that the vehicle was parked in front of the location, two suspects were seen around the vehicle, and quickly left that location. Second murder, this is a murder of Eduardo Robles, who was murdered on Monday, July 6, 2015 at 729 PM. Victim Robles was involved in a physical altercation with the suspect in the driveway of a residence. The suspect then fled the location. At about five minutes later, the suspect returned to that driveway area, shot victim Robles numerous times in the upper torso. Our third murder, this is a murder of Amanda Nikki Lopez, who was murdered on Sunday, April 22, 2018 at approximately 240 AM. Early that morning, a silver PT cruiser drove into the Civic Center, way near East Los Angeles courthouse. As he exited the passenger side of the vehicle and began searching for Nikki in the homeless encampment, the suspect ultimately located Nikki. In a tent, the suspect placed a firearm into the tent while Nikki was sleeping and fired once, striking her in the upper torso, resulting in her death. Coming up, Captain Mendoza gives a description and sketch of the shooter and is a complice. This would play into some of those tricks I was telling you about earlier. But first, this is KFI AM640, time for a news update. [Music] KFI AM640 heard everywhere live on the iHeart Radio app. This is Unsolved. I'm Steve Gregory. If you've got a story idea or even a tip about a case you're hearing about, grab your cell phone and dial pound 250 and just say the keyword unsolved. Just leave your name, contact information, and brief summary of your tip or story. That's pound 250 keyword unsolved. We've been listening to the actual press conference from August 18, 2021 at LA County Sheriff's Headquarters in downtown LA. Amasai Bureau, Captain Jome and Dose has been giving an overview of the three murders he says were done by the same guy with an accomplice. We were able to get a good description of the first suspect and he was described as a male Hispanic in his late 20s with short hair, 5 foot 8 inches tall with a medium build. Witnesses and video surveillance also allowed us to get a good description of the second suspect who is the driver of the vehicle in the second and third murders which occurred in 2015 and 2018. He's described as a male Hispanic in his mid to late 40s, 5/8 to 5/9 heavy set with a possible mustache. Remember when we heard from Jesse Avalosa's sister Maria from near the scene of her brother's murder? Well, she and another sister were at this press conference. As a old elder sister of Hesu's Jesse Avalosa, I just want to tell the community that or anyone in LA County who has information regarding these crimes to please come forward. I think I speak for my family as well as the the other two families that we don't have closure. We don't have justice and I'm sure all of these families are still suffering. Please help us please come forward with any information you may have. Thank you. I'd like to introduce Bertha Avalosa. She's also a family member and sister of Jesse Avalosa. Thank you for being here. I just want to reiterate what my sister is saying. just to her state it. And please come forward. If you guys have any information about these martyrs, our brother is truly missed by our family, by his children. And I know that this is not going to bring him back, but it will bring us some sort of closure in this devastating martyr that happened to him and the rest of the victims. So I plead that you please reach out. If you guys have any sort of information, that'll help solve these crimes. Thank you very much. I will now take any questions. Now it's time for the question and answer session. And I get in the first question. The action between these three murders is there a common thing here? Except your house. I can't speak to the motive until I think we bring the suspects to justice, but what I can't say is that they are all connected in some way through the community. We believe they were known to the suspects. However, we're not too clear on what that connection was. So if they were targeted? They were targeted based on their relationships with the suspects. Is it possible this pair? We could be responsible for other murders? Yes, anything's possible. At this point, we're able to make three connections. And those are right now we're focusing on. But of course, we always leave all our investigative options open and see if there's any other leads to any other murders. I noticed that the date on the sketches is in May. Is there a reason why it took so long to release the sketches? Yes, we're trying to put together all of the information to make sure that we were prepared to share this information with the public as accurately as we could. Thank you, sir. Captain, the other ballistic evidence, anything else that we thank these people, these victims had a problem just for why they might have been sitting in the target. We do not know at this time. We do believe that there is a connection as far as they knew each other. There were specifically targeted. But the exact reasons we don't have that information at this time. Do any indication that these guys need to say it? They're a hit team. They're going out. They'll take a crime track. They'll go ahead. They'll go somebody for whatever reason. Emotional money, whatever it might be, vengeance. We don't have any information leading us to believe that at this time. After so many years, seven years, six years, three years of this, what led to the point of saying, wait a minute, hold it, this is the same shooter scene. One of the things that's unique about Ali County Shares homicide bureau is that we're centralized. And we commonly speak to other investigators about our cases. So when investigators were comparing notes on cases, then they believe that they have similar descriptions of the suspects. And that's when they really started to connect the dots. So after the description, what was the next link in this? The link was the descriptions that all both of the suspects were similarly described. And also, there was a between the 2014 and the 2015 murders when collected ballistics and compared them. It was the same weapon that was used in those murders. And that was the reasons that now we're coming forward. We have the information. We have the cooperation from all of the supervisors office that came forward to the $80,000. And now we are looking for witnesses. Somebody that can help us to bring that piece of the puzzle that we're missing and bring closure to these families. Any indication of any DNA evidence or any of these victims at all, where the killing's close enough, where something was there? That is something that-- in every single case, we did do DNA. We processed all the DNA. But at this time, we're not going to share that. It's part of the investigation that we are not sharing. Now, as a reporter, the key takeaways from this press conference are the video, the PT cruiser, and a sketch of the two men. And remember when Detective Lugo told me he believed the two suspects could be related. Well, Lugo had already confirmed to me weeks prior that the two men were father and son. But I was asked not to reveal that in other details. Now, this is important to building trust with detectives, which also helps my access to the backstory of cases like this one. That trust would pay off in a big way, and we'll get to more on that later. Well, there you go. It's out in the open. A sketch of the two men, more details about the murders, and pleas from family members. And how does all of this help? I'll tell you coming up, including how I found out about the ID and pending arrest of the father and son, and how I was the only reporter on scene when the two were handcuffed. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] Before the break, I let you in on some exclusive behind the scenes, interviews, and a press conference announcing descriptions of the two men connected with the murders of three people in the East LA area over a four-year period. The press conference was on August 18, 2021. And earlier that morning, I was able to use some of that audio you heard in the last hour to break the story of the three murders being connected along with a sketch. We were able to get it on hours before anybody else. The 640 live everywhere on the I Heart Radio app. LA County Sheriff's Detective, say, an $80,000 reward has been offered to find two men connected with three deaths in East LA. Investigators say one man was killed in 2014, another man in 2015, and a homeless woman in 2018. Possibly. Detective Ray Lugo says one guy is the shooter. The other may have driven the shooter around in a silver PT cruiser. Mill Hispanic, approximately 5, 8 to 5, 9, 185 pounds, and wearing dark clothing. The driver, a little older, he was described as a Mill Hispanic, approximately 5, 9 or so. Heavy set, possibly had a mustache. Lugo says the shooter and the driver are most likely getting support from family members and or friends. Do you think that this person's done, or do you think this person's going to keep going? We believe that he may have been involved in possibly another murder, and we do believe that if we don't catch him, that he will continue to kill people. Lugo says they've been able to put a composite sketch of them in together. You can see the sketch on our website at kfiam640.com. Steve, Gregory, KFI. And within a few hours of our story on KFI, both on air and online and the press conference, I was told phones at the Sheriff's Department's homicide bureau blew up. In fact, something unusual happened. Detective Ray Lugo told me among the first few calls where some of the strongest leads they had. And when they put the sketch on an electronic billboard in front of the Citadel outlet stores and commerce, even more solid leads came in. A few days passed, and everything seemed pretty quiet. Up to the press conference, I was getting pretty regular updates from the detectives, and it seemed things were moving at a pretty fast pace. Then all of the sudden, everything went quiet. No calls, no texts. And I wasn't going to bother anybody. They certainly had more important things to do than keep me posted. And besides, it's not like there's not a lot of other news going on in the area. But then a few weeks later, completely out of the blue, Detective Ray Lugo calls. He says, Steve, we know who they are, we know where they live, and we're putting a surveillance team on them. I was like, wow, that was fast. And that's when Lugo told me about all the great tips and leads that were coming in. In fact, some of them led Lugo and his team out of town and out of state. Lugo told me, sit tight, wait for his call. Well, of course, I was pushing him for more details. He told me a little bit more, and I knew he knew a lot more, but I was still sworn to secrecy. So I moved on to some other stories, including a heart-wrenching cold case out of El Monte, which involved the death of a 14-year-old girl, It was an innocent victim of a gang hit, and more than 20 years later, detectives would get the evidence they needed to put the pieces together, and it all happened by accident. So I'll have that story coming up in a future episode. I was stuck in traffic one morning, sitting in my news truck on the 405 when the phone rang. Colorado said, "Ray Lugo. My heart rate jumped up. I was almost too nervous to answer. Then I heard the voice. It was Lugo." He says, "Steve, it's set. We're moving in on September 23rd at 0 4 30 hours. Details later. Gotta run. Oh, and you get to go. See you later. Click. I shouted. F***. F***. F***. I took a deep breath and called my boss. I have to keep him in the loop for liability reasons, but I don't have to tell him everything. So it would appear the trap was set. Now here's the clincher. I got the call on September 8th. That shows you how far in advance they have to work the takedown and it's a lot of coordination. They were going to use deputies from the East LA station for perimeter security and the arrest itself. The SWAT team from the department's special enforcement bureau were entry into the house. Other detectives would be on scene to assist. There's the DA's office, a forensics team, a canine unit that specializes in electronics. A lot of coordination. And I was the only reporter in LA with this intel. That's a lot of trust from the homicide bureau. This is the turnover now right here. It's not right now. Oh, sure. Yes. He's got that? He's, uh, yeah. Well, the day finally arrived. Thursday, September 23rd, 3.30 AM. I arrive at the sheriff's special enforcement bureau staging area and after a short briefing, I take my truck and fall in line with a convoy. The location is only a couple miles from the SWAT team's headquarters. It's still dark. Turn off our headlights. I'm behind some sheriffs SUVs which are behind the massive SWAT vehicles. In fact, you see all the SWAT guys hanging on the outside of the truck. Weapons in tow. They're all holding onto the rails. They're all decked out. We arrive a few houses down from the target. I'm told to stay back until the SWAT teams entered the house and it's safe to approach. I was allowed to put a microphone on one of the deputies who was allowed into the hot zone. We are live. It's going to be recording the whole time. The best way for you to get a sense of that morning is to let you listen to the actual news feature I filed from the scene for KFI news. This is a portion of my report that aired the next morning. After a quick briefing I followed in behind a convoy of SWAT vehicles and SUVs to the East LA. Then I got into position. The primary, as they call it, was 31-year-old Anthony Velasquez. The man investigators say shot and killed all three people. The Japanese pattened down before placing him into a van. Anything illegal on him? Nope. Is there a opening? No, nothing. Needles are in? No. Are you on probation? Nope. We're going to make sure you have nothing illegal on you, okay? No problem. There you go. There you go. Moments later they arrest Velasquez's 51-year-old father Manuel. Investigators say Manuel not only covered up for his son, but in at least two of them murders. He drove his son Anthony to and from the crime scenes. The father's placed into the back of the van behind his son. And his things look like they may have been finished. Start at the front of the hall and the mail that are in a room on the one side. The SWAT team discovers another man and woman staying in the house. It ends up being the sister of Anthony Velasquez and the sister's boyfriend. Detectives told me they didn't think the couple had any knowledge about the actions of the father and son. As you heard, the two were put into a van. And when the son was put in the van, I was able to snap a shot of him sitting down. Let's just say he gave me quite a facial expression. You can go to our webpage to see it or our social media @unsolvedkfi. Coming up, I'll explain some of the interesting ways detectives were able to get the men into custody as unsolved continues. I'm Steve Gregory and this is unsolved. Where in East LA, the 300 block of Humphrey's Avenue is the home of two men who've been arrested in connection with three murders from 2014 to 2018. The two were put into a van where they set for about 45 minutes and come to find out that's intentional. Let's just say it's a tactic that sometimes yields great intel. And while they sit and ponder their future, detectives were inside the house searching for clues and evidence. By now the neighborhood was waking up, people were gathered in their front yards, curious about all the deputies and detectives. One of the neighbors approached me, asked me what was going on. When I told her, she was shocked and relieved. And I, yes, we're the God. Oh, God, I swear to God. The cops passed by and were sending pictures to each house. The what? The police. Yeah. We're leaving papers in each house here with the flyers with the sketches. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I swear to God, the stack of bibles I wouldn't lie to you. I told my dinner. Hey, that car. There's not too many cars like that. The PT cruiser. Yeah. A lot of the neighbors were afraid of these guys. Yeah. Yeah. We couldn't even look at the way. Oh, my God. Yeah, but they're sitting right there in that van. This white one? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. True, we were all afraid. It's true. Really? Yeah. Why? Trettene. There's very threatening. Very threatening. When there was an accident here in the neighborhood, they jumped. They came out of their house and they got a knife and they punctured the tires of the car that hit other cars here in the neighborhood. And the guy, the son ran out and got a knife and started popping the tires of the guy so he wouldn't leave. He heard about the neighbor talking about the flyer that went out with the sketch of both the father and the son. That was an interesting tactic as well as they handed out those flyers almost exclusively in this neighborhood. And with that $80,000 reward hanging over it. A lot of people came out of the woodwork. At this point, I was able to speak with Lieutenant Hugo Renaga. He's the head of the department's cold case unit. Did you get really good solid intel from that press conference? I mean, those tips that are coming in. I know detectives have been up north of LA. They've been in Texas. I mean, you got some pretty solid leads. There was a certain few, maybe two or three that were really tied the suspect to all three of these murders. These three phone calls that I'm talking in that came in or came in right with an hour after the press conference. So they must have been watching this on TV or they heard it on the radio or something, but they pretty much came out of the woodwork pretty quickly. As soon as you make something public, is it unusual to get such solid leads so quickly? It is. And from my experience, usually when there's some kind of reward or when the victim or witnesses in these cases feel like they're safe, maybe they're maybe not living in this area anymore and they're gone from the neighborhood. They feel a little more secure. But it's very seldom that we get these big leads and these big witness statements right out of the gate. And is it also unusual for a murder suspect and any of those accomplices to live so close to the murder scenes? Oh, you know, it's not unusual. Let me rephrase. Is it unusual for someone to go back and sort of settle in in the same community where the murders were committed as opposed to taking off and going somewhere else? So it's not unusual when your neighbors fear you, you know, when there's fear in the neighborhood. And I want to say a lot of these people that live in this neighborhood either had an idea that this was the suspect or had heard through other people that this was the suspect. But a lot of these people are, they're, they're, because they live in the area and they're fear that, you know, if they say anything to the police, they may be a victim at some point. So is it safe to say most of your tips came from in this neighborhood? Yes. By now, other media outlets were on the scene, but I was still inside the perimeter. But all of a sudden, I was given some insider information. And I was told to stand to get the best view of Anthony Velasquez as he was being transferred from the van to a patrol vehicle. From here, he would head to central booking where he'd be processed and put into a cell. The video I captured was pretty good. I had the best seat in the house. And his Velasquez was being walked over to the SUV. I had a chance to ask him a question. Why did you kill those people? Excuse me, sir. Why did you kill them? I got pushed. You see? What's that? I got pushed. Can you reason why you killed him? That SUV drove away, another pulled forward, that one was for his father. The operation was over and labeled a success. The best part, no one was injured and there was no gunfire. As of this airing, Anthony Velasquez was charged with three counts of murder. His father Manuel was charged with one count of murder and as an accessory in at least one other murder. The son was in jail on $6 million bail, the father, $2 million. It's not clear who or how many people will be eligible to split the $80,000 reward. Now it would appear the three murder cases were solved and this is a program about unsolved cases. But at the time, we were in pre-production, the cases were still unsolved. But we thought you'd like to go through the process of seeing how just the smallest tips and leads can lead to the biggest results. This was a great opportunity to bring you along with us behind the scenes. Now to see some cool pictures and video of the arrest, go to kfim640.com/hewardunsolved. Coming up, a tragic case from San Bernardino County involving a newborn. This is the death of baby Jane Doe #45. San Bernardino County Sheriff's homicide case #1914-07365. The Henry number is 2014-87. Detective Eric O'Gas is spearheading the case. I sat with him at the department's homicide unit in the city of San Bernardino. Caution, this case is graphic. Detective, thanks for your time. Thank you. Let's start, baby Jane Doe, that's got to be one of the most disturbing things you hear. I mean, baby Jane Doe, that's anything dealing with children, missing children, abuse children, and in this particular case, baby Jane Doe, that ended up being found deceased. That's correct. Well, basically on October 1st of 2014, the workers at the Advanced Disposal, which is a jump yard up in the high desert, the Victor Villasperia area. They were sorting through the trash. When the trash truck arrives, they dump the trash in a certain area and the trash then goes up at the conveyor belt and the workers and employees separate the recyclables from the regular trash. While the workers were sorting through the trash and the conveyor belt, they came across a newborn child. Wow. Have you spoken to anybody yet from that company or is that company still around? That company is still around and everyone there has already been spoken with. Looking to. I have heard about this in other cases. I remember a case in Orange County where there were prostitutes being disposed of this way. This seems to be, could this be a nefarious act, do you think, or this was a situation where a mother had an unwanted pregnancy? What's your experience to tell you on this? Well, that's what we're trying to figure out. That's what we need to find out. First of what the situation was, we need to find out why the child was deceased on a conveyor belt in the dump. Why someone placed their child into a trash can? As far as the reasons or how or why, that's something we have to come to the conclusion based upon our investigation. So were you able to pinpoint the route that this particular baby may be in a part of? Yes. Once upon where the trash was dumped at at the facility, they were able to connect it with the actual truck that dumped in that area and then the route of that truck was through the Asperia area. So then if you focus on the Asperia area, then when did you get this case? Because I know sometimes you just, you get these cases and they've already been looked at by other detectives. So how long have you had this case? I got this case approximately six months ago. Six months ago. Okay, so tell us a little bit about some of the progress you've made as far. So you say Asperia is where the route originated? Was it a residential route or an industrial route? It was a residential route. And then how do you focus in on that then? Well, basically going through the report, the investigators at the time went out, did door to door contact, referenced the area and the residences in which that trash truck picked up a trash, hoping to identify or locate a female that looked like they just had a child or someone that said, "Hey, we had a neighbor. We know she was pregnant and now she's not pregnant, but we've never seen the child. Anything that would stir up a lead." And I don't know if this is a little too in the weeds, but can you tell whether or not it was a baby that was placed in one of those residential, the bins with the wheels on it or was it in another thing? Or did they pick up only those bins or was there like a larger dumpster? Do you know any that kind of detail? That's hard to tell. I mean, like I said, all the trash is dumped in one pile and then goes up to conveyor belt. And as you can imagine, the child's in that back of a trash truck that's constantly getting compacted and trash getting mixed in and around the child. We're talking with Detective Eric O'Gas with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department about a baby Jane Doe. So what else can you tell us about the young child, ethnicity? What was the condition of the body? It was an Hispanic female child and the condition of the body, she was mutilated obviously by it appears to be and we believe to be from the trash compacted. Not from another person. At this time, we have no reason to believe that. We believe her injuries were from the trash. The trash. The compaction. The compaction of the truck. Thank you. No, no, that's fine. That's not an idea of the timeline, how long had the baby been deceased. That is something that there was optopsie, obviously conducted by the San Bernardino County in corner's office and they came to a conclusion of a proximate time and that's something I kind of want to hold to myself right now. Sure. I'm going to interview people and talk to people in the future. Understandable. The thought that you're in homicide, you've done cases before, what type of a person does something like this? Well, I'm not a psychiatrist, but you know what homicide detectives, they have an innate sense, they can kind of, they can science people up, you science people are for a living. So what type of person does this? Well there's different circumstances what could happen, it could be a real facetious person, just a cruel, you know, does not want to have the child and discards a child in the trash can. It could be a stillborn, trying to hide either from parents or a loved one that they were pregnant and throw the child in the trash. I mean there's different reasons why people do things that I don't understand but nevertheless they do. To learn more about this case and others go to kfiam640.com keyword unsolved and if you have a tip or story idea, grab your cell phone and dial pound 250 and say the keyword unsolved. More with Detective O Gas from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department but first this is kfiam640 time for a news update. This is unsolved. I'm Steve Gregory. October 1st, 2014 workers at a trash sorting facility in Victorville come across the most gruesome discovery possible, a newborn on a conveyor belt. Detective Eric O Gas with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's homicide unit says the baby was dumped, abandoned without a trace. Detective given the anonymity and the condition of the baby, I suppose it's like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. And where does one start when investigating this and do you have any leads? At the time the child was on the conveyor belt once the child was located by the workers, they immediately stopped the conveyor belt back to the way they notified the supervisor. The deputy responded and basically froze that crime scene so nothing moved. It was touched around that child. Investigators went out there and went through the trash that was near that child and looked for envelopes, addresses. You know, you're mailed at you know, your bills that come to your house. They had several addresses, which also confirmed that route that truck took during that period of time. And then they make contact at those addresses looking for leads. - Then when you look back at that, I think there's always an assumption that it's probably a young woman, maybe a high school student. - Yes. - And do you go to nearby high schools? How do you do that as well? - They did. - Here's back then, went back to the spirit, spirit-unified school district and interviewed numerous teenage females. Also checked for their attendance records to see if anyone was absent for extended period of time during that time frame. And for obvious reasons, I mean, we're talking to you all, the females, the students there, you're hoping to get leads. You're hoping that someone's gonna say, yes, my friend was pregnant and you know, this is why I think she did or she's not pregnant anymore. That someone would know something or you would obviously sit down and actually talk to that student and just by based on the interview in them, you could tell by talking with them that they are scared or upset and that they were pregnant by talking with them and getting them to admit to that. - And the sad thing about that is obviously nothing panned out. It sounds like nothing panned out from that. - Yeah, approach. But you know, you can also have been an older woman. It could have been a different age woman who, you know, an unwanted pregnancy or could have been a relative of a or a friend of someone that came over and so yeah, that's what I mean. It's just, so what happens next? How, where do you go from here? - Basically, from here we have some things that we're trying through new technologies, I guess you would say in homicide, things that we could research that obviously I can't say at this time. But you're right, we didn't say things, you're talking about forensics or love. - Yes, we do technology and forensics. - Absolutely. - Okay. - What does this take you? - Hopefully it's gonna lead us to, you know, if the child is, mother has been in prison before or incarcerated before, do DNA, hopefully we could match that now to that person. As we know, when you're arrested for a felony in California, you're given a DNA swab that's held. And hopefully we're getting the DNA from the baby, having it submitted and put into what's called our COTA system. And hopefully it comes back to, - To match. - To match. - To match. You said earlier, you didn't wanna talk about how long you thought the baby was deceased, but can you tell us about how old the baby might have been? - I would say this, it was a newborn. - It was a newborn, so define newborn in your baby. - A billy-cold cord's still attached. - Okay, that's, yeah, that's, gosh. That's a tough one, this swallow, you know? That's a tough one that really digested. And I can't imagine those workers on a conveyor belt. - Yes. - And I mean, they must have been a little bit in shock. I remember the conveyor belt workers, it was a recycling plant. I believe it was anhym a few years ago. And they all had to go through therapy because they didn't realize, they're used to seeing so much trash and stuff. And then when you see a human body, it doesn't, your brain doesn't process it. - No, absolutely. And especially when, you know, all deaths or tragedies, especially the one that's a child. I mean, not only for the workers there, but even the deputy sheriffs that responded to the investigators that handled that case, whenever you see a child, that's newborn mutilated. You know, it makes your heart sink. And it's hard to see. And it's difficult to take in. - So what is it you want people to do? I mean, what do you need from people now? - Well, you know, during that timeframe of October 1st, 2014, in the high desert area, when I say a high desert meaning, Dr.ville, the Sparrier, or Apple Valley, if you're aware of anyone at that time that was pregnant and towards basically full term, and then was no longer pregnant, and they had no excuse to what happened to that child, you know, contact us. Any leads that you guys can give us, we would greatly appreciate. You know, it's a golemine. You know, she's identified to us as baby Jane Doe 45. And it's a golemine to put a name to her. I mean, as of now, she's laid to rest with the name of baby Joe 45. And I like to put a name to her. - I know this is a goal of yours. And you're talking about new technology. Are you hopeful you'll be able to solve this case? - I am hopeful. And I'm gonna continue to work it. I'm not gonna stop working at our different angles and to hope that can make that conclusion and get her identified and find out why. Like I said, there's several different reasons why. You know, not that there are good reasons, but to why something happened. And I like to like to get her identified. - You might wanna take this opportunity to remind people about safe surrender? - Oh, absolutely. You know, if you have a child, you could drop the child off at, I should drop the child off. You could bring the child to like a local hospital, and they would take the child with no questions at. - Fire departments? - Fire departments too. - Police departments, sheriff, I mean, pretty much any law enforcement or first responder agency? - Absolutely. - And the key is no questions asked. - That is the key. - It's a better alternative. - Absolutely. - Detective, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it. - Oh, you're welcome. Thank you. - Good luck. - That's gonna do it. For more on this and other cases, go to our website at kfiam640.com, keyword and solve. Unsolved with Steve Gregory is a production of the KFI news department for I Heart Media Los Angeles, Robin Bertolucci, program director, Chris Little News Director. The program is produced by Steve Gregory and Jacob Gonzalez, our digital producer is Andro Mammo. Coming up next, it's coast to coast, but first, this is KFI AM640, time for a news update.