Rosa María Zavala says she will always be grateful to Detective Matthew Pereira of the Missing Persons Unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD).
This mother says that it was he who not only initiated the investigation to search for her daughter Carolina, who disappeared on July 7 2020 in Pico Rivera, but also when they found her five months later in Salinas, California, she asked to be sent to a hospital to be evaluated, since her daughter suffers from schizophrenia.
“I thought the worst,” Rosa María told Real America News. “I thought I would never see her again; I am happy to have her at home ”. They both live in South Gate.
Carolina’s mother does not explain herself nor did she ever know how her daughter was in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic, today from 31 year-old appeared in Salinas – over 350 miles north of Los Angeles.
He only found out that Carolina had asked for help to shelter somewhere and not pass the night in the street.
A girl approached him, recognized her because she had seen her picture on the news and asked if she had a family.
When giving an affirmative answer, they called the mother and Rosa María traveled immediately to rescue her daughter who was missing until December 5, 2020.
Carolina Martínez was lost in the middle of the pandemic and the LASD circulated this flyer to help find her.
However, not all cases that reach the LASD Missing Persons Unit end like this.
Laura Gutiérrez, resident of Phoenix, Arizona, describes that for the rest of her life her grief over the loss of her daughter Ericka will never leave.
Ericka Guerrero had 29 years when the night of 20 July 2019. He was at a party with his girlfriend in the San Bernardino desert. They had an argument and she left alone.
The Nissan Pathfinder 1985 red in which she went to the party was found on September 4 on a dirt road near the Black Mountain Wilderness in San Bernardino, California.
The 21 In January of this year, San Bernardino detectives following the case found the girl’s skull four miles away. from where the truck was found. The other mortal remains have not been located.
“That is why we have not been able to bury her,” said her mother.
“My daughter was a happy, loving person with a big heart… The feelings of pain will always be in the heart for the rest of our lives, and of the two children who she left orphans. ”
Laura Gutiérrez (left) with her daughter Ericka (right) and the young woman’s two children. This was the bulletin that was released when Ericka Guerrero disappeared in July of 2019.
Annual cases and new search protocols
Thanks to the passion they have for their work and community service, the 24 hours of the day what if Eight days a week throughout the year, Sgt. Mike Rodriguez, Lt. Joe Mendoza, and Detectives Matt Pereida and Shannon Rincon have made the LASD Homicide Bureau and Missing Persons Unit one of the best in the country.
Over the past two years, they reported working an average of 2, 400 annual cases of people reported missing or missing.
“We have achieved a resolution rate of 95% when bringing people back home with their families, ”said Sergeant Rodríguez, who is the supervisor of the sheriff’s group.
Of the 2, 400 cases, in almost 450 of them it was determined that the missing persons had been in critical risk for dementia; for lack of medicines, such as insulin; or due to suicidal tendencies.
“We just recently included that the elderly of 75 years or more will automatically be considered missing at risk due to the onset of the disease Alzheimer’s and dementia , although it is possible that they have not been diagnosed “, assured Sergeant Rodríguez.
” It is possible that the family has already seen signs that something is not right [al perder la noción del tiempo o la realidad] “, he added.
” We decided to include them because many older people do not have a cell phone, do not drive, do not use a debit card, so they are very difficult to track… If you are looking for a loved one, we will look for them; sometimes we end up in some very strange places in relation to where they were reported as missing [vistos por última vez] ”.
Detective Matthew Pereida is the one who helped solve Carolina’s case.
Two units to solve cases: the same structure
The good results in LASD come from a mentality immersed in the pet that identifies them: a bulldog.
“We are proud to have the best research body of homicides in the country and perhaps the world “, declared Lieutenant Mendoza.
” That is what we want to do with missing persons, we wanted to raise the level of results to make it the best in the nation. ”
The bulldog, who is the model mascot of the Homicide Unit, gives them the mentality of always going the mile extra and know that they will always do everything possible They can find out what happened and get to the bottom of each and every case that comes their way.
They already have.
In the Homicide Unit, they resolved cases of national and international notoriety: the arrest and conviction of the murderer and rapist Richard Ramírez, known as “The Night Marauder”; who killed 14 people between 1984 Y 1985.
Also, the arrest and subsequent conviction of the serial killer Kenneth Alessio Bianchi, “The Hillside Strangler”, who terrorized between 1977 Y 1978 and that he threw the bodies of his victims on the slopes of the Los Angeles hills.
However, it was not known that the LASD Homicide Bureau also handles missing or missing persons cases.
Generally, the reports refer to adults with mental health problems, suffering from senile dementia, Alzheimer’s, developmental disabilities or who are suicidal.
” All work is carried out under the same structure ”, explained Sergeant Rodríguez.
The service covered at 25 Sheriff’s Stations: Lancaster and Palmdale to Walnut and San Dimas; and from Lakewood, east of Los Angeles, to Compton, south of the city. ”
Among the cases of missing persons there are also the so-called ‘lost involuntary ‘; that is, someone who has not returned from work or who had an argument with a family member and decides not to be in contact with anyone and turns off their phone.
Sergeant Michael Rodríguez, supervisor of the Missing Persons Unit of the LASD.
Immediately report any disappearance
In LASD, the disappearance of any adult can occur immediately, whether or not they are in situations of risk or critical condition.
Unlike some Latin American countries, the misperception persists among Latinos that also in the United States, particularly in Los Angeles, one has to wait 24 to 48 hours to make a missing person report. That is not true.
“Here, people can make any report directly to me, they can call me on my cell phone, at my office or [escribir a] my email “, said Detective Matt Pereida.
” As soon as I receive reports I communicate with people until the end of the investigation, “he added .
Where to ask for help?
To contact Detective Matt Pineda’s office call 1 (323) 800 – 5636 or write him to his email Mdpereid@lasd.org.
If you have information about a missing person, contact the Missing Persons Unit of the Department of the LA Sheriff 1 (323) 890 – 5500. And in case you want to provide information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222 – 5636.
