Murder victim.
Patricia Lopez was a shy, timid little girl who was extremely afraid of strangers when she went missing after leaving her third-grade classroom in Santa Ana, California. The 9-year-old girl was so shy she would never have left school with anyone other than a family member, nor would she have climbed into a car with a stranger. But she was also a fighter who may have resisted and struggled with her assailant before she was brutally bludgeoned to death.
Patty's likely resistance led to a surprise arrest 19 years later.
At the time, Detective Martinez (who was on a newly formed cold-case investigations team for SAPD) described how an extensive air and ground search for Patty was launched immediately when the little girl did not show up at a pre-arranged meeting spot with her mother after she was released from her third-grade class that day.
The police hopes of finding the 5-foot tall, 80-pound elementary-school student were dashed two days later, on June 5th, when a group of kids found her semi-clothed body 100 feet inside a dark storm drain (a feeder tunnel) near Fairview Street on the Santa Ana River. It appeared from the crime scene that at one point Patty's head was placed on top of a large rock, then her skull was crushed by a blow from above with another rock.
Orange County sheriff's criminalists processed the crime scene and collected, packaged, and saved fingernail scrapings from Patty's hands. But back in 1987, there was no such thing as DNA testing, so the fingernail scrapings were preserved for future analysis.
Several leads were investigated over the years, but the investigation stalled... until April 2006. Detectives from Santa Ana police and the Orange County District Attorney's Office re-evaluated the evidence collected in the tunnel, and a decision was made to have the rocks, Patty's clothing, and the fingernail scrapings re-examined in light of advancements in DNA technology.
Patricia's brother, Rosendo Lopez, was not considered a suspect in the death of his little sister in 1987. In fact, he told reporters who went to the Lopez home on the day her body was found that he and his brothers would "find the sick guy and hang him high from a tree."
Nineteen years later, it was determined that the fingernail from Patricia's right hand contained a mixture of Patricia's DNA and foreign DNA from a man who was likely a "full-related sibling." The problem was that Patty had five older brothers. So the question was, which brother had left his DNA under Patty's fingernails on the day she was murdered? To get an answer, Police set up surveillance-- with help from the U.S. Marshal's Office -on all the Lopez brothers.
On Feb. 14, 2007, after several weeks of watching, the team saw Rosendo Lopez toss out a cigarette butt while looking under the hood of a car with one of his brothers at an apartment complex on Oak Street. When the Lopez brothers went inside, a police detective grabbed the butt. A DNA test on the saliva from the cigarette butt found it had the same genetic markers as the DNA found in the scrapings from under Patty's fingernails. Only one person in a trillion is likely to have the same genetic markings. Genetic materials collected from under Patricia's fingernails matched the DNA profile of her brother, Rosendo Lopez. Rosendo was arrested and charged with the cold case slaying of his 9-year-old sister from two decades earlier. Had was convicted at trial, and would have served 25 years to life in prison, but he died in the Orange County Jail on February 7, 2010, of natural causes (diabetes and colon cancer).Patricia, 9, disappeared in Santa Ana, California after school let out on June 3, 1987. On June 5, her body was found by children playing. She had been beaten to death with a blunt object and her partially clothed body was thrown in a Santa Ana River drainage canal.
Patricia Lopez was a shy, timid little girl who was extremely afraid of strangers when she went missing after leaving her third-grade classroom in Santa Ana, California. The 9-year-old girl was so shy she would never have left school with anyone other than a family member, nor would she have climbed into a car with a stranger. But she was also a fighter who may have resisted and struggled with her assailant before she was brutally bludgeoned to death.
Patty's likely resistance led to a surprise arrest 19 years later.
At the time, Detective Martinez (who was on a newly formed cold-case investigations team for SAPD) described how an extensive air and ground search for Patty was launched immediately when the little girl did not show up at a pre-arranged meeting spot with her mother after she was released from her third-grade class that day.
The police hopes of finding the 5-foot tall, 80-pound elementary-school student were dashed two days later, on June 5th, when a group of kids found her semi-clothed body 100 feet inside a dark storm drain (a feeder tunnel) near Fairview Street on the Santa Ana River. It appeared from the crime scene that at one point Patty's head was placed on top of a large rock, then her skull was crushed by a blow from above with another rock.
Orange County sheriff's criminalists processed the crime scene and collected, packaged, and saved fingernail scrapings from Patty's hands. But back in 1987, there was no such thing as DNA testing, so the fingernail scrapings were preserved for future analysis.
Several leads were investigated over the years, but the investigation stalled... until April 2006. Detectives from Santa Ana police and the Orange County District Attorney's Office re-evaluated the evidence collected in the tunnel, and a decision was made to have the rocks, Patty's clothing, and the fingernail scrapings re-examined in light of advancements in DNA technology.
Patricia's brother, Rosendo Lopez, was not considered a suspect in the death of his little sister in 1987. In fact, he told reporters who went to the Lopez home on the day her body was found that he and his brothers would "find the sick guy and hang him high from a tree."
Nineteen years later, it was determined that the fingernail from Patricia's right hand contained a mixture of Patricia's DNA and foreign DNA from a man who was likely a "full-related sibling." The problem was that Patty had five older brothers. So the question was, which brother had left his DNA under Patty's fingernails on the day she was murdered? To get an answer, Police set up surveillance-- with help from the U.S. Marshal's Office -on all the Lopez brothers.
On Feb. 14, 2007, after several weeks of watching, the team saw Rosendo Lopez toss out a cigarette butt while looking under the hood of a car with one of his brothers at an apartment complex on Oak Street. When the Lopez brothers went inside, a police detective grabbed the butt. A DNA test on the saliva from the cigarette butt found it had the same genetic markers as the DNA found in the scrapings from under Patty's fingernails. Only one person in a trillion is likely to have the same genetic markings. Genetic materials collected from under Patricia's fingernails matched the DNA profile of her brother, Rosendo Lopez. Rosendo was arrested and charged with the cold case slaying of his 9-year-old sister from two decades earlier. Had was convicted at trial, and would have served 25 years to life in prison, but he died in the Orange County Jail on February 7, 2010, of natural causes (diabetes and colon cancer).Patricia, 9, disappeared in Santa Ana, California after school let out on June 3, 1987. On June 5, her body was found by children playing. She had been beaten to death with a blunt object and her partially clothed body was thrown in a Santa Ana River drainage canal.
Murder victim.
Patricia Lopez was a shy, timid little girl who was extremely afraid of strangers when she went missing after leaving her third-grade classroom in Santa Ana, California. The 9-year-old girl was so shy she would never have left school with anyone other than a family member, nor would she have climbed into a car with a stranger. But she was also a fighter who may have resisted and struggled with her assailant before she was brutally bludgeoned to death.
Patty's likely resistance led to a surprise arrest 19 years later.
At the time, Detective Martinez (who was on a newly formed cold-case investigations team for SAPD) described how an extensive air and ground search for Patty was launched immediately when the little girl did not show up at a pre-arranged meeting spot with her mother after she was released from her third-grade class that day.
The police hopes of finding the 5-foot tall, 80-pound elementary-school student were dashed two days later, on June 5th, when a group of kids found her semi-clothed body 100 feet inside a dark storm drain (a feeder tunnel) near Fairview Street on the Santa Ana River. It appeared from the crime scene that at one point Patty's head was placed on top of a large rock, then her skull was crushed by a blow from above with another rock.
Orange County sheriff's criminalists processed the crime scene and collected, packaged, and saved fingernail scrapings from Patty's hands. But back in 1987, there was no such thing as DNA testing, so the fingernail scrapings were preserved for future analysis.
Several leads were investigated over the years, but the investigation stalled... until April 2006. Detectives from Santa Ana police and the Orange County District Attorney's Office re-evaluated the evidence collected in the tunnel, and a decision was made to have the rocks, Patty's clothing, and the fingernail scrapings re-examined in light of advancements in DNA technology.
Patricia's brother, Rosendo Lopez, was not considered a suspect in the death of his little sister in 1987. In fact, he told reporters who went to the Lopez home on the day her body was found that he and his brothers would "find the sick guy and hang him high from a tree."
Nineteen years later, it was determined that the fingernail from Patricia's right hand contained a mixture of Patricia's DNA and foreign DNA from a man who was likely a "full-related sibling." The problem was that Patty had five older brothers. So the question was, which brother had left his DNA under Patty's fingernails on the day she was murdered? To get an answer, Police set up surveillance-- with help from the U.S. Marshal's Office -on all the Lopez brothers.
On Feb. 14, 2007, after several weeks of watching, the team saw Rosendo Lopez toss out a cigarette butt while looking under the hood of a car with one of his brothers at an apartment complex on Oak Street. When the Lopez brothers went inside, a police detective grabbed the butt. A DNA test on the saliva from the cigarette butt found it had the same genetic markers as the DNA found in the scrapings from under Patty's fingernails. Only one person in a trillion is likely to have the same genetic markings. Genetic materials collected from under Patricia's fingernails matched the DNA profile of her brother, Rosendo Lopez. Rosendo was arrested and charged with the cold case slaying of his 9-year-old sister from two decades earlier. Had was convicted at trial, and would have served 25 years to life in prison, but he died in the Orange County Jail on February 7, 2010, of natural causes (diabetes and colon cancer).Patricia, 9, disappeared in Santa Ana, California after school let out on June 3, 1987. On June 5, her body was found by children playing. She had been beaten to death with a blunt object and her partially clothed body was thrown in a Santa Ana River drainage canal.
Patricia Lopez was a shy, timid little girl who was extremely afraid of strangers when she went missing after leaving her third-grade classroom in Santa Ana, California. The 9-year-old girl was so shy she would never have left school with anyone other than a family member, nor would she have climbed into a car with a stranger. But she was also a fighter who may have resisted and struggled with her assailant before she was brutally bludgeoned to death.
Patty's likely resistance led to a surprise arrest 19 years later.
At the time, Detective Martinez (who was on a newly formed cold-case investigations team for SAPD) described how an extensive air and ground search for Patty was launched immediately when the little girl did not show up at a pre-arranged meeting spot with her mother after she was released from her third-grade class that day.
The police hopes of finding the 5-foot tall, 80-pound elementary-school student were dashed two days later, on June 5th, when a group of kids found her semi-clothed body 100 feet inside a dark storm drain (a feeder tunnel) near Fairview Street on the Santa Ana River. It appeared from the crime scene that at one point Patty's head was placed on top of a large rock, then her skull was crushed by a blow from above with another rock.
Orange County sheriff's criminalists processed the crime scene and collected, packaged, and saved fingernail scrapings from Patty's hands. But back in 1987, there was no such thing as DNA testing, so the fingernail scrapings were preserved for future analysis.
Several leads were investigated over the years, but the investigation stalled... until April 2006. Detectives from Santa Ana police and the Orange County District Attorney's Office re-evaluated the evidence collected in the tunnel, and a decision was made to have the rocks, Patty's clothing, and the fingernail scrapings re-examined in light of advancements in DNA technology.
Patricia's brother, Rosendo Lopez, was not considered a suspect in the death of his little sister in 1987. In fact, he told reporters who went to the Lopez home on the day her body was found that he and his brothers would "find the sick guy and hang him high from a tree."
Nineteen years later, it was determined that the fingernail from Patricia's right hand contained a mixture of Patricia's DNA and foreign DNA from a man who was likely a "full-related sibling." The problem was that Patty had five older brothers. So the question was, which brother had left his DNA under Patty's fingernails on the day she was murdered? To get an answer, Police set up surveillance-- with help from the U.S. Marshal's Office -on all the Lopez brothers.
On Feb. 14, 2007, after several weeks of watching, the team saw Rosendo Lopez toss out a cigarette butt while looking under the hood of a car with one of his brothers at an apartment complex on Oak Street. When the Lopez brothers went inside, a police detective grabbed the butt. A DNA test on the saliva from the cigarette butt found it had the same genetic markers as the DNA found in the scrapings from under Patty's fingernails. Only one person in a trillion is likely to have the same genetic markings. Genetic materials collected from under Patricia's fingernails matched the DNA profile of her brother, Rosendo Lopez. Rosendo was arrested and charged with the cold case slaying of his 9-year-old sister from two decades earlier. Had was convicted at trial, and would have served 25 years to life in prison, but he died in the Orange County Jail on February 7, 2010, of natural causes (diabetes and colon cancer).Patricia, 9, disappeared in Santa Ana, California after school let out on June 3, 1987. On June 5, her body was found by children playing. She had been beaten to death with a blunt object and her partially clothed body was thrown in a Santa Ana River drainage canal.
Gravesite Details
Plot: G Section - HSC/23/91
Sponsored by Ancestry
