For 16 years, nobody knew what happened to Diana Raquel Rojas.
The 27-year-old Long Beach woman had left her 2-year-old daughter with a relative on a Friday in October 2000, then missed an appointment the next day, two things her family considered highly uncharacteristic.
r 16 years, nobody knew what happened to Diana Raquel Rojas.
The 27-year-old Long Beach woman had left her 2-year-old daughter with a relative on a Friday in October 2000, then missed an appointment the next day, two things her family considered highly uncharacteristic.
Rojas, who worked at a church and helped young single mothers, was last seen in her residence in the 5500 block of Ackerfield Avenue on Oct. 20, 2000. She was wearing a pink shirt with spaghetti straps, blue sweat pants with a Winnie the Pooh logo and a jacket with a medical insignia. Police searched her apartment at the time and gathered physical evidence that led them to suspect foul play, according to Zabel.
Police “do not believe she left of her own free will,” Zabel said.
Zabel said investigators have received several phone calls in the past 16 years suggesting Rojas had been killed. Detectives searched for her remains in multiple locations based on those tips with no success.
Detectives are confident, however, that the Ridgecrest location where they plan to conduct an excavation Thursday will lead them to Rojas’ remains.
NecroSearch, a Colorado-based company that specializes in locating clandestine graves and evidence recovery, examined the area using satellite images and discovered “topographical inconsistencies,” police said. Cadaver dogs from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide unit searched the area and showed interest in one of thelocations pinpointed by NecroSearch’s efforts, according to police. The dogs are trained to locate cadavers that are more than 10 years old.
Zabel would not say exactly where the remains might be located, but a police spokeswoman described it as a “desert area.”
Still, even if police recover Rojas’ body, they are still a long way from figuring out how and why she wound up there. After waiting years for justice, Rojas’ relatives are hoping the public can help finally bring their nightmare to an end.
“If there is anyone out there with any information, anything, please help my family find closure,” said Solomon Cortez, Rojas’ brother.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
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