Luis Alonso Paredes of El Salvador was found dead by a hiker in the desert near Katherine's Landing in Arizona on November 23, 1976, his attorney said.
Mohave County Sheriff's Office
Luis Alonso Paredes’ remains were found by hikers in the Arizona desert in 1976, deputies said.
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His remains were identified 47 years later, McClatchy News reported.
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Now deputies need help from the public in finding his family.
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They said they believe his family members might be in the San Francisco Bay area or in Alameda County, California, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said in a Feb. 21 Facebook post.
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What happened to Paredes?
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Paredes’ remains were found in a shallow grave Nov. 23, 1976, near Katherine’s Landing, deputies said.
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Investigators were unable to identify his remains at the time, but they could determine they belonged to a man who was 30 to 35 years old, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and about 140 to 150 pounds.
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It was also determined Paredes had been shot in the head “at close range,” deputies said.
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An autopsy was completed and fingerprints were taken, but he was never identified, deputies said.
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Fingerprints help ID man
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Then, in October 2023, investigators reviewed his case and compared his fingerprints to others in the national database.
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After doing this, deputies said they determined the remains belonged to Paredes.
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Paredes, from El Salvador, may have lived in Las Vegas when he died, deputies said. It’s possible he worked for the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy in the San Francisco Bay “a decade before his homicide,” deputies said.
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Anyone with information can contact the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office detective division at 928-753-0753 ext. 4288. The case number is DR# 76-5053.
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