MOHAVE COUNTY – The identity of a homicide victim whose body was recovered north of Bullhead City more than 47 years ago has been determined, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).
Agency spokeswoman Anita Mortensen said hikers located the remains in a shallow grave in an elevated desert are about six miles east of Katherine’s Landing on Nov. 23, 1976. She said it was determined that the buried person was a small statured male in his 30’s who had been shot in the head at close range.
Mortensen said fingertip information was processed during the autopsy but that detectives were unable to identify the victim. She said the MCSO special Investigations Unit began reviewing the case in Oct. of this year.
“The digital images of the victim’s fingerprints obtained in 1976 were compared to all available national fingerprint records, which was not an available resource at the time of the initial investigation,” Mortensen said. “The victim was positively identified as Luis Alonso Paredes, originally from El Salvador.”
Mortensen said detectives believe Paredes may have been living or working in the Las Vegas area at the time of his death. She said Paredes may have worked for the U.S. Coast Guard and the Navy in San Francisco about a decade before he was murdered.
Authorities have been unable to locate any of his relatives and anyone with information helpful to the investigation is asked to call the MCSO (928-753-0753.
