Special Report: The Search For Norma Lopez’s Killer

Nearly four months after the kidnapping and murder of 17-year-old Norma Lopez, it appears the Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies are no closer to finding her killer.

We asked for an interview with the Riveside County Sheriff’s Department. They said they wouldn’t speak with us because they say absolutely nothing is new. They say the case is still active, but leads have dried up.

On July 15th, deputies say, someone kidnapped Lopez from a dirt field as she walked to a friend’s house after summer school near Nason Street and Cottonwood Avenue.

Five days later, a Moreno Valley man found her body in a field at the corner of Dreacea Avenue and Theodore Street, 2 1/2 miles from where she disappeared.

Norma’s older sister, Elizabeth, shares the frustration her family lives with, knowing detectives still haven’t caught Norma’s killer. “He’s still out there,” Elizabeth Lopez says. “He could harm anyone. Just what we have to live with inside, we don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Witnesses told police they saw a green SUV in the area on the day Norma Lopez disappeared. In late August, police served a search warrant at 25-year-old Lazarus Tasby’s house just blocks away. He once worked at Norma’s school, and it just so happens, he drove a green SUV. Police called Tasby a person of interest in the case. He says he didn’t do it and police have nothing on him.

Many people have asked whether the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department could be doing more. Elizabeth Lopez says her family has felt that at times. “My mom wishes they were here every day,” Elizabeth Lopez says. They’re doing other stuff that frustrates her.” “I know they are doing their job.”

A memorial remains in the field where she disappeared from. Every week, Xavier Marquez makes sure the memorial is clean. “If there’s trash, big branches and stuff I pick it up, I try to keep it clean,” says Marquez.

Elizabeth Lopez mentioned every day we think about Norma. Elizabeth said, “Just the other day, my dad said because he felt someone touching his head. I think norma was here because she was the only one that would touch my head. He told my brothers to quit touching his head, and they said they weren’t, he said it must have been Norma”.

If you have any information about this case, call the Find Norma’s Killer tipline at 877-242-4345.