Identity of Mexican man killed in two-decade-old Mecca crash confirmed

A pedestrian who was fatally struck while crossing a Mecca roadway 20 years ago was recently identified through forensic fingerprint identification, ending his family’s long search, sheriff’s deputies said today.

Mario Alberto Ortiz-Vicente, 32, of Mexicali, was killed June 24, 1997, while crossing Highway 111, near Colfax Street, said Coroner Lt. April Smith.

Ortiz-Vicente was pronounced dead at 2:42 p.m., but with no form of identification on him, efforts to identify him were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, his family in Mexico reported him missing, but did not file those reports in Riverside County.

According to Smith, the family said Ortiz-Vicente would often travel to the United States for work. Missing-person reports were filed in Kern and Imperial counties, along with other law enforcement agencies outside of Riverside County.

Ortiz-Vicente’s identity was confirmed this year through the use of new technology used on his fingerprints, which were submitted to NamUS, the National Institute of Justice’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Smith said.

The FBI’s Major Incident Program and Latent Prints Support Unit informed the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department on May 1 that they were able to positively identify Ortiz-Vicente.

Following a two-month search involving the Riverside County Public Administrator and the Mexican Consulate, Ortiz-Vicente’s family was located Wednesday in Mexicali.

Family members said they had heard through co-workers that Ortiz-Vicente “had been involved in an accident,” Smith said but did not know his true fate until this week.

Smith said the family “was extremely relieved to finally be provided answers and closure in the search for their loved one.”

According to the sheriff’s department, efforts are continuing to identify a long list of unidentified people who died within Riverside County. A complete list of unidentified decedents can be found here.