NV NV - Joseph “Joey” Lopez, 17, Las Vegas, 28 April 2008

[thefemmefury]

As this case nears an unthinkable 20-year mark with no solution, I would love to see movement on it - somebody knows something.

If you have any information, please contact 702-385-5555.

Victim:

Joseph “Joey” Lopez, 17, of Las Vegas, NV.

Attended Spring Valley High School after formerly attending Durango High School.

Joey loved his family deeply, played the violin in orchestra, and was passionate about music and theater.
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Photos

Joey, location of scene, and LVMPD Cold Case Website

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Timeline:

4/28/2008 (Monday)

Approx 4:00 pm

• Last seen by his mother, Joey tells her he is going to the park, and she tells him to be back in an hour (source)

Approx 4:08 pm

• Joey received a call from an unlisted phone number that detectives have not identified as of this article from 2012 (source)

Approx 5:09 pm

• Joey texts a girl he met on the internet that he was flirting with (source)

Approx 5:10 pm

• The girl he had sent the text to at 5:09 pm texts Joey back at 5:10 pm and never receives a response (source)

Approx 5:09 pm-6:00 pm

• Detectives believe that Joey was executed during this time frame based on the phone evidence and the arrival of the construction worker at 6pm (source)

Approx 6:20 pm

• A roadworker moving barricades from construction sees a body through grates in a drainage area and calls 911 (source)
• Fire Department arrives on scene, determines the person is deceased, suspects foul play, and contacts LVMPD (source)
• LVMPD responds to the scene (source)
  • Responding Officer Detective Laura Anderson describes the location of the body found as “bizarre” because it is difficult to access - “not an easy place to get to” (source)
  • The officers hear Joey’s phone ringing in the drainage area (source)

Approx 10:30 pm

• Mother Elaine Lopez is out looking for Joey, who should've been home, and comes across the scene on Tropicana Ave at approx 10:30 pm. She then speaks to officers on scene, who confirm his identity about 90 mins later (source)
  

4/30/2008

• LVMPD seeks 2 POI seen on surveillance cameras in the nearby Jack in the Box to speak to (source, source)
  

5/2/2008

• Reporting by Review Journal confirms the POI have been spoken to and are ruled out as suspects (source)

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Location:

• Drainage ditch under Tropicana Ave at the intersection of a drainage channel (source)
• 4861 S Fort Apache Rd, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89147 (source) (map in photos)

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Injuries:

• Shot in the back, chest, and head (source)
• Cartridge casings surrounded his body; investigators believe this points to this location being the location of the homicide, and not a relocation (source)

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Additional Details

• Joey was reportedly texting friends “casually non-stop” until the time of his death (source)
• Det. Laura Anderson states in 2015 in an interview with KTNV, “Well it's been several years now all these other kids that we were interviewing at the time who were juveniles are now grown we there ought they're off they're doing their own thing maybe they have families of their own maybe they have children of their own and maybe this will resonate with somebody who realizes you know it's time to speak up and tell what happened that night with Joey Lopez because we know I feel there's at least two people that know exactly what happened down here and probably more so we need to get those people out we need to tap into their conscience and say look it's time to come forward and say what happened down here when Joey was murdered.” (source)
• “It may be a big mystery to us but there are people who know exactly what happened in this storm channel detectives say at the time those people, teenagers refuse to cooperate but now that they're older Lopez's family is pleading to finally get justice for Joseph after an excruciating seven-year wait. Never-before-seen photos show there was no struggle and this was no accident rolled up at the end of this narrow gutter the victim the body of a man, face of a boy.” - Reporter Mahsa Saeidi, KTNV Channel 13, 11/13/2015 (Video shows photos of crime scene, gloves Joey was wearing)
• Investigators believe Joseph Lopez might have been going to fight someone the day he was found in the storm drain tunnel. He was wearing Franklin sport gloves, which indicates that probably was the case, teens told police. But even that much is uncertain. The detective said that possible gang ties in the shooting were investigated. Nothing ever panned out. (source)

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References:

• 5/1/2008: Police seek two men in shooting death of teen in storm drain
• 4/30/2008: Police seek two in slaying
• 5/2/2008: Parents anguished by death
• 4/27/2012: Las Vegas teen’s unsolved killing still pains parents
• 11/13/2015: Police hoping for leads in 2008 teen execution
• KNTV Special Reporting: Broadcast Piece, Video Extra 1, Video Extra 2, Video Extra 3
• Location retrieved from: Project Cold Case Database (4861 S Fort Apache Rd Las Vegas, Nevada, 89147)
• Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/lvrj/name/joseph-lopez-obituary?id=48842912
• LVMPD Cold Case: https://www.lvmpd.com/about/bureaus/homicide/open-cases-by-year/2000-2009