Murder victim with possible Las Vegas ties identified nearly 50 years later
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nearly 50 years after hikers found his body in a shallow grave, a homicide victim has a name and he may have ties to Las Vegas, deputies said Tuesday.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office identified the remains of a man discovered on Nov. 23, 1976, as that of Luis Alonso Paredes. Deputies said Paredes was originally from El Salvador and may have been working and living in the Las Vegas area.
Hikers found Paredes’ body about six miles east of Katherine Landing, which is on the eastern side of Lake Mohave north of Laughlin, Nevada. He was shot in the head “at close range,” deputies said.
Deputies attempted to identify the body in the 1970s from fingerprints, they said. It was not until October when investigators compared the fingerprints to those in national databases unavailable at the time, they said.
The Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff helped deputies sketch an image of the unidentified body at the time.
Paredes may have worked in the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy in the San Francisco Area in the years before his death, deputies said, adding they have been unable to find relatives.
Anyone with information can contact deputies at 928-753-0753 ext. 4288. Deputies ask callers to reference DR# 76-5053.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
