On Sunday evening, October 13th, 1996, Hortencia Rodriguez, the mother of five daughters, was the victim of a senseless shooting.  She was driving alone in her car on Rose Street near Gibson Road in El Monte, a residential area near her home, when unknown assailants began shooting which resulted in her being killed.  The motive for the attack is not known, and it is not known if the victim was unavoidably caught in the cross fire of a gang related shooting, or if she was the direct target of the attack. 

Various witness accounts described a possible suspect vehicle as being a mid-size pick-up truck, black in color and having a red or orange stripe forming a “V” shaped design on the doors, and possibly having the rear of the vehicle raised higher than the front.  This vehicle fled the scene at high speed immediately after the shots were heard.  Currently the only available description of the assailants is that they are Males, between 20 – 30 years of age.

Anyone who has any information regarding the murder of Hortencia Rodriguez is urged to contact either the El Monte Police Department at (626) 580-2100, email UnsolvedCases@elmontepd.org, call WeTip at 800-78-CRIME (800-782-7463), or go to the WeTip Web Site at http://www.wetip.com.