The 11th anniversary of the murder of Hughson native Lauren London is on Sunday and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s detectives working the cold case remain optimistic that arrests will happen.
All it takes is for someone to provide the last vital clue to cinch the case and prosecute whoever took the life of the 25-year-old single mom.
“I do believe that this case is solvable,” said Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Detective Tom Letras. ”I believe it’s gonna take some breaks. I believe it’s gonna take some people to step forward. I believe it’s gonna take some people I’ve already talked to disclose a little bit more information.”
London’s burned body was found about 200 yards down on a dirt road between orchards in the 4300 block of Blaker Road, across from the Ceres wastewater treatment plant. The site is near the back side of the Central Valley High School campus. The body was discovered by a person walking through the orchard the afternoon of March 16, 2015.
Currently Letras and Jesse Tovar are the only two detectives working the department’s homicide cold cases, which number about seven.
“We’ve definitely made some progress on her case,” said Letras.
Detectives have a couple of persons of interest but not enough evidence to make an arrest.
In the days leading to her death, London was strung out on heroin and hanging out with questionable characters at the Tiki Lodge on McHenry Avenue in Modesto. She was
staying with others living on vouchers for emergency housing.
“This one gnaws at me,” said Letras. “I feel like we’re right there. It’s a tough one. Where Lauren was kind of staying … is a very transient community, very anti-law enforcement in a lot of ways and what you run into is the difficulty of people willing to be completely honest and talk to you.”
Both Letras and Tovar have traveled out of state of couple of times to interview key witnesses. One of them, a man living in Louisiana, was interviewed for five hours and “knows a lot more than what he’s letting on,” Letras noted. He’s holding back because in the words of Letras he’s “deathly afraid” of retaliation. If he were to “freely opened up it would be critical in solving this case,” the detective added.
Letras has been unsuccessful in getting a female friend of London’s now possibly living in San Francisco to return detectives’ phone calls.
“Part of it is that street life that one of the worst things you can be is a snitch.”
They also made contact with an “extremely helpful” transgendered friend of Lauren’s, also living in San Francisco, who provided more leads. Detective Letras enjoys working cold cases, but said he hates that families think their loved ones’ cases aren’t being worked on. It’s a matter of roadblocks – like uncooperative informants – that impede investigations.
“We are actively working multiple cases with Lauren’s being one of them and I can tell you I’m not going to give up in her case – I’m not,” Letras stated.
Crime Stoppers, the organization that accepts anonymous tips on crime cases and often offers rewards, had received a tip a year or two after the murder and provided a name in connection with the case. Letras is unsure if anyone with his department followed up and now “the problem is, I have zero way to contact her. I need more. I need to contact them.”
Crime Stoppers sent the tipster a message to get in touch with detectives.
“They have to be willing to not be anonymous and that’s the hard part.”
He can’t rule out the tip until that tipster contacts him. Detective Letras will follow up on any leads from the public. He may be reached at 209-525-7080. Anonymous information may also be submitted
to Crime Stoppers by call 1 (866) 602-7463 or (209) 521-4636. Tips may also be submitted online at www.stancrimetips.org.
Denise Donnell of Hughson, London’s mother, believes Lauren’s death was related to her addiction and possible participation in prostitution. London had a promising future as a mom and hair stylist until her dark turn toward alcohol and drugs abuse, her mom said.
Lauren grew up in Hughson and graduated from Hughson High School in 2008. She attended Merced Junior College and later went to a local beauty college and worked as a hair stylist. Her Facebook page depicted a happy young woman having fun with friends until 2012 when drinking became a problem.
She turned to Alcoholics Anonymous where she met a man named James who introduced her to drugs, according to Donnell. The two moved in together with his mother. Lauren became pregnant and gave birth to daughter Kennidee in April 2013. Lauren and James broke off their relationship in 2014. Donnell said the baby’s father has been ruled out as a suspect.
London’s downward spiral into the world of drugs resulted in her losing her baby when Donnell stepped in to become her legal guardian. Lauren lived with her father in Turlock but began to slip away from family and friends. By June 2014 Lauren weighed a gaunt 93 pounds.
Ten days before her death, Lauren contacted her mother to see if she would activate a cell phone that came into her possession. Donnell refused because prior phones were sold for drugs but asked Lauren if she was ready to get help. Lauren hesitated before saying she was ready so Denise contacted a treatment center on Orangeburg Avenue that would accept the medical insurance plan. Staff began processing Lauren’s information but wanted a $2,500 deposit from Donnell, explaining that they were unable to get ahold of the insurance company and needed immediate payment. Since Donnell was unable to write a check at that moment, daughter and mother left the facility with Lauren promising she would check herself in the following day. But she added that she needed to tell “someone … I’m going to be doing this.”
Denise advised her daughter that if someone was controlling her, she needed to break free. But Lauren replied, “No, I can’t. I need to say something.”
The next day the treatment center staff called Donnell to ask about Lauren since she hadn’t checked in. Donnell never heard from her daughter again. She was notified of Lauren’s death after a Sheriff’s detective contacted her ex-husband, Miles London.
