Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 03/17/2005
- Missing From:
- Missing From Santa Ana, California
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Male
- Race:
- Race Hispanic
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 01/19/1937 (88)
- Age:
- Age 68 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’5, 140 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic male. Black hair, brown eyes. Hernandez needs a cane to walk.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Hernandez disappeared on March 17, 2005, from his home in Santa Ana, California. He sold jewelry door-to-door and his last customer was Rebeca Diaz-Nivarez. A week later, his van was found abandoned; it smelled of gas, but there was no sign of him. His bank accounts haven’t been used since. His family said he wouldn’t disappear without telling anyone.
Two and a half years later, Rebeca was arrested for Hernandez’s robbery and murder. She’d pawned lots of jewelry shortly after he vanished. Her son, Ricardo, was also charged with murder, eventually arrested in Mexico and brought back to California.
Rebeca was convicted of murder and robbery in 2011. Ricardo’s first trial ended without a verdict, but he was convicted in a second trial in 2012. Both were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Hernandez’s body has never been found, but police believe he was murdered.
- Agency:
- Santa Ana Police Department 714-245-8600
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 03/17/2005