POMONA — Pomona police are reaching out to the Spanish-speaking community in hopes of tracking down a family considered “persons of interest” in the death of a 15-year-old girl four years ago.
The body of Yanely Ulloa of Santa Ana was found Aug. 5, 2005, inside the trunk of her then-boyfriend’s 1984 BMW abandoned in the 900 block of West Mission Boulevard in Pomona, Pomona police Sgt. Matt Stone said in a written statement.
She died from multiple stab wounds and other unknown injuries, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
The boyfriend, 25-year-old Jose Martin Granados, and his family disappeared shortly after the killing and have not been seen since.
“Yanely Ulloa had run away with Jose Granados about a week before her death,” according to the police statement. “It was the last time she was seen alive.”
At the time of the slaying, Granados was staying with his mother, 47-year-old Benita Villa-Cervantez, and brother, 23-year-old Francisco Granados, in Anaheim, authorities said.
Detectives tracked Granados, his mother and his brother to Cuernavaca, Mexico, but were unable to find them, Stone said. They are believed to still be living in Mexico.
Jose Granados and his family members are not considered suspects in Ulloa’s death, he added, “But are believed to know the circumstances surrounding her death.
Police also want to talk to Jose Granados’ father, 51-year-old Carlos Palacios, who is believed to be living somewhere in the United States.
Ulloa is survived by a daughter, Stone added.
Anyone with information is asked to call Pomona police Detective Dan Kono at (909) 620-2358, or the confidential Pomona police tip line at (909) 620-2085.