Almost 50 years later, man found in shallow grave identified

A man who had been shot in the head and whose remains were found in a shallow grave by hikers near Lake Mohave in Arizona has been identified almost 50 years later, police announced Tuesday.

Luis Alonso Paredes, who was originally from El Salvador, may have been living or working in the Las Vegas area at the time of his death, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Tuesday.

Paredes had possibly been employed with the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy in the San Francisco Bay area a decade before his killing, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators haven’t been able to find any of Paredes’ relatives.

On Nov. 23, 1976, hikers discovered the remains about six miles east of Katherine Landing, which is on the southern shore of Lake Mohave in Arizona, a few miles north of Laughlin, according to the sheriff’s office.

The remains were determined to have been a man who was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, about 140 to 150 pounds, and between 30 and 35 years old, who had been shot in the head at close range, the sheriff’s office said.

Fingerprints were obtained during the autopsy but detectives were unable to identify the person.

In October , investigators with the sheriff’s office took another look at the case.

“The digital images of the victim’s fingerprints obtained in 1976 were compared to all available national fingerprint records, which was not an available resource at the time of the initial investigation,” the press release said.

The man was identified as Paredes.

Police are urging anyone with information about the case, or who might be able to help investigators find Paredes’ family, to call the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division at 928-753-0753 ext. 4288, and reference DR# 76-5053.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.