Riverside investigators are trying to identify family members of the victim of a cold case murder

The Riverside County Regional Cold Case Unit is asking the public for help identifying the family of a man murdered in 1989.

In March 1989, the body of a man with a gunshot wound to his chest was found in a ravine along Highway 79, south of Interstate 10, in the Beaumont area.

When his body was found, he was wearing a green and brown short-sleeved shirt from the brand “Cacharel” and white jeans from the brand “DeeCee”.

This cold case remained unsolved until in recent months the Regional Cold Case Unit identified the victim as Jorge Lopez-Serano.

The Mexican Consulate confirmed his identity and said Lopez-Serrano had a wife and children while living in La Paz, Mexico in 1987.

A Mexican national, Lopez-Serrano had been arrested several times in the late 1980s, including once by U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego on suspicion of smuggling undocumented immigrants into the United States and by Los Angeles police officers on suspicion of car theft.

He was known to use multiple names and multiple dates of birth during those arrests.

To complete this case, Cold Case Unit investigators are asking the public for any information that could lead to the identity of Lopez-Serrano’s family members.

Anyone with information about Lopez-Serrano or his family is asked to call (951) 955-5567 or coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org.