Family of slain man seeks justice in Lodi’s unsolved murders

Family hopes to offer rewards for tips in murder cases

At least four homicides from 2016 remain unsolved as police continue to work to collect evidence and find witnesses to these crimes.

Currently, the Lodi Area Crime Stoppers offers a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to arrests of these types of crimes. However, one Lodi family would like to offer greater incentive to get more witnesses to come forward.

The hope is to be able to find justice for the death of Luis G Alvarez Jr. on April 2, 2016 and the many others who have been murdered or victimized, while their attackers roam free.

Alvarez’s mother, Leticia Galvan, is leading efforts to raise money for larger rewards and to bring awareness to the unsolved murders in Lodi. Galvan hopes to create a nonprofit organization that can continue to assist local law enforcement in bringing witnesses out of the shadows.

“We’re asking the community to help us and support us,” Galvan said.

In order to raise this money, Galvan has worked together with the Moose Lodge on Woodbridge Road to create the Luis G. Alvarez Jr. Rewards for Justice Benefit Dinner, scheduled for March 25 with cocktails at 5 p.m. and dinner and dancing at 6 p.m. In addition to a tri-tip, chicken and pasta dinner, there will also be a silent auction, live auction and raffle prizes. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased by calling 209-713-7711.

Lodi homicide victims in 2016 included: 20-year-old Silvestre Guzman, who was killed in a drive-by shooting on the 700 block of South Garfield Street on Jan. 24; 27-year-old Louis De La Torre, who was shot and killed in his truck on the way to work on the 500 block of East Oak Street on Jan. 25; 74-year-old Dorothy Wiederrich, who was found gagged, bound and stabbed to death in her home on Woodlake Circle on Feb. 13; 30-year-old Alvarez, who was shot and killed in front of the Star Hotel on Main Street on April 2; and 53year-old Alan Karl Gregor Jr. who was found stabbed to death in his burned home on the 1500 block of West Vine Street on Sept. 25.

Two arrests were made in connection with the shooting of De La Torre but court proceedings are still underway for the suspects, 20year-old Edgar Corrales and a 16-year-old juvenile.

It was difficult for Galvan and her family to contend with Alvarez’s death. She and her daughter have been attending meetings for Victims of Violent Crimes and participated in a vigil for violent crime victims in Stockton.

They have held vigils every second day of each month in Lodi in Alvarez’s memory. A group of people, mostly family, come together on those evenings to pray and talk about what has been going on since they last met.

Galvan does not blame the Lodi Police Department for not resolving her son’s case yet. She has been in continued contact with the detective involved and said that they have been continuing to work on it. They are doing their best with a short staff, she said. What the police really need is for witnesses or people with information to come forward.

“Maybe with a higher reward, someone will say something,” Galvan said.

In the meantime, they wait for news of an arrest.

For the fundraiser, Galvan hopes to sell at least 400 tickets to provide an initial pool of potential reward money, for not just her son’s case but for the other families left without justice.

The goal is to create a nonprofit that could regularly put forth matching or additional funds to those who provide tips through Crime Stoppers.

So far Galvan has begun reaching out to local businesses and others in the city with some success.

“Unfortunately, it took the murder of my son to drive these efforts. Please don’t let it be your family member before you decide to get involved,” Galvan said. “Let’s join together to prevent this from happening to any other family in our community.”