Had it not been for an observant passerby, perhaps no one would have noticed the feet dangling alongside the 110 (Harbor) Freeway in South Los Angeles last April.
Perhaps the body of 19-year-old Evelin Fajardo would have never been found.
Perhaps Fajardo would be forgotten.
Perhaps her killer would be able to run free.
But that's not the ending LAPD South Bureau Criminal Gang Homicide Division – or Fajardo's family – is hoping for.
"I try to be strong, but I can't," a 17-year-old Maria Fajardo said of her sister's death just after LAPD informed her and her father of the killing. "I don't want to believe it."
Maria spoke with NBC4 just days after her sister's body was found. Nearly a year later and the pain of that day remains with her.
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"She was really a fun person to be with, always happy," she says.
Maria says the girls' mother left the family when they were very young. They grew up with their father and Maria says Evelin took the motherly role to help raise her.
"She was trying to finish high school, get her GED, trying to be more independent," Maria says.
But April 5, 2016, the sisters' close relationship ended. The LAPD released to NBC4 never-before-seen video surveillance of Evelin's final moments. In the video, Evelin appears to be walking briskly along Vernon Avenue near Wall Street in South LA, looking into the window of a liquor store. Detectives hope that by releasing the video, someone will recognize her clothing or her face, and know what happened after she's seen walking out of view of the camera.
LAPD Detective Thomas Callian says something happened after Evelin walked off the screen that lead to the grisly discovery just two blocks away.
"Her body was dumped here on the side of the freeway, between this metal fence and the concrete wall," he says.
It was a driver on the northbound 110 Freeway who spotted Evelin's legs through the very thin opening near the offramp.
"As the passersby were driving by they saw the feet hanging off the top of the embankment so they stopped and checked it out and realized she was dead," Callian says.
Detectives had to somehow ID Maria and then break the news to her family, words Maria says she'll never forget.
'They told us in Spanish, 'su hija acaba de fallecer,'" she says, which means: your daughter just died, "it's like that phrase that stays with you."
Police are asking NBC4 viewers to share the story on social media in the hope that someone will come forward with information.
"A lot of our leads are going dry and it's been a real hard, uphill battle to solve this case," Callian says, admitting they've received many tips, but nothing that pinpoints the killer yet.
Police have focused a lot of time in the area of Vernon and Wall where they say Evelin frequently visited with friends. They believe those friends are not being forthcoming enough with the right information to solve her murder.
"I'm sure a lot of people in that area would recognize her and known her," Callian says.
For Maria, she says she's already feeling the loneliness she remembers the day her mother left, hoping justice will fill the latest void in the family.
"I believe she deserves to rest," Maria says. "I don't think she's resting until they finally find this person. No one has the right to come and end your life."
Detectives say any tip helps – even anonymous ones. You can call the Criminal Gang Homicide Division at LAPD South Bureau at 323-786-5113 or Crimestoppers at 1-888-222-TIPS (8477).
