SANTA CRUZ, Calif.- An unsolved murder case that shook the Santa Cruz community is back in the spotlight. As you know, we've teamed up with law enforcement, to help get the bad guys off the streets.
This Monday we're focusing on two wanted for stabbing Santa Cruz High School student Tyler Tenorio to death in 2009. First up, is Ivan Ramirez Tapia, about 5'8" and 180 pounds. Investigators have been working tirelessly to try to find him, along with his alleged partner Paulo Luna. Luna is about 5'9" and 150 pounds. Police said the two are also wanted for gang enhancement. If you see either of them call police at (831) 420-5800.
Police said Tenorio was in a car with four other people near the corner of Laurel and Chestnut Streets on October 17th, 2009, when he was attacked by two men. They said a group of gang members started yelling gang slogans at a group of teens and then stabbed Tenorio who was a student at Santa Cruz High School. Police said Tenorio wasn't a gang member and the crime still haunts the community.
So we went to find out how much police depend on tips for information on a case like this. Police hope by featuring Tapia and Luna on Manhunt Monday, the case will move forward.
Tenorio was 16 at the time of the murder. Friends and family said he was well-liked and didn't have a criminal past. His death was the tipping point in the community. Santa Cruz Police Deputy Chief Steve Clark said even though two known gang members took a plea deal for his murder last year, Tapia and Luna are their prime suspects.
"We're putting this case back out there or these individuals back out there really for two reasons. Number one is we want to let the family and the community know that we have not forgotten about this case," said Deputy Chief Steve Clark.
Clark said Manhunt Monday allows them to bring a lot of cases to justice. We looked back in our records and found several wanted suspects who were caught in Santa Cruz County last year because of Manhunt Monday. The Santa Cruz Police Department is hoping to do the same with this one.
"We know we can't do it alone and resources such as Manhunt Monday are hugely important to us to allow us to do our job and keep this community safe," Clark said.
Clark said investigators believe Tapia and Luna travel back and forth across the Mexico border and detectives have been working with Mexican authorities, with little progress.
"We're hoping that somebody out there in the community has got some additional information for us, that will help us to develop more leads to try to locate them," Clark said.
People in the community who remember the case said they're hoping to see them both brought to justice.
"It would help bring some resolution and a feeling that in the community that the police are out there and doing something and making some progress on it and keeping us safe," said resident Randy Ristau.
We reached out to the Tenorio family on Monday night but haven't heard from them yet.
