Santa Monica police took the unusual step of calling a press conference on Tuesday, September 18, to appeal to the community for help with a case – a missing person case. Lt. Dan Salerno, who oversees the Detectives operation, stood in front of reporters and cameras and said that the SMPD Criminal Investigations Division had “exhausted all its resources” in its search for Alicia Serrano Medina.
Medina, a 52-year-old female Hispanic, left her residence in the 700 block of Marine Street on July 2, 2007 and has not returned. Her whereabouts are unknown. She left without taking any personal possessions or identification. Her car is still at the residence.
Medina’s son, Robert Calderon, who lived with his mother until her disappearance, stood with Lt. Salerno at the press conference and said that such behavior was simply not in his mother’s character. He and police confirmed that there had been no controversy or medical complication or family difficulty leading up to her disappearance. Other family members flanked Calderon at the press conference.
In August, police distributed a bulletin, which the Mirror posted on its web edition, saying that Medina might be traveling with a male companion known only as “Rodrigo.” On Tuesday, Lt. Salerno said that police had since located the man, but that he was of no assistance.
Alicia Medina is 5-foot-1, 150 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes. She was not employed. Her son said that she has a mole on the right side of her face, and he described her as “tough.” There have been possible sightings of her in the West Los Angeles area of Inglewood Avenue and Braddock Drive. She frequented garage sales in Santa Monica, Culver City and Venice.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the Santa Monica Police Department, Office of Criminal Investigations, Detectives at 310.458.8478.
