Rafael Viejo Salcedo, 44, of Watsonville, California, was found with multiple gunshot wounds at the intersection of East Front and Marchant streets about 5:30 p.m. on October 24, 2020. Despite efforts to save him he died; authorities have classified his death as a homicide. That evening in Watsonville included multiple shootings, and another man, Aaron Rooster Lucio, was fatally shot later the same night.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, Watsonville Police Department and the Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Team investigated, with a focus on possible gang connections to the violence. In September 2021 a 22-year-old, Julio Cesar Sanchez, then in jail on unrelated charges, was identified as a suspect in the murder of Aaron Lucio and reportedly confessed to Lucio’s killing. Sanchez’s involvement in Salcedo’s death was not confirmed in the material provided.

Was anyone in the area that night familiar with Salcedo’s movements or who he might have been with?