Evil killer who was ‘waiting and lusting' for teen as she left school

Norma Lopez, 17, was abducted as she set off to meet friends after class

- GAIL SHORTLAND

When Norma Lopez left her last class and headed off to meet her friends, it was a hot day. The 17-year-old was going to summer school at Valley View High and had just finished a biology lesson.

She was a regular teen who loved dancing and fashion. She had a boyfriend and liked spending time with friends during the holidays – but hard-working Norma was going to the extra classes to stay on top of her education.

Normally, she walked with her boyfriend, but he was running late on the morning of 15 July 2010, so she set off on her own. She headed to a friend’s house a few blocks from the school in Moreno Valley, California, where she planned to meet her sister and friends.

When Norma didn’t arrive, they grew worried and set off to see if they could meet her on the way, walking her route across a field towards the school.

They were horrified when they saw Norma’s purse, a school binder and a broken earring lying on the ground. There were signs of a struggle, but no trace of Norma.

An investigation got underway. If Norma had been kidnapped, there was hope she might still be alive. She had four sisters and two brothers, and her desperate family made pleas for her safe return. The city council offered a $35,000 reward and flyers were handed out as volunteers from the community helped scour the area.

Tragically, five days after she vanished, Norma’s partially clothed body was found in a grove of olive trees around three miles from the route she had been walking.

Due to the intense heat, her remains were badly decomposed and authorities could not determine a cause of death. The medical examiner could only speculate that Norma most likely died from “strangulation or asphyxiation”.