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‘Devoted’ dad was killed on California freeway 24 years ago. Hunt for justice continues

Police are looking for answers 24 years after a “devoted father and husband” was shot and killed on a California freeway.
Police are looking for answers 24 years after a “devoted father and husband” was shot and killed on a California freeway. Photo from Pomona Police Department

As Fermín Saldivar, “devoted husband and father,” drove to work on a California freeway April 13, 1999, a red sedan pulled alongside him.

Moments later, gunfire erupted on the 60 Freeway in Pomona, the Pomona Police Department said in a recent Facebook post.

“Saldivar was hit once in the upper torso,” The Los Angeles Times reported in 1999. “His brother-in-law, who was in the passenger’s seat, steered the car off the freeway to a gas station and called police.”

Twenty-four years later, police said April 7 they still have not identified a suspect in the “unprovoked” attack.

“Fermín was hard working and always wanted to support his family,” police said. “This was a senseless act of violence, and his family would like to get closure.”

After Saldivar, who had a 1-year-old child at the time of his death, was struck, the suspect “quickly” fled the area, according to police.

“They killed an innocent person, and left my boy without a dad,” Saldivar’s wife told The Daily Bulletin at the time, according to a newspaper clipping shared by police.

Witnesses told police “there wasn’t any road rage before the shooting.”

Despite a monthslong investigation with no leads, the case went cold, according to police.

Police said “Fermín’s family never lost hope and stayed in contact with” them.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 909-622-1241.

Pomona is about 30 miles east of Los Angeles.

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This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 10:18 AM with the headline "‘Devoted’ dad was killed on California freeway 24 years ago. Hunt for justice continues."

Daniella Segura
McClatchy DC
Daniella Segura is a national real-time reporter with McClatchy. Previously, she’s worked as a multimedia journalist for weekly and daily newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley.
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