Reward Posted 4 Years After Girl’s Slaying

In an effort to solve a 1980 slaying that stirred emotions in the northeast San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles City Council Tuesday offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the killing of 7-year-old Lisa Ann Rosales of Pacoima.

The reward was requested by then-Councilman Bob Ronka shortly after Rosales’ body was found Dec. 9, 1980, in a ditch near Hansen Dam. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

No one could say Tuesday why it took so long for the reward offer to come before the council.

The pigtailed first grader, who had attended Granada Elementary School in Granada Hills under the Los Angeles school district’s desegregation plan, had last been seen the previous day walking home from her school bus stop near Vaughn Street Elementary School in Pacoima.

Los Angeles police detectives assigned to the case said they welcomed any help in solving the case--no matter how late.

“We’re desperate to get assistance in solving this murder,” said Detective Cliff Ruff of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division.

“If anyone out there might know something, this could induce them to come forward,” Ruff said. “It may allow their greed to overcome their fear.”

A $10,000 reward for information leading to the girl’s killer was offered in 1980 by the labor union of which Lisa’s father was a member. However, that reward was later withdrawn after the girl’s father left the union.

Leads Diminish

Although the slaying remains under investigation, leads--which at one time numbered as many as 500--are no longer pouring into Foothill Division, according to Detective Al Ferrand. Gone too is the Rosales family. Police said they moved to Sylmar from the Herrick Street residence in Pacoima where Lisa was headed when she was kidnaped.

The detectives received their last tip from an anonymous caller about three months ago. They are still checking on that clue.

Few cases handled at Foothill Division, which serves the northeast Valley, have generated as much public interest as the Rosales murder, Ferrand said.

“The community is still concerned,” he added.

Shortly after the girl’s death, a scholarship fund was set up in her name. It raised about $10,000 in private contributions to provide college scholarships for impoverished students at San Fernando High School. In addition, a Lisa Ann Rosales Garden was established at Vaughn Street Elementary School.