Sun Valley Woman Slain, Body Put on Tracks

A Sun Valley woman was murdered and her nude body placed on railroad tracks a few hundred yards from her home, where it was mangled by a passing freight train, authorities said Sunday.

Rufina Stevens, 47, left her home in the 7800 block of San Fernando Road on a Friday night shopping trip, police said. A Southern Pacific Railroad engineer saw the body about 1:10 a.m., Saturday, but was unable to stop the train in time to avoid running over it. Stevens’ clothing was found a short distance away.

Police said they had no motive for the attack, and no suspects. Neither could they explain why her killer or killers stripped the body and placed it on the tracks.

Stevens’ two daughters, Michelle and Nicole, spent Sunday reminiscing about their mother’s life.

She worked for Pacific Bell as an engineering aide, but was spending hours after work taking a class in fiber optics so she could move up.

“She wanted all of us to become something,” Michelle said.

Stevens’ daughters said they often cautioned their mother that it was dangerous to go out in her neighborhood at night. But Stevens would brush aside the warnings, telling them that the darkness was just as safe as the daylight.

It was, after all, her neighborhood: she had lived in the same green bungalow near the Hollywood-Burbank Airport for 21 years. When crime began to rise recently, Stevens joined the local Neighborhood Watch and spent weekends painting out graffiti that defaced the walls of local businesses. If she saw someone breaking the law, it was not unusual for her to give the person a tongue-lashing.

“She was not going to let anyone scare her out of her neighborhood,” Michelle said.