Missing Woman Found Shot to Death

A mother of three, who had been attending Catholic church classes recently so she could marry her longtime husband in a Catholic ceremony, was found in her minivan shot to death several days after she was reported missing, police said Wednesday.

Irma Martinez, 32, of Arleta, was found about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday by a school security guard who spotted her 1992 Dodge Caravan minivan in the 11100 block of Borden Avenue behind Charles Maclay Middle School, said Officer Mike Partain, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police were following leads but had not disclosed any details about the investigation, said the woman’s husband, Remberto Martinez Jr., 35.

“She was a pillar of support,” said Remberto, an Army veteran who recently celebrated with Irma his new job with an aerospace company. “This is my kingdom and she was my queen. They’ve taken my queen away.”

Irma Martinez was last seen Saturday, when she said she was going to visit a friend in Sylmar, about seven miles away.

Her husband said he woke up Sunday morning to find she was not in the house. Through the weekend, relatives and friends posted fliers and talked to everyone who knew her, Remberto said.

At about 2 a.m. Wednesday, Foothill Division detectives came to his door and asked him to come to the station.

“They told me they were homicide detectives,” he said. “I knew there had to be bad news.”

Remberto and Irma grew up in the Arleta area, where she went to San Fernando High and he to Francis Polytechnic High.

They had an impromptu wedding at a Las Vegas chapel in 1980 while he was in the Army, Remberto said. Recently they had been going to church classes so he could receive his First Communion and both could be confirmed, before a church wedding ceremony.

“We were trying to get married through the church so there wouldn’t be any sins in our lives,” Remberto said.

Friends and relatives said she was a happy person who put her family first and always made time for her friends. She often made people laugh when they were feeling down.

“She was a very bright, enjoyable person,” said Brother Paul LaBelle of Alemany High School’s priests’ residence, where she worked for five years as a cook. “She would always come out and talk to us. She was very proud of her family.”

Brother Henry Dayon said she always talked about her children: Remberto III, 15; Michael, 8, and Stephanie, 6--and particularly bragged about Michael, who models and has two TV commercials to his credit.

Remberto said Irma’s favorite picture of Michael was an ad for the Panorama Mall--and casting directors chose her to pose as his mother because they couldn’t find a professional model who looked better with Michael than Irma herself.

“She was like a perfect mother,” said Remberto III. “She put aside everything for us.”

She was usually accompanied by one of her four brothers and two sisters, of whom she was the youngest, or by her own family. She never went out alone, her family said.

“There wasn’t one day the sisters didn’t hang around together,” said her brother Raul Vasquez, who described the family as close-knit, with the brothers always looking out for their sisters.

“She was probably hoping that I was out looking for her when she was in trouble,” he said. “I always took care of all my sisters.”