NBC’s Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode, titled The Promise, explores a horrific incident from the past. The episode dives into the story of Cathy Torrez, a bright 20-year-old California State Fullerton University student who was murdered in the year 1994.
Her murder left the community shocked and even went on to leave the investigators puzzled; two decades later, they remain in a loop of questions. The episode here will air on Oxygen on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, at 7 pm ET.
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The official summary of the episode reads as follows:
"When Cathy Torrez never comes home after work, her family fears the worst; an intensive search ends after her car is found, with her body in the trunk; it takes years to get to the truth."
Five shocking details about the Cathy Torrez murder on Dateline episode The Promise
1. A gruesome discovery after a week-long search
Cathy Torrez went missing from her part-time work on February 12, 1994. She used to work at a drugstore located in Placentia, California. Her family took the matter seriously and reported her missing. Authorities began searching for her and a week later found her car.
The car was found in a parking lot, and her body was in the trunk of her car. She had been stabbed 74 times across her head, face, neck, and upper torso with deep slashes on her wrists. It was clear that she did not die peacefully, and it went on to paint a horrific murder picture.
2. Boyfriend Sam Lopez slipped through the cracks early on
The police began investigating the murder, and their first suspect was her on-and-off boyfriend, Sam. Cathy and Sam were supposed to meet after work the day she went missing.
When the police questioned him and tried to gather evidence tying him to the crime scene, he came up with an alibi: Xavier Lopez, who was his cousin. This alibi shielded him from legal scrutiny for years, frustrating Cathy’s family and delaying justice.
3. A crime scene with little to go on: Forensics struggled initially
We must remember that this case is from 1994, and forensic science was not advanced back then. While fingerprints were found on the car, the police could not connect them with anyone.
Due to a lack of evidence at the crime scene, it eventually went cold. It wasn’t until over a decade later that forensic advancements helped unlock the mystery.
4. DNA evidence reopened the case 13 years later
In 2007, Cathy Torrez’s case was reopened. While it was a couple of years ago, it was still at a time when technology had made significant progress. The DNA tests were run on the evidence from the crime scene, and Xavier Lopez’s DNA was found on Cathy’s clothing.
This directly linked him to the crime. This also led to the reopening of the case and the arrest of Sam Lopez and his cousin Xavier Lopez. This DNA connection, after years of waiting, finally gave detectives the evidence they needed to pursue charges against both men for their involvement in Cathy’s brutal murder.
5. A twisted family plot: Multiple Lopez family members involved
Cathy’s murder, which was earlier thought to be a random act of violence, was proven otherwise. The investigation made it clear that this was indeed a premeditated cold murder. The suspicion also came to be true, and it was done by the on-and-off boyfriend, Sam. He was then found guilty of the murder after he stabbed her multiple times during an argument.
Further investigation then found out that Cathy was still alive when her body was disposed of by Sam's cousin Xavier. Sam’s older brother, Armando Lopez, was also involved in the murder and helped him get away with it.
But justice prevailed, and Cathy Torrez’s family finally saw justice served a decade later. In 2015, Sam Lopez, then 43, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.
The show's episode will feature all of this in great detail; stay tuned to this space for more such stories.
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