Palo Alto Police Release YouTube Video To Help Solve 2001 Cold Case Murder
PALO ALTO (KCBS) — Palo Alto police released a video on YouTube Friday about a long, unsolved murder and are hopeful this new strategy will pay off helping them solve the cold case.
The murder of 21-year-old Maria Hsiao, a San Francisco Academy of Art student, is one of three unsolved cases for the department.
Hsiao, was fatally shot June 10, 2001 at about 12 a.m. while standing with friends and family outside the Q Café—a now defunct nightclub—located at 529 Alma Street. The suspect remains unknown.
"Someone out there knows the truth about what happened that night," said Lt. Zach Perron. "We're hoping this video reaches that person and spurs them to come forward. They hold the key to breaking this case and to bringing a sense of closure to Maria's family."
Police say it remains unclear whether or not Hsiao was targeted or if it was a random act.
A $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible has not helped and after years of dead ends, the department decided to produce a 10-minute-long video and distributed over through social media.
"What can we do? What are we missing? What haven't we sought out? What can we try and this was our best guess on what might work?" Perron said.
Beside the YouTube release, the video was also posted on the Palo Alto Police Facebook page and will air regularly in the coming days on both Comcast Channel 27 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99.
Anyone with information about this homicide is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through our free mobile app, downloadable at the Apple Store for the iPhone or GooglePlay for Android.