STOCKTON, Calif. — It's been 32 years since 21-year-old Henry Torrez was shot and killed at a north Stockton shopping center. In the nearly three decades since the homicide, answers as to what happened and who was responsible have eluded law enforcement, but his sister Michelle Torrez continues fighting for justice.
Standing below a digital billboard along I-5 near Roth Road in Lathrop Friday, a few seconds of hope allowed Michelle to smile. She saw her brother's face on the screen as dozens of cars raced by.
"Mixed emotions of happiness and sadness," said Michelle. "But I just hope that this will finally get solved after all these years and that we will have justice for him."
A goal of finding long-awaited justice for Stockton and Lodi families is what led Leticia Galvan to approach advertising company Outfront Media about putting up billboards featuring the faces and names of cold case homicide victims, and the phone number to submit tips.
After bringing her vision to the agency, Outdoor Media offered to donate time for the message to run on their billboards along Highway 99 and I-5 for a few seconds every hour.
"We want to bring awareness to the cities and let them know that we are here, we are fighting for justice for these families," said Galvan."We need people to take a look up on the billboards, I know it's only like five or six seconds."
Galvan, who now leads the Luis G. Alvarez Rewards for Justice Foundation, knows the impact the billboards can have on the families of cold case victims because she's been in their shoes. In 2016, her son Louis was shot and killed in Lodi. It took nearly a year until an arrest was made.
"I think it brings the family knowledge that we are still fighting for them, and I think it's good for them to know that we haven't forgotten them," said Galvan. "There are so many cold cases that we just want solved. We just want someone to come forward."
Chang Lor is grateful for that support.
"Sometimes we struggle. It feels like we're being heard on a deaf ear and this is a great opportunity for us as families to see that someone is actually fighting with us... we're not alone," said Lor. "We just need to find closure and we need to know what happened."
Chang's 22-year-old brother Joe Lor was shot and killed along with his 22-year-old sister-in-law Gina Xiong and the young couple's 5-year-old daughter Kayleen while gathering at their south Stockton home on Mother's Day in 2018.
The case is cold five years later.
"To have their life taken away from them in an instant, you know, it's devastating to not just the family itself, but everybody around them," said Chang. "It's been hard. It's been very hard. I've been telling people, you know, people move on, but the wounds in our hearts have never healed, it's always fresh."
Chang could still feel the familiar heartache as he watched the digital billboard cycle through ads along I-5 Friday. When he saw his loved ones' photos pop up, that heartache was finally mixed with some hope.
"Hopefully somebody with information will come out," said Chang. "They could come out and maybe families would get closure out of it."
People with information on cold cases in San Joaquin County can reach out to Stockton Crime Stoppers, which offers anonymity and rewards starting at $10,000, at 209-946-0600.
Watch more from ABC10: 'Mother's Day massacre' Stockton family murder case remains unsolved | Unsolved California
