Man suspected of killing Fresno teen released from prison
Steven Humphrey disappeared in 2009. Police say his bones were found four years later at the home where the suspect Ricardo Rosas lived with his family.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The man police believe murdered a Fresno teen six years ago is free. And the victim's family says they are fed up, frustrated and grieving for many reasons.
Steven Humphrey disappeared in 2009. Police say his bones were found four years later at the home where the suspect Ricardo Rosas lived with his family.
Humphrey's mother died Wednesday from complications of a traffic accident on Monday. It is the same day Ricardo Rosas walked out of prison after serving time for other felonies.
A memorial still marks the home where police dug up the remains of Steven Humphrey four years after he vanished. Humphrey's family members still live a few houses away. Since Ricardo Rosas was released, Humphrey's grandmother had several smoke detectors installed Thursday and removed anything valuable from her home.
"I'm just hoping they put him back in," said Dorothy Essman. "You kill somebody, you just need to be somewhere where... there's just no justice anymore like their use to be."
Family members wonder if Fresno police will ever have enough evidence to arrest Rosas on murder charges. He spent a handful of years locked up on domestic violence charges and for throwing Molotov cocktails at the family's home. Homicide investigators say the case remains a priority.
Mark Salazar with the Fresno Police Department said, "We're at this point now where it's still an open case. We reassigned it to a new investigator. We haven't forgotten it. But it has been challenging because of different things, the evidence."
Thursday there was no sign of Rosas at his parent's home. Dorothy Essman wants to sell her home and move far away from the place with so many bad memories. But for now she says her family is frustrated and mourning the loss of Humphrey's mother, Shiela.
Essman said, "My son and his daughter was just so tore up, they just couldn't hardly cope."
According to police, Rosas has never admitted to being involved in the murder. So far, much of the information investigators have collected is third or fourth party.
