ORDINARY TRAGEDY
Nearly every day, stories of shocking violence and crime are featured in the back pages of the newspaper. A terrible event relegated to a less important section; anonymous crimes that deserve mention but are not front page worthy. Some tragedies, like the Baseline Killer murders and the assassination of reporter Don Bolles, become the focus of the community, gain the spotlight, and remain in our memories. But what about the less covered crimes and deaths in the city that go unnoticed or are quickly forgotten?
Ordinary Tragedy surveys places within the Phoenix metropolitan area where infamous, well-known, or little reported violence and crime has occurred. The information about these sites comes from newspaper articles, city websites, and online articles. Objects and items included in the images were found on site and photographed unaltered. Tragedy can happen anywhere and how time reflects those tragedies is varied and complex. Knowing the context of a place often changes how we view it.
DROWNED
On October 18, 2015, Glenn Edward Baxter intentionally drove his wife's SUV into Tempe Town Lake at this spot near Scottsdale Rd. Also in the vehicle with him were his wife Danica and their toddler children Reighn, Nazyiah, Zariyah. There were no survivors in the crash.
LAST KNOWN LOCATION
On July 16, 1991, Lori Julian was last seen running errands at this 7/11 gas station at 8400 E. McDowell Rd. in Scottsdale. Lori had a known alcoholic dependency and would often disappear for days at a time. She was not found and is still missing.
ESCAPE
On March 25, 2018, Michael Mather pointed a handgun at a family of six and tried to enter their vehicle at the corner of University Dr. and Dobson Rd. in Mesa. The family was able to accelerate and escape the situation. Mather was traveling in a vehicle with three others when he stopped behind the family. The occupants in Mather's vehicle told police he had told them he thought he knew the victims and didn't like them.
KIDNAPPED
On May 11, 1984, 12-year-old Christy Ann Fornoff was kidnapped and killed while collecting payments for her newspaper route at an apartment complex on McClintock and Broadway Rd. in Tempe. Christy's mother was helping her on her route that day, letting her go ahead while she stopped to talk to a tenant at the complex. Christy was taken by the maintenance supervisor at the complex.
LATE NIGHT STRUGGLE
On February 25, 2018, a fight broke out inside this club, the T&A Cabaret, at around 2:00 a.m. After security escorted several people outside, a gunman fired several shots in the parking lot, killing one man and injuring two others. The gunman fled and is still missing.
FATHER AND DAUGHTER
On January 23, 2018, a 67-year-old father and his 14-year-old daughter were found dead inside a locked vehicle in the parking lot of a Country Inn and Suites motel near Power Road and Superstition Springs Freeway in Mesa. Police confirmed the incident as a murder-suicide.
ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING
On January 24, 2018, two individuals attempted to kidnap a juvenile girl near 60th St. and Cactus Rd. in Scottsdale. The girl was standing in the street when a man approached her and attempted to put her in a blue Chevy truck as it pulled up. The girl was able to pull away and escape.
ABANDONED
Amando Espinoza was last seen leaving work in Chandler on April 7, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. His vehicle was recovered abandoned in the parking lot at St. Daniel's Church, located at Hayden and Roosevelt St. in Scottsdale, approximately three miles from his home. Amando has not been seen or heard from since.
MISSING
In early November 1992, Angela Brosso went missing during a bike ride near the Arizona Canal. On November 8, 1992, her body was found in this area near the canal in north Phoenix.
DISAPPEARANCE
On September 22, 1993, Melanie Bernas's body was discovered in this section of the Arizona Canal. She also disappeared while on a bike ride near the canal. In January 2015, Phoenix police arrested Bryan Patrick Miller in connection with the Brosso and Bernas murders.
HORSEPLAY
On January 25, 2018, just before 7:00 p.m., a pedestrian was killed after being pushed into the road and hit by a vehicle. The accident was the result of two men engaging in horseplay at this location in north Phoenix.
HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING
On February 12, 2016, 15-year-old Dorothy Dutiel shot and killed her girlfriend May Kieu before committing suicide at Independence High School in Glendale. In a handwritten note found in her pocket, Dutiel had written "this week has been the worst in my life."
ASSASSINATION
On June 13, 1976, Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles was assassinated in this parking lot of the Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix. After attempting to meet with a source at the hotel while investigating the mafia, Bolles returned to his car and was fatally injured when the ignition triggered a bomb planted underneath his car.
ROAD RAGE
On January 29, 2008, Thomas Beasley was shot and killed in a road rage incident near Tatum and Pinnacle Peak Roads in north Phoenix. The shooter claimed self-defense.