In the same week Long Beach police detectives announced they were canvassing the area of a 2009 murder for clues, a new person of interest emerged and detectives swiftly got a composite drawing to the media.
New witness information about a bloody, unsolved 2009 slaying of a 76-year-old woman Thursday led Long Beach police to release a sketch of a person of interest and a description of his possible getaway car. Family members found the victim, Leam Sovansky, stabbed to death the morning of Jan. 31, 2009 in her home in the 1400 block of Petersen Avenue, police said.
Sovansky suffered multiple stab wounds to her upper body in the attack and was pronounced dead at the scene. A possible motive for the attack was not offered by police. A Cambodian immigrant, Sovansky was the mother of seven, grandmother of 20 and great-grandmother of six children, according to police.
Tips from the public have now enabled Long Beach police detectives to put together a composite sketch of a suspect, thought to be a young black male with closely cropped black hair, a small goatee and a thin mustache. A possible getaway car seen near Petersen Avenue and 15th Street on the day of the killing was described as a four-door, white Chevrolet Caprice Classic, believed to be an early 1990s model, police officials said.
Anyone with information about this person of interest or the possible getaway car was asked to call Long Beach police homicide detectives Teryl Hubert and Mark Bigel at (562) 570-7244 or their 24-hour tipline, (800) 222- TIPS. All tips can be made anonymously.
--City News Service with contributions from Nancy Wride
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