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| image source: 'Help Bring Lopaz Home' on Facebook |
Lopaz Richardson has been missing since July of 2021. The then-32-year-old lived in Rosenberg, Texas at the time of his disappearance. Lopaz vanished under incredibly suspicious circumstances, and the mystery of what happened to him still remains unsolved.The last time any of Lopaz's loved ones saw him was on July 5th, 2021. That evening, Lopaz dropped his daughter off at her mother's home in Spring, Texas. Two days later, Lopaz spoke with relatives on the phone. After that, he seemingly vanished into thin air. He has never been seen or heard from again.
Lopaz's ex-wife reported him missing on July 8th. She was immediately concerned about his safety, as he had made some troubling statements before his disappearance. Lopaz reportedly told his ex-wife that someone was after him; he "disrespected the wrong person" and would not have a chance to apologize.
The day after Lopaz was reported missing, police in Howe, Texas were notified about a white Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck that was spotted in a ravine near some train tracks. Days later, it was confirmed that the car was registered to Lopaz. It seemed odd that Lopaz's vehicle would be found in Howe - as it is an approximate 5-hour drive away from his home in Rosenberg. His loved ones are unable to think of any reason for him to travel to that location. It also seemed unlikely that Lopaz would voluntarily abandon his car in such a spot.
Despite all of this, Lopaz's ex-wife said she was told by police that there was no evidence of foul play at the scene, nor were any items of interest found inside the truck. However, inventory was not taken on the truck until over a month later. It was then discovered that many items were inside the car - including a digital camera, a GoPro camera, and Lopaz's wallet, which contained his driver's license and credit card. Additionally, a more thorough search of the scene where the car was found turned up a pair of Lopaz's shoes - which had been stuck in the mud.
These findings appear to be the last known physical trace of Lopaz. Even so, it's unclear if Lopaz himself is the one who drove his truck to that location. There are many unanswered questions regarding his disappearance as well. To this day, no suspects or persons of interest have been publicly announced. However, there were several things going on in Lopaz's life that have led to a few theories.
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What happened to Lopaz?
As previously noted, Lopaz had made some troubling comments to his ex-wife prior to his disappearance. More specifically, his ex-wife said that he told her, “I got involved with the wrong people. I got into this for business. I disrespected the wrong person and I can’t get a chance to apologize.”
If these statements from Lopaz are true, it seems plausible that these "wrong people" are involved in his disappearance. But who are they, and how did Lopaz get involved with them? A look into his life around the time of his disappearance may hold the answers.
A father, an author, and a business owner.
By all accounts, it appears that Lopaz was a well-rounded individual. He was co-parenting with his ex-wife and enjoyed being a father. Although Lopaz and his ex-wife were no longer together, they seemingly still got along and spoke to each other frequently.
Lopaz's ex-wife describes him as an ambitious person. In 2019, he published his own novel titled "HellBint". Lopaz also opened a tattoo shop in Rosenberg called Dear Life Tattoos.
Lopaz's shop was reportedly doing well during 2021. Prior to his disappearance, Lopaz was in the process of doing minor updates and he had also just updated his inventory.
AllSports Riders MC.
Lopaz was also a member of a motorcycle club called AllSports Riders MC. He grew close with his fellow members and referred to them as brothers - which is common amongst biker gangs. There's no direct evidence that Lopaz was fearful of anyone in the club prior to his disappearance - but there are some aspects that are worth looking into. This will be addressed again in more in-depth below.
Before delving into more with the motorcycle club or any other potential theories, it's important to take a look at some other events surrounding Lopaz's disappearance.
July 5th - July 7th, 2021.
As mentioned before, Lopaz was last seen by his loved ones on July 5th, 2021 - after he dropped off his daughter back at her mother/his ex-wife's house. Then, on July 7th, Lopaz spoke with his relatives on the phone for the last time. Amongst those phone calls was a call to his ex-wife and their daughter. During that conversation, Lopaz apologized to his daughter but was otherwise vague.
It's unclear what, exactly, he was apologizing about, but his ex-wife believes it was in conjunction with Lopaz's previous comments that he had disrespected the wrong person.
July 8th, 2021.
It appears that Lopaz fell completely out-of-touch by July 8th. His ex-wife reported him missing that same day. Meanwhile, both investigators and loved ones later learned that Lopaz's debit card was used at a R&R truck stop in Henryetta, Oklahoma that day. Henryetta is an approximate 7-hour drive away from Lopaz's home in Rosenberg, and it is an approximate 2-hour drive away from the location where his car was found in Howe.
Investigators have yet to reveal what, exactly, was charged to Lopaz's credit card at the truck stop. Investigators also said that they reviewed surveillance footage of the truck stop and did not spot Lopaz at any point on July 8th. So, the question still remains: who used Lopaz's credit card, and why?
July 9th, 2021.
Lopaz's car was found in a ravine in Howe near the train tracks shortly before 1:00 PM. At the time, authorities in Howe were unaware that the truck was registered to a missing person from Rosenberg.
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| image source: 'Help Bring Lopaz Home' on Facebook |
The vehicle being found in this location is odd for several reasons. For starters, it appears that some sort of accident occurred for it to get stuck in the ravine. Additionally, as previously mentioned, the car was found approximately 5 hours away from Rosenberg. It is unknown if Lopaz had any reason to travel there; and it's also unknown if Lopaz himself is the one who drove the car to that spot.
Since Lopaz's credit card was used in Henryetta just a day earlier, it's easy to speculate that whoever drove the truck to Howe was also the person who used the credit card. However, this has yet to be confirmed.
July 13th - July 16th, 2021.
On July 13th, authorities confirmed that the truck was, in fact, registered to Lopaz. It was determined that a tow truck would need to drive over the train tracks to retrieve the vehicle. Over the next few days, law enforcement contacted several different agencies to assist with the removal of the vehicle. Since it was found near the train tracks, authorities had to reach out to the Dallas-Garland Railroad company - as they owned the tracks in that location. The company declined to assist.
On July 16th, a towing company called Texoma Auto Care was brought to the scene. Once again, the track inspector from Dallas-Garland declined to give consent for the towing company to drive over the train tracks and tow the vehicle.
July 16th - August 11th, 2021: The truck remains in place.
Police did not receive consent to access the truck via railroad tracks. As such, Lopaz's truck remained stuck in that spot until August 11th, 2021. That day, authorities contacted a property owner adjacent to the railroad tracks. The property owner finally granted consent for the truck to be removed. Texoma Auto Care then returned to the scene and towed the truck to their auto shop.
In total, the car sat there for 35 days - a whole month after it was first spotted. This left plenty of time for the scene of the crash to be disturbed by weather, wildlife, and even other people. In fact, Lopaz's ex-wife stated that members from Lopaz's motorcycle club visited the scene of the crash on August 7th. It's unclear how Lopaz's ex-wife learned about this, but it was definitely a cause for concern.
Inventory on the truck.
Lopaz's truck was finally analyzed in-depth after it was taken to the auto shop. While Lopaz's ex-wife was originally told that nothing significant was found in the car, she later learned that was false when it was revealed that several items were found. As previously mentioned, Lopaz's wallet, GoPro camera, and digital camera were all found inside the truck. The memory cards in both the GoPro and the digital camera had been wiped completely clean.
Lopaz's ex-wife stated that she went to Howe to take a look at the car herself, and she noticed that one of Lopaz's two cell phones was inside the vehicle as well. According to his ex-wife, the cell phone wasn't wiped completely clean, but it was noted that several texts, calls, pictures, and videos had been deleted. It appears that Lopaz's other cell phone was never found.
A pair of Lopaz's sneakers were found in the mud near the vehicle as well. It is unknown if they were planted there or not.
It also seems quite odd that police initially told Lopaz's ex-wife that there was no sign of foul play - even after the car was discovered abandoned. The police also told her that no items of interest were in the car, however it appears that they said that before they were able to fully process the vehicle.
Theories.
As of today, no suspects or persons of interest have ever been publicly announced in Lopaz's case. The odd circumstances surrounding his disappearance have led to a few different theories.
Let's take a look at some of the happenings that could play a role:
Lopaz's statement that someone was "after him". Lopaz told his ex-wife that he had disrespected the wrong person and would not have a chance to apologize. He also mentioned that he got involved with this person "for business". It's unclear exactly what business he was talking about.
Had he gotten involved in a side business that was potentially dangerous? Or is he referring to his tattoo business? Did he owe money to someone? All of these questions remain unanswered for now, but it's possible that these questions are the key to solving Lopaz's disappearance.
The motorcycle club. Lopaz was a dedicated member of the AllSports Riders MC. It's unknown if the biker gang plays a role in his disappearance, but it's certainly a possibility. Lopaz's ex-wife mentioned that two members of the biker gang traveled to Howe on August 7th - while Lopaz's car was still stuck in the ravine. She did not elaborate on why, exactly, they went to the scene, but they could have planted evidence, removed evidence, or contaminated the area.
The fact that two members of the biker gang visited the scene is not entirely suspicious on its own - as it's possible that they were just curious about Lopaz's disappearance and wanted to see if they could find any evidence of their own. However, Lopaz's ex-wife told reporters of two other incidents with members of the motorcycle club that raise some suspicions.
One such event occurred on July 3rd, 2021 - just days before Lopaz's disappearance. That day, Lopaz held an event at his tattoo shop, and several members of the motorcycle club attended. At some point during the gathering, a member of the club called Lopaz's ex-wife and said that Lopaz had kicked him out of the event. There is very little other information about this incident - but it seems noteworthy since it happened very shortly before Lopaz vanished.
The other incidents involve a few members of the motorcycle club breaking into Lopaz's apartment. The exact dates of these occurrences are unknown, but according to Lopaz's ex-wife, it happened twice, and they were caught on camera each time. The members of the club took their own bikes and Lopaz's bike from his apartment. Lopaz was reportedly fixing/making additions to their bikes, which is why he had them at his residence.
After the members of the club broke into the apartment, they reportedly told Lopaz's ex-wife that they took his bike and would give it back to him when he returned. It's unknown if anything else of interest was taken from the apartment. Nobody ever faced any charges for breaking in.
Nobody in the motorcycle club has ever been labeled as a suspect.
The debit card usage. As noted before, Lopaz's debit card was used in Henryetta, Oklahoma on July 8th. Who, exactly, used the card is unknown but the police said that they did not see any surveillance footage of Lopaz at the truck stop where it was used.
Again, this on its own is not incredibly suspicious, as debit card theft is not uncommon. However, the fact that it happened after Lopaz's disappearance makes it seem far more sinister. The location in which it was used is odd as well - as it's hours away from where Lopaz was last seen and where his car was found.
Where the case stands today.
Lopaz remains missing today. His loved ones have not given up hope in finding answers. If you have any information that could help the investigation, please contact the Rosenberg Police at 832-595-3700.
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