Dallas police working to solve murder of man from Latvia who had been in the U.S. for 2 months
DALLAS - A New Year’s Eve murder claimed the life of a 35-year-old man from the European country of Latvia.
He had only been in the U.S. two months, and had arrived in Dallas just hours before his death.
Karlis Jaunzems was killed in the 400 block of Broadway Avenue in Dallas' Trinity Groves area.
Jaunzems was shot multiple times and killed as he sat in his work truck on New Year's Eve, sometime after 8:30 p.m., a few hours after arriving in Dallas for the very first time.
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Dallas Police were called to Singleton Boulevard, near Gulden Lane, at about noon on New Year's Day.
"My victim, he's from Latvia. He just came to the U.S. a couple of months ago. Hard-working guy, hadn't been in any trouble or anything like that," Dallas PD Det. David Grubbs said.
It was his job that brought him to Dallas hours before his murder.
"He worked for a company in Chicago. He was living in Florida, and this was his first time in Dallas, and he thought he'd do what Americans do on New Year’s Eve and sit here and watch some fireworks," Det. Grubbs said. "And nobody heard from him. Family couldn't find him, started getting concerned, and then he got found here."
He was found about 30 hours after he last spoke with family in Latvia.
"We are in time zone like eight hours ahead of you, so New Year's Eve was a little bit earlier for us, so we called him," the victim’s brother, Martin Jaunzems, recalled. "He was taking trip to U.S. to refresh his mind and take a look at how other people live in the world and try to find his way in life."
Sadly, he lost his life.
His body is still at the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office.
"Right now, I hope we are in the last steps. Unfortunately, identification was hard to tell because there were no documents with him at the moment," the victim’s brother said.
He had no documentation because his wallet was missing.
"I'm hoping someone will call me with information and tell me what went on. Who was over here messing around with the truck, maybe talking to him. Anything, any information will help," Det. Grubbs said.
Jaunzems did everything right in coming to America, but something very wrong happened to him here in Dallas.
Now, Det. Grubbs is hoping to at least give his family some closure half a world away.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Grubbs at 469-540-6377 or email him at david.grubbsjr@dallaspolice.gov.