The Unsolved Murder of Evelyn Hernandez

Seven months before Laci Peterson’s disappearance and murder, another pregnant woman went missing. Later, her torso washed up near the Embarcadero in San Francisco, California, under the Bay Bridge. While Laci Peterson’s case received worldwide coverage, Evelyn Hernandez, a legal immigrant from El Salvador, became lost in the press. The most horrible part of Evelyn Hernandez’s case is that she didn’t go missing alone. Her five-year-old son Alexis Geraldo Hernandez went missing alongside her. Who murdered Evelyn Hernandez, and what happened to Alexis?

Who was Evelyn Hernandez?

At 14, Evelyn immigrated to the US from El Salvador to live with her mother. She became pregnant with her first child in high school. At the time of her disappearance, she and her son lived in the Crocker-Amazon neighborhood of San Francisco, which lies just south of the Mission District. Evelyn worked as a vocational nurse and volunteered at her son’s school. By all accounts, she was a loving, involved mom.

On May 1, 2002, 24-year-old Evelyn Hernandez and her 5-year-old son, Alexis (whom family and friends called Alex) went missing just five days before Evelyn’s second baby’s due date. She planned on naming the baby Fernando.

On April 30, the day before their disappearance, Evelyn spoke via phone with her…