SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Mary Helen Moya's son, George, smiles when he talks about his mother. But that smile quickly fades when he recalls how he lost her, at just 12 years old.
"It was kind of like surreal...it was like, you know I was just with her the past weekend, you know?" said George.
The 40-year-old mother of three was found shot to death off Heritage Road near Otay Mesa Road on July 20, 1987.
She spent the weekend before her death in Rosarito, Mexico, with her classmates and George.
"The last thing I told her, I said 'I love you mom' and I gave her a hug, and that was the last time I ever saw her," George said.
Moya was found with no purse or identification.
Investigators say defensive wounds show she tried to fight off the gunman, but the evidence never led to an arrest and the years went by.
George was left wondering and waiting for justice.
"There's not one day that goes by it isn't in the back of my head, who did it? Who killed my mom?"
The San Diego Police Department's cold case team tells 10News it has reviewed the case several times in the last few years but there's a lack of evidence. And because of how much time has passed, either witnesses or potential suspects have died.
"It's a hard thing when you lose a family member and when you're sitting here waiting for now, 32 years, and you don't see any progress. So I want to see some progress," George said.
He vows to never give up looking for her killer.
"You know Mom, I love you and I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up, I'm gonna keep that fire lit cause I know she would do that for me."
