San Diego, CA
San Diego comic book publisher’s 1992 murder remains unsolved after three decades
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego police are asking for the public’s help in solving the 33-year-old murder of comic book publisher Todd Loren, whose killer remains at large despite decades of investigation.
Loren, 32, was found stabbed to death in his Hillcrest apartment on Fifth Avenue on June 18, 1992. His father discovered his body during a welfare check after Loren failed to show up for work at their comic book publication business.
“Todd was actually found in his bedroom, on his bed, and he had been stabbed multiple times,” said Detective Tracy Barr of the San Diego Police Department’s Cold Case Unit.
Loren was well-known in the comic book industry for his comedic parodies and biographies of rock groups and celebrities. ABC 10News had interviewed him at his business five years before his death.
The case initially generated several leads, including the discovery of Loren’s stolen car in San Francisco a day after the murder. A man was arrested for having the vehicle after his fingerprints were found inside, but he denied involvement in the killing.
“He’s just standing on the sidewalk and some random white guy shows up in this car, tosses him the keys, and says, Hey, it’s a rental car, keep it for a couple days, and, uh, you know, I got a plane to catch, and then he takes off,” the suspect told detectives.
The case was also briefly linked to serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace in 1997. However, detectives never found any connection between Cunanan and Loren.
“His name will pop up, and I don’t know if it was just because of the time. It was such a big news story and everyone was kind of focused on this, so anytime there was a murder of maybe a gay male, they automatically kind of associate it,” Barr said.
For Loren’s family, the decades without answers have been devastating. His brother Steve Shapiro said their father never recovered from the loss.
“He took it really hard, and he was never quite the same, and that kind of affected everybody,” Shapiro said.
Their father died several years ago without ever learning who killed his son. Their mother, now in her 90s, still hopes for answers.
“As far as I knew, it had gone cold and there had been no follow-ups on it for decades,” Shapiro said.
But Detective Barr wants the family and community to know the case hasn’t been forgotten.
“Over time, people think we don’t care anymore, or their loved one is forgotten. That’s never the case. We don’t let these cases go,” Barr said.
Detectives hope renewed attention on the case, along with new tips or forgotten memories from people in the Hillcrest neighborhood, will finally lead them to Loren’s killer.
“He didn’t deserve this; he deserved better,” Barr said.
Anyone with information about Todd Loren’s murder is asked to contact the San Diego Police Department.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Joan Endres
OBITUARY
Born January 1939 in Cincinnati Ohio. Died February 14, 2026, in San Diego, California, with her sons at her side. Her beloved husband Dean passed away in 2010.
Joan was the only child of Thomas and Edna Palmer. In 1943, the family moved to San Diego, where Joan graduated from Helix High School in 1956.
In 1957 Joan married Dean Endres of San Diego, where they raised two sons. Joan followed her two great passions outside the home, the Arts, and Gardening. Both activities being a way to bring beauty to others and to the community.
Joan received a degree in Environmental Design from San Diego State University, and afterwords worked at UCSD, for the Campus Architect.
As an artist, Joan worked in various media, especially ceramics. She was active in many cultural and arts organizations, eventually becoming President of the Combined Organization for the Visual Arts (COVA). Later she turned to gardening, with the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca Community College and the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County.
Joan is survived by her son Jeff and wife Katrin, grandson Jackson, and son Todd Endres, all of La Mesa, and sisters Alice Buck of Phoenix, Elaine Kennedy of San Diego, Nancy and husband Don Jones of Vista, Eva Budzinski of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and their children and grandchildren.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Joan in the near future. Those who wish to attend should contact celebratejoanuvart@gmail.com to receive details when they are confirmed. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests a donation to the Water Conservation Garden or the Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN).
The San Diego State Aztecs’ have moved off the bubble and back into the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64 in the latest ESPN’s Bracketology projections.
The Aztecs must feel like a yo-yo, but now it’s in a good way. Bracket expert Joe Lunardi moved them from the bottom of the First Four Out — No. 72 — to holding the Mountain West’s automatic bid after an 89-72 home romp Wednesday night over Utah State, which had held the auto-bid in bracketology for a few weeks now.
Lunardi now has the Aztecs as the No. 11 seed in the West Region, with a projected first-round date against former MW rival BYU in Portland.
Lunardi wrote that SDSU’s auto-bid “shifts the entire bubble.”
Wednesday night’s victory not only pulled the Aztecs (19-8, 13-4) into a tie with Utah State (23-5, 13-4) atop the MW standings, but it was just their second Quad 1 victory in six such opportunities.
SDSU’s next two games are both Quad 1 chances, at New Mexico on Saturday and then at Boise State on Tuesday night.
The win lifted the Aztecs only one spot in the NCAA NET Rankings, to No. 43. Those rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for March Madness.
SDSU’s resume for earning an at-large berth has been on shaky ground all season, and was seriously damaged last week when the Aztecs lost at home to Grand Canyon and were then routed at Colorado State, both Quad 2 games.
SDSU’s best bet to assure a trip to March Madness for the sixth straight season is to win the MW tournament in Las Vegas and claim the automatic bid. That requires winning three games in as many days, and perhaps a third showdown against the Aggies, who beat the Aztecs 71-66 in Logan on Jan. 31.
Lunardi now has Utah State projected as an at-large team, but still with the No. 7 seed in the East, facing No. 10 Texas A&M in a first-round game in St. Louis.
New Mexico (21-7, 12-5), lurking just a game behind SDSU and USU, has dropped from the Last Four In at No. 68 to the First Four Out at No. 70.
The Aztecs were the unanimous preseason pick to win the MW regular-season title in their final season in the league before moving into the Pac-12 along with Utah State, Boise State, Fresno State and Colorado State.
Saturday’s game at New Mexico is set to tip off at 11 a.m. PT and will air on CBS.
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