Cheree's Friends Canvass Area; Fear Strikes Fryman Hikers

Friends of murder victim Cheree Osmanhodzic plan to take to the streets and canvass neighborhoods around Studio City and Valley Village to make sure that everyone knows the face of the man suspected of killing their friend.

Alischa Espinoza, lifelong friend of Cheree, is planning to get the face of Omar Armando Loera "on every street corner." 

The campaigns and flyers seemed to have worked with getting the awareness out to the general public, police said.

Lt. Alan Hamilton, of the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, said, "The flyers with the suspect's face and his identifiable marking has certainly helped the community call in a lot of leads. Many people think they've seen him."

So far, nothing has cropped up since the massive manhunt in Fryman Canyon on Friday afternoon, but people are aware of the possibility that he was in the area. Even a day after the area was swept clear and he was not found, local residents said they were nervous about walking the Fryman hike over the weekend, and crowds of dogwalkers were lighter than usual.

"I was up there when the police were searching and it was scary," reported Studio City Mom columnist Susan McMartin.

Shop & Dine columnist for Patch, Karen Young, said her children were frightened by the reports and she did not take her usual walk into the canyon this weekend. She said, "I got the robo-call asking us to stay inside while police helicopters were flying overhead."

But the awareness led police to receive about a dozen calls from people who said they saw Loera, and the two large tattoos of Aztec women on his arms.

Loera served 23 months of a 32-month prison sentence in

connection with a 2008 armed robbery at a North Hollywood Park. He also uses the nickname "Taz" and the alias Arturo Benitez.

On the day that he was identified last Tuesday (Sept. 14) the District Attorney's office filed charges against Loera, connected with murder, burglary, arson and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the July 24 murder.

In the Valley Village neighborhood, residents are aware of the suspect and what he looks like.

Neighbor of Cheree, Ken Magee, said, "Well, they haven't found him yet, but hopefully they will. I live about half a block from where it happened. The neighborhood was pretty safe, and then there was a shootout at that restaurant, although it was never open. And then there was that car that was burned over on Radford and they found a body in there. So it makes you a little uneasy but a lot of people walk these streets so it's not that scary for me, and I have a big dog, so—"

Magee said, "It has been (one of the safest neighborhoods in Los Angeles) and I think it probably still is. People just need to keep their eyes open and look out for things that are suspicious. That particular apartment was well hedged. It's a terrible thing when that happens. But Valley Village is pretty safe and I don't know what more the police can do. People just need to be a little more vigilant and a little more braver."

The city of Los Angeles is offering a for information leading to the capture and conviction of Cheree's murderer.

Anyone with information about the case or Loera's whereabouts was urged to call the LAPD's North Hollywood Division at (818) 623-4016 or the department's tip-line at (877) LAPD-24-7. All tips can be made anonymous

Craig Clough, editor of the upcoming North Hollywood Patch, contributed to this report.