A 10-year-old girl's murder in Yuma has gone unsolved for more than three decades, but the FBI is now offering a $30,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Amberly Ann Mendoza was killed in her bedroom on the city's west side in March 1996, and the case still weighs on a community that later opened an entire victim-support center in her name.
Yuma police were called to a home in the 1700 block of West 24th Lane on March 9, 1996, according to the Yuma Police Department, where officers found Mendoza dead in her bedroom. Detectives believe the attack occurred sometime between 11:30 p.m. on March 8 and 10:45 a.m. the next morning, per the department's timeline. As reported by AZ Family, investigators determined she died from suffocation and had been sexually assaulted in her bedroom.
Entry Through a Bedroom Window
The screen on Mendoza's first-floor bedroom window had been removed, though no other signs of forced entry were found at the home, the outlet reported, citing investigators. She had gone to sleep following a family gathering earlier that evening, according to the podcast Last Seen Alive, which has reviewed evidence connected to the case.
A $30,000 Push for New Leads
The FBI's Phoenix Field Office has published a national Seeking Information alert offering a $30,000 cash reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Mendoza's death. Yuma police are asking anyone with information to call (928) 783-4421, or to report anonymously through 78-CRIME at (928) 782-7463; the case is logged as Case No. 1996-3658. Tips can also be phoned directly to the FBI's Phoenix office at (623) 466-1999.
Amberley's Place: A Legacy Born From Tragedy
Mendoza's murder reshaped how Yuma protects vulnerable victims. In 1999, local law enforcement and community leaders opened Amberley's Place, a family advocacy center named in her memory, according to the Sunrise Optimist Club of Yuma. The center now assists roughly 3,000 victims of child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault each year, the group says.
No Time Limit on Justice, but a Statewide Backlog
Arizona imposes no statute of limitations on homicide or violent sexual assault under Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-107, meaning prosecutors could file charges against a suspect no matter how many years have passed, according to My AZ Lawyers. The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission classifies any homicide or felony sexual offense as a cold case once it has gone unsolved for a year with no viable leads.
Mendoza's case is one of thousands still open statewide. Between 1980 and 2024, Arizona recorded 18,490 homicides with an overall clearance rate of 64%, leaving 6,695 murders unsolved, according to data compiled by the Murder Accountability Project. Nationally, homicide clearance rates have slid from more than 80% in 1965 to roughly 52% in 2022, contributing to a backlog of more than 200,000 unsolved murders since 1980, per an analysis from Jeff-alytics. In Yuma alone, police maintain a public index tracking 14 unresolved homicides dating back to the mid-1980s, according to the City of Yuma.
