TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — He was a leader at the University of Arizona; a young man with a bright future. But someone cut short Rick Garcia’s potential—a murderer his family still hopes to find and bring to justice.
The old hotel on the edge of Tucson’s downtown has held many names over the years. It continues to hold a persistent, haunting mystery. Who Killed Rick Garcia here—and why?
After 39 years Rosanna Nowak still holds the picture in her mind of the police officer who came to her door.
“He stood there and he had this piece of paper and he couldn't get the words out, could not get the words out.”
The officer finally told Rosanna and her mother that Rosanna’s brother Rick was dead.
Rick Garcia loved his early life in Bisbee with school and friends and a drive to lead and excel.
He built his adult life around his love for the University of Arizona. When he was a sophomore on campus he promised himself he’d be student body President. Soon, he was.
Rosanna and brother Marty Garcia say Rick was on the selection committee that brought Lute Olson to coach Arizona Basketball.
His brother Marty says Rick was bound for bigger things—maybe Congress.
“He would be up there, and maybe could have been the Speaker of the House.”
Rosanna says, “He could have been anything. Rick had his mind set to do whatever he wanted to do, and it was usually bigger and better and he would be there.”
Rick moved to California where he organized U of A alumni. He was back in Tucson on business, staying at a hotel along I-10. A housekeeping worker entered the room and thought he was asleep. When he hadn’t moved a day later she knew there was trouble.
Rick Garcia’s autopsy shows no sign of serious trauma. It does not flatly say homicide. It does list the cause of death as pulmonary and cerebral edema—Fluid build ups in the lungs and brain that can come from asphyxiation.
Two days after Rick was found dead, police found his rental car in a small California town more than 900 miles from Tucson. The hitchhiker found with it could not have been the killer. He was in jail at the time.
Rosanna Nowak and Marty Garcia think a different man who drove that car from Tucson is a lead police did not follow well enough. They hope telling Rick's story again may lead to a break in the case.
They have keepsakes and honors for the brother they lost, like his class ring found buried near where the rental car was found—and the plaque and plaza in Rick Garcia’s memory at a dorm where he lived and led students as a resident assistant.
And they want Rick to know they never stopped looking—that they are channeling his hope, determination and drive to keep pushing to find his killer— and if they could talk to him now?
Marty Garcia says, “I would say, have I made you proud?”
