2025 February Issue of InMaricopa Magazine

February 2024 issue of InMaricopa Magazine InMaricopa.com InMaricopa is Maricopa's premier local news source InMaricopa is your go-to source for hyper-local news and information about Maricopa, Arizona. Stay informed with the latest community updates, events, and stories that matter to our city. InMaricopa is the only dedicated news outlet focusing exclusively on the city of Maricopa, ensuring residents are always in the know.

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February 2025

Tyke on a bike Sorrento boy, 7, the nation’s No. 1-ranked motocross rider

HISTORY • SPORTS • COMMUNITY • EDUCATION • HOME • MORE

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With a retail career spanning over three decades, Chris brings a wealth of experience and a genuine passion for helping customers tackle their projects. He joined the Karsten’s family in 2019, but his journey in retail began in 1992. By 1998, he had stepped into a leadership role as a store manager for Kmart, setting the stage for the expertise he shares with us today. What Chris loves most about his role is working directly with customers to bring their projects to life. Whether it’s finding the right tool or offering advice on a tricky repair, he takes pride in making a difference for every person who walks through our doors. Beyond his dedication to customers, Chris is passionate about teamwork and the role it plays in the store’s success. “Teamwork is something that is near and dear to my heart,” he explains. “Everybody has a job to do, and the magic happens when everybody works together as a team. We all affect each other, and if everybody works together to accomplish the task, it makes everybody's job easier.” Of course, Chris knows it takes more than one person to make a store shine. “We have a great staff that is very knowledgeable,” he says, crediting the hardworking team that keeps Karsten’s running smoothly. With his years of experience, dedication to customer service, and emphasis on collaboration, Chris exemplifies what it means to be a Red Vested Hero. Next time you’re in the store, don’t hesitate to say hello and let him know how he can help with your next project!

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CONTENTS

LEADING OFF Editor’s letter 6 Contributors 6 HISTORY Bird’s-eye view of the past 8 This month in history 8 COMMUNITY Why there’s pretty much a National Park in Maricopa’s backyard 12 GOVERNMENT The perplexing case of a springtime backyard stabbing death 20 Permits 26 BUSINESS Briefs 28 Restaurant inspections 32 HEALTH & WELLNESS Let’s talk toes 34 SPORTS Maricopa’s motocross wunderkind, 7, doesn’t need training wheels on his ‘training wheels’ 36 Compton coach who retired to Province recounts title team legend 40

EDUCATION High schoolers can learn, do more with dual enrollment 44 Embattled charter school’s financial woes impact students, families 46 HOME Tomatoes are easy and fun to grow if you know how 50 Reality check for HOA buyers 51 Extreme home sales 52 The key to growing your property rental business 53

EVENTS Calendar 54 TRENDING A look at what’s hot on InMaricopa.com 63 PARTING SHOT Hop to it! 64

ON THE COVER Victor Moreno captures 7-year-old Sorrento boy Julien Almaguer clearing a corner on a motocross training track in the desert near Maricopa. Almaguer is the top-ranked 51cc rider in the country.

InMaricopa.com | February 2025

FROM THE EDITOR

C COVERING THE NEWS IN MARICOPA IS A LOT LIKE eating an idiomatic elephant. How does one complete the task? One story at a time. Scientists at Harvard found the average person makes 35,000 decisions per day. Some are rather inconsequential — French vanilla or hazelnut creamer in my coffee this morning? Others, though, can alter the trajectory or paradigm of a community. during a monthly news cycle. Some of them will lead to, or are themselves, newsworthy events. Our job is to document it all, an increasingly tricky task. This month, the news team had all pens on deck. I want to introduce you all to David Iversen, a Senita resident since 2021 and our newest reporter who’s covering the schools and the courts. He got his master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and most recently worked for Fox News. In this edition, David and I collaborate on an investigation into the only Maricopa charter school that’s losing students year-over-year, embroiled in money woes long concealed. I’m also bringing you part two of my unsolved deaths series, The invisible killer, unraveling every mystifying detail of a backyard stabbing death that occurred on my birthday last year and never left my mind. Tom Schuman catches up with the coach of an all-Black basketball team that overcame doubt and More people live in Maricopa today (no matter what day you read this letter) than ever before. At our current numbers, we Maricopans make 81.4 billion decisions All pens on deck

Publisher SCOTT BARTLE

discrimination to go undefeated in Compton, Calif., during the peak of the Civil Rights Era, and win a state title. Meanwhile, Brian Petersheim Jr. records living

Editorial Director ELIAS WEISS

Advertising Manager TAWNI PROCTOR

history inside the Silver Horizon, one of seven California Zephyr observation railcars that has retired on the corner of Plainview Street and Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. It was an emotional 60- year reunion for a one-time stewardess. Two familiar faces took bites of the elephant this month: Jeff Chew explores the virtually unknown, federally

Advertising VINCENT MANFREDI AMBER ROGALLA BRITTANY RUSSELL MICHELLE SORENSEN Writers ANGELA ASKEY JEFF CHEW KRISTINA DONNAY

designated desert wonderland in Maricopa’s backyard, and Kylie Werner pens a cover story on the generationally talented 7-year-old who’s racing dirt bikes all over the country. And Monica D. Spencer covers the business beat, like usual, getting us the scoop on five new restaurants setting up shop in the city. One of my contributions to the 81.4 billion decisions we’ll collectively make this month is the decision to wish all our readers a happy, safe and productive February. I hope, in turn, you’ll make the decision to keep reading InMaricopa — in which case, I look forward to greeting you again in March!

WENDE GEHRT JUSTIN GRIFFIN DAVID IVERSEN DAYV MORGAN BRIAN PETERSHEIM JR. TOM SCHUMAN MONICA D. SPENCER SHERMAN AND EUPHEMIA WEEKES KYLIE WERNER

Photographers DAVID IVERSEN VICTOR MORENO BRYAN MORDT

BRIAN PETERSHEIM JR. MONICA D. SPENCER

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MISSION Inform readers/viewers. Enrich advertisers.

BELIEFS We believe in: • An informed citizenry. • Holding ourselves and others accountable. • The success of deserving businesses.

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Volume 20, Issue 2 InMaricopa 44400 W. Honeycutt Road, Suite 101 Maricopa, AZ 85138

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TOM SCHUMAN Sports reporter Tom relives the basketball glory of a Civil Rights-era title team.

JEFF CHEW Outdoorsman Jeff spills Maricopa’s best-kept secret.

KYLIE WERNER Features writer Kylie gets down and dirty with a 7-year- old dirt-bike doyen.

Published advertisements are not an endorsement of products or advertising claims by InMaricopa . No part of this magazine may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of InMaricopa . Copyright 2025.

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InMaricopa.com | February 2025

HISTORY

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This 1963 aerial photo, courtesy of the Maricopa Historical Society, shows the city’s landscape, facing south, four decades before its incorporation. In the bottom-left corner of the image, John Wayne Parkway meets Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway before crossing the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Near that intersection, some noticeable landmarks include Headquarters Restaurant, the blue (then red) barn and two large water towers. There were once three of those towers, but only one remains today. The second tower (pictured) collapsed during a 1973 storm. Just to the right of the water towers are three buildings that now constitute Recycle Today Maricopa, a recycling center on Edwards Avenue. Above that is Maricopa High School, with what has been dubbed by students and staff the “old gym” still standing.

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THIS MONTH IN HISTORY For these and other historical stories, visit InMaricopa.com.

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Pinal County Sheriff’s Office arrested two men after Casa Grande resident Tory Beebe, 48, was found dead in a ditch just outside the city limits. Robin Franklin, 37, and John Radcliff, 36, were arrested on first-degree murder charges after Beebe became “the victim of a vehicular assault near his home.” In 2023, Franklin was found guilty of first-degree murder and Radcliff was found guilty of reckless manslaughter.

The Maricopa High School girls’ basketball team defeated the Seton Catholic Sentinels 52-49 to win the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division II title. It was the first and only state championship for the program. “It’s going to be an amazing memory,” senior Ashliegh Haley said. “My high school years ending like this, you can’t even describe it.”

A man brandishing a rifle in front of his house in Homestead was shot in the abdomen by Maricopa police after he aimed the rifle toward five Maricopa cops. Robert Mitchell, 29, was airlifted to Maricopa Medical Center, where he made a recovery. Mitchell was later convicted of two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2012.

Maricopa City Council withdrew an annexation proposal for Saddleback Farms, a community east of the city near Santa Rosa Avenue and Steen Road. The decision came after Saddleback Farms residents expressed concerns about property taxes and rezoning. “We don’t want to see neighbor pitted against neighbor,” then-Mayor Kelly Anderson said. Today, Saddleback Farms remains just outside the easternmost contiguous city limits.

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InMaricopa.com | February 2025

GOVERNMENT

Zephyrette Judy Sperbeck with conductor Jay

Monohan (left) and dining room steward Carl Bollinger (right) in the early 1960s. Below: Sperbeck smiles next to the Silver Horizon train car window bearing a plaque with her name during a Dec. 28 trip to Maricopa.

Left, below: Judy Sperbeck tours the Silver Horizon railcar with members of the Maricopa Historical Society Dec. 28. Above: Sperbeck and her train crew stop at a restaurant in Bond, Colo., in the early 1960s.

Love Train ‘Zephyrette’ reunited with railcar she ‘claimed’ after 60 years

BY BRIAN PETERSHEIM JR.

The Maricopa Historical Society helped Sperbeck understand what happened after she and the train car parted ways. Paul Shirk, the historical society’s president, recounted to Sperbeck the Silver Horizon’s history in the 60 years since, including its cameo in the movie Pearl Harbor and when cranes hoisted the 158,900-pound railcar onto a truck, which transported it to where it currently sits at the former Rotary Park on the corner of Plainview Street and Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. “See, you didn’t know the Silver Horizon could fly,” Shirk said with a chuckle. He told her this was one of multiple railcars spread across the country. “There are six that are remaining in different states of repair or disrepair,” he said of the other California Zephyr railcars. “A couple of them are in museums. Usually, it’s a private nonprofit of some kind.” Sperbeck would later go back to work in 2000 at Chase Field, where she spent 19 years and got to witness Arizona’s only pro sports championship when the Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001. Retirement wasn’t for her, so the 84-year-old continues working as a hostess at the Jim Beam Barrel Bar at the Footprint Center. A piece of her remains inside the train car itself. Sperbeck “claimed” the first window inside the door, where her name is engraved on the glass forever.

HE SILVER HORIZON RAILCAR has stories to tell about its cross- country endeavors during the glory days of luxury train service from

1949 to 1970. Judy Miller Sperbeck, 84, tells stories the train car, now a Maricopa museum, just can’t. After all, she walked through all seven of the legendary California Zephyr’s domed observation cars as a fresh-faced twentysomething. Sperbeck, who lives in Phoenix, visited Maricopa in December to walk inside the train car for the first time in six decades. When she stepped across the threshold, she felt a wave of memories from the scent alone. “There’s a smell to a train that is just unbelievable,” Sperbeck said with a huge grin. “It just brings back a lot of memories.” In her early twenties, Sperbeck spent three years working as a zephyrette, riding the rails between Oakland, Calif., and Chicago. It was an experience she said never let her down (except for the occasional lost luggage). It was in that railcar where she learned to play the bagpipes, cuddled with kittens and mingled with Major League Baseball players, circus elephants and countless other fascinating itinerant characters. She vividly remembered a humorous anecdote: She was using the loudspeaker to announce the train was entering the 6.2-mile Moffat Tunnel on the way into Salt Lake City. “Carl Bollinger was the dining car steward; he used to take my shoe off and start tickling

WHAT IS A ZEPHYRETTE?

Zephyrettes were stewardesses on the California Zephyr who aided rail workers and passengers alike, said Maricopa Historical Society volunteer Dorothy Charles. Clad in blue uniforms and always smiling, the zephyrettes collected postcards from passengers and mailed them at their next stop, distributed inbound communications, and helped women with children, children travelling alone, the elderly and disabled passengers. They also acted as tour guides, telling passengers what they may see through panoramic portals to their left and right, and letting them know when they were passing a scenic or important landmark along the track. “The main thing they did,”

my feet,” Sperbeck said. “I’m about ready to kill him.” Of course, words might come out wrong when your feet are being tickled. She announced the tunnel was 6.2 inches long, and didn’t even notice until a passenger flagged her down to clarify the units of measure. “I went, ‘Oh, my God.’ I didn’t even know that I said that,” she remembered fondly. “I said, ‘It’s Bollinger’s fault because he had my shoe off.’” Sperbeck couldn’t conjure an ill memory of her tenure as a zephyrette, and she attributed that to the people with whom she worked. “All of the employees, the people in the kitchen, the whole crew was cool,” she said. The end of her zephyrette career came in 1964 after three years on the job when she got married, a decision she said she wished she had never made. “It was really the best part of my life, doing this,” she said of the job.

Charles said, “is check to make sure that everything is in order and the people are happy.”

InMaricopa.com | February 2025

February 2025 | InMaricopa.com

COMMUNITY

Monumentally unknown This national monument may be Maricopa’s biggest secret — literally

BY JEFF CHEW

T’S MARICOPA’S best-kept secrets, even if it’s a massive half-million acres with three federally protected desert ONE OF

wilderness areas. Sonoran Desert National Monument is a huge but lesser-known attraction in the 85139 ZIP code, with 26 miles of hiking trails in wilderness settings. Even the federally designated park’s visitor center, which is in the city of Maricopa, gets few inquiries about the monument from hikers exploring the area, said people who work there. “We just get it now and then,” said Dorothy Charles, who oversees the archives at the visitor center, 44200 W. Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. “It’s hit and miss.” Charles would like to see more of her Maricopa neighbors take advantage of the wilderness adventure in their backyard. Making a monument President Bill Clinton proclaimed the vast desert land a national monument nearly a quarter-century ago. Designating the national monument was one of Clinton’s final acts at the end of his second term in 2001. The monument is a place you’ll find untamed and undisturbed green prickly towers of ancient saguaro cactus, probably the single most iconic

Land Management says park HQ is in Maricopa. “It’s not a national park because it was established by presidential proclamation,” said Chris Wonderly, public affairs specialist for the BLM District Office in Phoenix. Only the U.S. Congress can designate a national park or wilderness areas, Wonderly said. Maricopa access to the monument is as close as State Route 238, just 8 miles west of the city.

symbol of Arizona. Many of them can be seen near the edges of deeply contrasting cottonfields at Hidden Valley Road near the Box Canyon Shooting Range, west of Maricopa. Charles recommends seeing the monument when the saguaros are blooming in April. The monument extends from south of Interstate 8 to the northern edge of the Gila River Indian Community, touching the southern outskirts of Buckeye. Though the U.S. Bureau of

InMaricopa.com | February 2025

February 2025 | InMaricopa.com

COMMUNITY

Trail blazing Because of its federal status, the monument is less protected than a national park, though it is still primarily accessible only to hikers, trail cyclists and horseback riders. Visitors on foot, two wheels or saddle can camp for free inside the monument. But if you’re looking for a place to ride an offroad vehicle in the wilderness, you might as well go elsewhere, one Hidden Valley offroad advocate said. “Riding UTVs and ATVs out there is banned,” said Sonny Hawkins, administrator for the Hidden Valley UTV group on Facebook. “You can’t go off trail without being a recipient of a huge ticket if they catch you.” Besides the monument’s extensive desert flora and trails system, visitors find dramatic views of the Maricopa, Sand Tank and Table Top mountain ranges, as well as the Booth and White hills, all separated by wide valleys. Visits to the Sand Tank Mountains, south of Interstate 8, require a Barry M. Goldwater Range permit. The permit is free but requires the recipient to watch a 13-minute safety video. Permits are valid for one year and are only available online. Early Indigenous peoples, Spanish explorers, homesteaders and miners crossed the monument’s central corridor near Hidden Valley. The monument features three congressionally designated wilderness areas, archaeological and historic sites, and remnants of several important historic foot routes, including the Juan Baptista de Anza Trail. The Anza Trail weaves through the Sonoran Desert for 1,200 miles, from Sonora, Mexico, to San Francisco. The three wilderness areas are only accessible by foot. Arroyo Seco, or Dry Stream, an Anza Trail historic campsite, is within the monument. The Anza expedition camped there Nov. 7, 1775. On the west side of the monument, there’s an Anza Trail interpretive sign marking a trailhead along Maricopa Road. SR 238 and Maricopa Road present access to the North Maricopa Mountains and the historic Butterfield Overland Stage Route, another congressionally designated feature of the national monument that runs parallel to the Mormon Battalion and Gila Trails. Hidden in plain sight Regardless of its federal status and size, the national monument is not on most Maricopans’ radar.

not stray too far into the low brush to avoid the risk of getting stuck in a rocky arroyo or sandy, dry riverbed. The only place visitors can’t camp is in the wilderness areas. Not as serene as it seems The southern part of the monument is a known corridor for drug and human smugglers. BLM officials said monument visitors in that area should be alert for illegal activities and law enforcement operations. BLM last year drastically downsized an area open to recreational target shooting within the Sonoran Desert National Monument. The agency, after an extensive study and

More than half of 215 readers surveyed in an InMaricopa poll in January said: “I’ve never heard of it.” One-fifth of the readers said they had heard of the monument but never visited it. SR 238 leads directly into the belly of the monument with periodic roadside access to its trail system. A network of rough dirt roads weaves through the monument, which touches areas of private and state trust lands. The monument is a place to see extensive forests of the giant armed cactus that rival populations in the Saguaro National Park near Tucson. Although no permit is required to camp inside the monument, RV travelers should

InMaricopa.com | February 2025

February 2025 | InMaricopa.com

COMMUNITY

Calling All Future Kindergarteners! Maricopa Unified School District invites you to join teachers and staff to tour your new school! Learn about our full-day kindergarten program and register for the 2025-2026 school year.

During BLM’s review period, critics argued target shooting threatened cultural and natural resources the monument was designated to protect. Opponents contended shooting had damaged valued objects inside the monument, such as saguaro cacti and Native American petroglyphs. “The BLM worked to find a safe balance between various recreational uses of public lands while protecting objects of historic or scientific interest in the national monument,” said Phoenix District Manager Leon Thomas.

public comments, pared down target shooting from 435,700 acres down to just 5,295 acres of the monument, about 1% of its landmass. The BLM’s June decision banned shooting on the monument’s remaining 480,496 acres. BLM officials said target shooting is allowed on other bureau-managed lands in and around the Phoenix area, but not within the monument. About 93% of the 12.1 million acres of BLM-managed lands in Arizona remain open to dispersed recreational shooting.

by vehicular overuse.

Dispersed camping and picnicking are allowed throughout the monument unless otherwise posted. Desert camping allows visitors to take short scenic hikes and survey unique vegetation or the starry skies at night. Two small campgrounds at Margie’s Cove West and Table Top trailheads offer a restroom and three small campsites with a picnic table and grill. No water or hookups are available. Sites are first-come, first-served. The restrooms are wheelchair accessible, but there are no other accessible facilities at the monument. More than 460 miles of posted roads are available for backcountry, offroad vehicles and mountain bikes outside the wilderness areas. The monument is home to a variety of wildlife, including desert bighorn sheep, mountain lions, mule deer and javelina. Many small birds and reptiles thrive year-round, including bats, owls, rattlesnakes and the Sonoran Desert tortoise. If you’re lucky, you might even spot the Arizona state mammal, the ringtail. Collecting, removing or damaging natural and cultural resources, such as artifacts, live or dead plants and rocks, are prohibited.

BLM officials urge visitors to “know before you go” to the monument by checking with the office for current conditions. The monument is a remote area, and recreational opportunities are on primitive trails and access roads that are not maintained. No water or trash collection is provided. Cellular phones do not work in many areas of the national monument, according to the BLM, but reception is strong near Hidden Valley. “There aren’t a lot of paved roads,” BLM spokesman Chris Wonderly said. “The monument is just a lot of wilderness.” The monument’s elevation ranges from 1,000 to 4,400 feet, so summer can be rough on visitors. Wonderly said the best time to enjoy the monument is from late October to mid- April when the weather is cooler. Monument visits during summer months are discouraged, with temperatures often above 110 degrees. Otherwise, it is recommended that visitors pack in plenty of water, sunscreen, sunglasses and large-brimmed hats. The desert sun stirs up rattlesnakes and other reptiles as early as this month, BLM officials warn, so be on the lookout.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

Visitors are allowed to park off SR 238 at the access points and hike in from there. The area north of 238 and south of the North Maricopa Mountains Wilderness is closed to vehicle entry without written permission. Visitors can request a letter of agreement to access these areas by contacting the Lower Sonoran Field Office. Construction has closed Roads 8002b, 8002c

The Sonoran Desert National Monument’s wilderness areas offer many opportunities to explore and discover the secrets of the Sonoran Desert. The North Maricopa Mountains Wilderness, the South Maricopa Mountains Wilderness and the Table Top Wilderness areas allow for solitude and unconfined recreation, BLM officials said. The North Maricopa Mountains Wilderness has two hiking and equestrian trails: the 9-mile Margie’s Cove Trail and the 6-mile Brittlebush Trail. The Table Top Wilderness also has two hiking and equestrian trails: the 7-mile Lava Flow Trail and the 3-mile Table Top Trail. A four-wheel-drive route follows the trail corridor for about 10 miles through the national monument. Offroad vehicle advocate Sonny Hawkins, who lives in Hidden Valley, said the trail corridor is much too narrow for more than one offroad vehicle. The area north of SR 238 and just west of Maricopa is temporarily allowed for hiking and equestrian use only to allow for natural reclamation of resource damage caused

and 8002 from SR 238 to BLM’s Road 8003.

From Maricopa to the southern part of the national monument, take John Wayne Parkway south to Interstate 8 via State Route 84. Proceed west on I-8 to Vekol Road and turn south. For information about other access routes, contact BLM’s Phoenix field office at 602-867-5400.

MUSD KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION NIGHT Tuesday, February 11, 2025 Times vary by location Documents needed for registration: • Parent/Guardian ID • Child’s Birth Certificate • Immunization Records • Proof of Residency (electric bill, water bill, etc.)

For more information, contact your school site:

Butterfield Elementary School 43800 W. Honeycutt Rd 520-568-6100 Maricopa Elementary School 18150 N. Alterra Pkwy 520-568-5160 Pima Butte Elementary School 42202 W. Rancho El Dorado Pkwy 520-568-7155 Saddleback Elementary School Maricopa Accelerated Program Available 18600 N. Porter Rd 520-568-6110

Santa Cruz Elementary School 19845 N. Costa Del Sol Blvd 520-568-5170 Santa Rosa Elementary School Spanish Dual Language Immersion Available 21400 N. Santa Rosa Dr 520-568-6150

Once access is established,

visitors can find hiking, backpacking, stargazing, camping, hunting, motor touring, sightseeing, photography and horseback- riding opportunities. Visitors can hike or ride horseback virtually anywhere in the Sonoran Desert National Monument. The four designated wilderness trails offer a unique opportunity to explore the backcountry.

www.MUSD20.org/kindergarten

InMaricopa.com | February 2025

February 2025 | InMaricopa.com

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BUY 3, GET 4TH FREE † YOKOHAMA LIGHT TRUCK RADIALS 23575R15 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 108T OWL................... $194.99 26570R16 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 111T OWL....................$239.99 26575R16LT YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 E 123R OWL ................$279.99 24565R17 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 105T OWL.................. $235.99 24570R17 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 108T OWL................... $237.99 26570R17 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 113T OWL .................. $238.99 24560R18 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 109H BW................... $260.99 26565R18 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 114H BW.....................$284.99 27565R18 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 116H BW ................... $290.99 27560R20 YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER AT G015 115H BW ....................$299.99 OTHER SIZES AVAILABLE. 60,000 Mileage Warranty SIZE BUY 3 PRICE

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18565R15 19565R15 ALL SEASON RADIAL 88H ..........................................................$99.99 ......................................................... $139.99 ALL SEASON RADIAL 91H ......................................................... $102.99 ......................................................... $142.99 20555R16 ALL SEASON RADIAL 94W .........................................................$107.99 .......................................................... $147.99 21555R16 ALL SEASON RADIAL 95W ........................................................ $109.99 ..........................................................$149.99 20560R16 ALL SEASON RADIAL 92V .......................................................... $112.99 ......................................................... $152.99 21560R16 ALL SEASON RADIAL 99H .........................................................$116.99 ......................................................... $156.99 20565R16 ALL SEASON RADIAL 99H .........................................................$122.99 ......................................................... $162.99 22550R17 ALL SEASON RADIAL 98W .........................................................$129.99 ......................................................... $169.99 21555R17 ALL SEASON RADIAL 98W .........................................................$123.99 ......................................................... $163.99 22555R17 ALL SEASON RADIAL 101W ........................................................$134.99 ..........................................................$174.99 22560R17 ALL SEASON RADIAL 99V ..........................................................$139.99 ..........................................................$179.99 22565R17 ALL SEASON RADIAL 102T.........................................................$144.99 ......................................................... $184.99 23565R17 ALL SEASON RADIAL 103T.........................................................$152.99 ......................................................... $192.99 23545R18 ALL SEASON RADIAL 100W........................................................$132.99 ..........................................................$172.99 MANY OTHER SIZES AVAILABLE.

• Identify Freon Type • Visually Inspect System for Leaks AIR CONDITIONING PERFORMANCE CHECK FREE

BRAKE FLUID SYSTEM REPLACEMENT

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105T .............................................................................................................................................................................. $162.99 ......................................................... $202.99 111T ................................................................................................................................................................................$176.99 .......................................................... $216.99 113T ............................................................................................................................................................................... $189.99 ..........................................................$229.99 105H .............................................................................................................................................................................. $172.99 .......................................................... $212.99 117V ............................................................................................................................................................................... $227.99 .......................................................... $267.99 119H...............................................................................................................................................................................$259.99 ......................................................... $299.99 10PLY ............................................................................................................................................................................. $188.99 ......................................................... $228.99 10PLY ............................................................................................................................................................................. $218.99 ......................................................... $258.99 120Q .............................................................................................................................................................................. $276.99 ..........................................................$316.99 MANY OTHER SIZES AVAILABLE. NO DEALERS NO WHOLESALERS NO CARRYOUTS. WE SERVICE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS

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LUBE-OIL-FILTER Prod#01C5 INCLUDES: Battery check, lubricate your car’s chassis (if applicable). Drain old oil & add up to 5 quarts of new 5W30 or 5W20 oil synthetic blend. Install a new oil filter. (Special oil filters slightly higher). $ 29 99* FREE TIRE ROTATION Upon request • See store for details Reg. $39.99 *with coupon Includes hazardous waste fee. If your MFG. Requires 20W50, or full synthetic oil, or other special weights, there’s an additional charge for other weights of oil. Price is for 5W20 or 5W30 synthetic blend oil up to 5 quarts. With coupon only. Expires 02/28/25.

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BUY 3, GET 4TH FREE † 19565R15 ASSURANCE ALL-SEASON 91T BLK ......................$142.99 20555R16 ASSURANCE ALL-SEASON 91H BLK......................$150.99 20560R16 ASSURANCE ALL-SEASON 92T BLK ......................$160.99 21560R16 ASSURANCE ALL-SEASON 95T BLK ...................... $157.99 21555R17 ASSURANCE ALL-SEASON 94H BLK......................$180.99 23555R17 ASSURANCE ALL-SEASON 99T BLK ......................$196.99 23545R18 ASSURANCE ALL-SEASON 100H BLK ....................$218.99 OTHER SIZES AVAILABLE SIZE BUY 3 PRICE ASSURANCE ALL-SEASON 65,000 Mileage Warranty

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BUY 3, GET 4TH FREE † FACTORY DIRECT 23575R15 WRANGLER TRAILRUNNER AT ............................$159.99 27560R20 WRANGLER SRA ............................................ $229.99 27555R20 EAGLE LS-2.................................................. $240.99 24565R17 FORTERA HL ................................................$209.99 26550R20 FORTERA HL ................................................$262.99 OTHER SIZES AVAILABLE SIZE BUY 3 PRICE

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19565R15 ASSURANCE MAXLIFE 91H BLK .................................... $167.99 20555R16 ASSURANCE MAXLIFE 91H BLK .................................... $179.99 20565R16 ASSURANCE MAXLIFE 95H BLK ...................................$186.99 21560R16 ASSURANCE MAXLIFE 95V BLK.................................... $184.99 22560R16 ASSURANCE MAXLIFE 98H BLK....................................$179.99 21545R17 ASSURANCE MAXLIFE 87V BLK .................................... $217.99 21555R17 ASSURANCE MAXLIFE 94V BLK ....................................$215.99 22565R17 ASSURANCE MAXLIFE 102H BLK .................................. $217.99 OTHER SIZES AVAILABLE SIZE BUY 3 PRICE

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† Buy 3 get the 4th free or Buy 2 select tires and get 2 free. Select tires only. Must purchase tire protection plan and nitrogen package, which includes valve stems, balancing, free tire rotations, free alignment checks, free flat repairs and free replacement for the first 25% of tread wear on a tire that is not repairable (with the nitrogen and tire protection plan purchased). Restrictions and exclusions apply. See store for complete details. Offer may not be combined with any other discounts unless otherwise stated. No dealer or carryout. (Buy to get two free other brands may be substituted, but will carry the same warranty as purchased)**. Offer ends 02/28/2025.

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Thomas had a cocktail of pills in his stomach. He had a stalker, his neighbor said. He had a brother who showed up unannounced, in Thomas’s car, when his body was being handled by the authorities, screaming uncontrollably. The brother had an interest in butchering knives, a relative said. Two people told the police Thomas was murdered, and that they knew who did it. They named different killers. It took the investigators six weeks to declare they had exhausted all options. They’re only human, after all. They get stumped, they err and they bleed, just like us — like Thomas did — and when they encounter cases as odd as this one, decades of experience in sleuthing give way to the gravity of the unknown. What use were Lt. Elliott’s 30-plus years in Arizona law enforcement when, in her own words, it was “definitely not something I have ever seen before”? Perhaps the only person who knew what happened in the Meadows late last April has taken that secret to his own grave. Six months later, on the same street, 16-year- old Esteban Valenzuela would be murdered by gunfire; police said they found his killer days later. What can be said of the other Dirk Street killer of 2024? ‘No one should see something like this’ One of the last two people to see Thomas alive was the first person to see him dead. “It doesn’t make sense,” said Mary T. Dos Marcos, 57, the landlord for the Dirk Street home. She was serving an eviction notice that morning. She knocked on the door. No response. She peeped in a window. It seemed quiet. She unlatched the back gate and poked her head around the corner. “This is disgusting,” she thought to herself as she was accosted by a swarm of flies. “Did they leave the garbage out?” Then, it hit her. She let slip a primal scream and stopped herself just short of vomiting. “I was the first person to see the body,” she said, her voice tinged with horror. Documenting the condition of the property as any landlord would when a tenant moves out, her cell phone camera was rolling when she turned the corner, and the specter of death filled her screen. “I saw a face, an eye … and I ran out,” Dos Marcos said. “I’ve never seen a dead body before. No one should see something like this.” She dialed 911 immediately. For Dos Marcos and her husband, Lawrence E. McFall, the episode was “traumatizing.”

MATTRESS & FURNITURE is Valentine’s Day, fall in love with the comfort of a perfect night’s sleep.

The invisible killer A 24-year-old was stabbed to death in his backyard. Piecing together his final moments has been impossible

BY ELIAS WEISS

NOW SELLING AMERICA’S NUMBER ONE MATTRESS: BEAUTYREST BLACK!

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a sequel to my piece in the December 2024 issue of InMaricopa magazine, Inside Maricopa’s secret murder house (scan this QR code to read it). In continuing my coverage of unsolved murders and suspicious deaths in Maricopa, I chose a case that has never left my mind. Maybe because his death day was my birthday, and it left me asking myself, ‘Why did I get to live longer than him?’; or because in my eight years reporting on crime, and the lead investigator’s 30 years solving them, neither of us had ever encountered anything quite like it. The authorities may have been content enough to leave this case frozen in time; I was not.

a 2022 scholarly article in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. “Suicidal stab wounds are occasionally seen in less than 1% of all suicidal deaths.” Even MPD Lt. Kathleen Elliott, the lead officer on the case, conceded that the investigation “didn’t definitively come to a conclusion one way or the other,” and hopes to reopen it someday. Today, the case remains frozen in time, like Thomas, the youngest member of his family who grew up in Atlanta and worked hard to support his older relatives in Maricopa. He earned a promotion in the days before his death. But he never cashed a paycheck after that raise at his gas station management job. The clues the authorities found strewn around his body — a toppled ladder, seven cell phones, a broken table— only confused them further, and their prospects of identifying a suspect melted away as alibis checked out, even when nothing else made sense.

days before his untimely demise, died when he closed the case July 12. McCullar said it was “most likely an accidental or suicide death.” But some people, like two Cobblestone Farms residents who found the body that eerily sunny Monday morning, and who spoke exclusively with InMaricopa , believe not only that it was a murder but that they can identify the killer. “Stabbing is an uncommon method of suicide,” seven medical experts wrote in

OMICIDE AND SUSPICIOUS DEATH cases are cold-blooded, in a way. For a case to go cold, it must be exposed to the elements so long

that the frigidness consumes its vital organs. It must be warmed with evidence and leads; the less it is nourished, the quicker it succumbs to hypothermia. The case of Makaiel Michael Thomas, like the man himself, was destined to die young. The authorities know about as much about Thomas’s death today as they did April 29, 2024, when they found his body in a Maricopa Meadows backyard, the 6-inch blade of a kitchen knife still lodged in his stomach. “It’s a perplexing case,” Maricopa Police Department Chief Mark Goodman told InMaricopa . “It’s … it’s just bizarre.” Deaths such as Thomas’s can be classified in one of three ways: homicide, suicide or accident. MPD Det. Kevin McCullar said he did not know how Thomas, who turned 24 just

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I saw a face, an eye … and I ran out. I’ve never seen a dead body before. No one should see

something like this.” MARY T. DOS MARCOS, LANDLORD

602-366-0447

44360 W. Edison Road, Suite 100 Maricopa, AZ

InMaricopa.com | February 2025

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