SDPD officers responding to a report of a traffic accident found Robert Schmidt, 31, slumped over and unconscious in the driver's seat of his black Toyota pick-up truck. The truck veered out of control while traveling northbound on Sixth Avenue and crashed into a parked car. The officers discovered the reason for the accident when they examined Schmidt; he had just been stabbed multiple times in the upper torso, and was possibly trying to drive himself to a nearby hospital. Schmidt died a short time later.

Schmidt lived in the North Park area and worked at the Chicago Brothers Pizza in Del Mar.

An investigation into the circumstances of Schmidt's murder revealed that, fewer than eight minutes before the crash, Schmidt stopped at an ATM at 3rd & Laurel Streets where he withdrew some cash. Images from the ATM camera revealed that Schmidt was not alone at that point; there were two Hispanic males with Schmidt in the front seat.

The two men in Schmidts truck have never been identified and they are persons of interest in the investigation into Schmidt's murder. It is possible that Schmidt picked them up in the area of Balboa Park shortly before he went to the ATM. They are described as Hispanic males in their 20s.