FAMILY OF MURDERED STUDENT STILL TRYING TO FIND KILLER

By Mike Allen

April 21, 2016 (San Diego) -- Andy Tan Tai Moore would be celebrating his 32^nd birthday on April 23, except that he’s no longer alive.

He was murdered in September of 2000 in his rented downtown San Diego apartment, but the killer was never found. Despite the lack of solid leads, his parents refuse to give up hope that someone may know something about the slaying and will give police a call.

Every year Rita and Richard Moore make the journey from their home in Pennsylvania to San Diego. They meet with police detectives, and Crime Stoppers to see if there’s anything new in what has been classified as a cold case.

And they do something else that gives them some degree of solace: meet with a student from San Diego City College who receives a scholarship established by the Moores in Andy’s name.

Rita Moore said the year following Andy’s murder, her family was still in a state of shock and didn’t know what to do. “We were looking to do something positive, something meaningful, and something that Andy would have liked,” she said. The scholarship seemed to fit the bill.

Andy, who was 26 at the time he was killed from a severe bludgeoning, had decided in August of 2000 to enroll full time at City College, and work towards getting a bachelor’s degree in international business, Rita said.

He had been working as a chef at Maloney’s, a Gaslamp Quarter bar/restaurant and previously at a Pacific Beach restaurant. He was also taking classes at City College.

At the time he was killed, Andy’s apartment on Eighth Street was ransacked, and his motorcycle was missing. Although it was recovered a month later, the cycle didn’t reveal any clues, Rita said.

“The people upstairs (from Andy’s unit) told police they heard the motorcycle being driven out,” Rita said. “Andy always walked his motorcycle out of the driveway a short distance so it wouldn’t wake up the neighbors.”

San Diego Police Officer Mark Herring, who is a coordinator for the San Diego County Crime Stoppers, said a $56,000 reward was established to entice someone who may know about the crime to come forward. Most of that $50,000 comes from the state governor’s office. The Moores contributed $5,000 and $1,000 is from Crime Stoppers.

Efforts to obtain more details about Andy’s killing from SDPD were unsuccessful. However, a story about the murder from Defrostingcoldcases.com said the last time Andy was seen alive was Sept. 9, 2000 when he hosted three visitors at his studio apartment, two women and a man.

In addition to  a1994 Suzuki Katana motorcycle that was stolen, an expensive set of Russell culinary knives were also missing. The motorcycle was recovered a month later in Golden Hill, and it is likely that the suspect was using it, according to defrostingcoldcases.com. When the cycle was recovered, investigators were unable to obtain any DNA evidence from it, Rita said.

The Moores adopted Andy as a seven-month old boy from a Vietnamese orphanage in 1974, the last addition to a family of two older sisters. Growing up in Lebanon, a small town about 20 miles from the state capital of Harrisburg, Andy enjoyed a loving family and participated in many typical activities, playing basketball and pitching for his Little League team. He also delivered newspapers, and earned a black belt in tae kwon do, an achievement he was very proud about, Rita said.

The summer before graduating from high school, Andy worked at Sea World, staying at the home of his uncle Paul.

“That was the tipping point that made a difference in his life,” Rita said. “He really felt more at home there because of all the cultural diversity the city has.” At his hometown high school, there were very few Asians and no African Americans, she said.

He returned to Pennsylvania and set a goal of returning to San Diego and begin his own life there. While they obviously preferred that he stayed closer to their home, the Moores realized that Andy needed to find his own path and create his own life.

That life appeared to be on a successful track until that horrible moment 16 years ago, when it was cut short by an as-yet unknown assailant.

“When the murderer took Andy’s life, he also took our lives because nothing has been the same,” Rita said in a story she wrote several years ago.

After the murder, the Moores put up posters around Andy’s neighborhood, paid for a large roadside billboard seeking information and had playing cards made with Andy’s picture that are distributed in prisons to jog something about the murder but so far, those efforts haven’t yielded any clues.|

Penny Moreau, a San Diego friend of the Moores who met them because her son was also murdered, said one clue that she heard about involved a friend of Andy’s whose father lived in Santee and took that friend back with him.

Moreau wasn’t sure of the friend’s name and Rita Moore couldn’t provide the name either, but the hope is that the friend might be able to furnish some information about the case.

The Moores continue to make their annual pilgrimage to San Diego to meet with the City College scholarship winner and with other friends they’ve made here.

“In the beginning (of the scholarship awarding) it was difficult for us because we would be thinking, 'That should be Andy up there,' but overall it’s been a positive experience for us. We welcome the chance to meet with the new student, and making some small difference in their lives.”

Anyone with information on the identity or location of the suspect(s) responsible for this case is asked to call the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.  Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000 reward and the Moore family has offered a $5,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to the arrest of the suspect(s).  The Governors office has offered a $50,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s).  Collect calls are accepted and callers may remain anonymous.