3 Answers

Try news paper archives for that date . Do a search for unsolved violent crimes in that city .Death records are public records so no one dies with out it being written down . If no one payed for a funeral chances are he was cremated and put in potters field (For the poor unclaimed or not known ) I would start with this its the bottom rung of this ladder and if hes not here then chances are some one gave him a funeral .You can for a fee access obituary's for the city of Covina  .You have to be a detective to solve this . You are lucky you have both a date and a place thats a big help . Good luck . Bill

Start calling the cemeteries and ask "is he there" and they'll tell you. Found Howard Hughes grave that way...........

Every Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce (etc) is recorded and placed in The Vital Records Dept- which can be in a courthouse or a separate Building...The death records include either a doctors or coroners description of how a person died...sometimes a coroner will put "unknown" as the cause but that is rare.  What You need to do is make a a few calls to find out the numbers for the Vital Records in the area where he died.  These records are open for the public to read...however, I do not know if they can give you answers over the phone or via mail/ internet.  You can also surf the net for the Vital Records Departments in West Covina and send them an e-mail (if they have an e-mail)- check under the contact info. usually at the bottom of the site.  I hope this is helpful!