PLACERVILLE, California (October 24, 2023) – It started as a bulletin plastered throughout the community calling for help: “Find Roman Lopez.” Roman Lopez was reported missing from his Placerville home, where his family just moved, on Jan. 11, 2020. Lopez’ father, his stepmother, and their seven other children moved into the Placerville home after leaving Groveland.
Roman Lopez, an 11-year-old boy with bright eyes, who family members say had a zest for learning, went missing on Saturday, Jan. 11 2020 and reported he was “located” the next day.
Police had issued a bulletin that Roman was missing Saturday, Jan. 11, then reported him “located” the next day — then later that Sunday called for a press conference to explain that the youth was in fact deceased and that his death was being investigated as being “suspicious.”
Piper was arrested in 2021 after moving to Calaveras County. He was accused of failing to provide for a child along with child abuse and torture. His partner, Lindsay Piper, is also implicated in Lopez’s death.
Roman Lopez, was found dead in the basement of the family’s Placerville home. Roman Lopez was 11-years-old when found dead in a storage bin in the basement of his family’s home. An autopsy following Lopez’s death revealed he had been severely starved and dehydrated at the time of death.
On Feb. 4, 2021, when Placerville Police Chief Joseph Wren announced Jordan and Lindsay were arrested in Calaveras County on suspicion of child abuse and torture. Wren said the case involved the analysis of forensic evidence. He said the department seized electronic devices, reviewed data and worked with medical professionals and experts in the child abuse field.
Charges filed against Jordan, 36, and Lindsay, 38, by the DA include torture and child abuse “under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily injury or death.” Jordan was also charged with failure to provide for a child while Lindsay was charged with the crime of poisoning.
In November the District Attorney’s Office was able to add a murder charge against each of the Pipers following interviews with other children who were living at the Coloma Street house.
“Lindsay Marie Piper willfully and unlawfully mingled a poison and harmful substance with food, drink, medicine and pharmaceutical product,” according to the criminal complaint filed by the DA.
Roman’s stepmother Lindsey Piper, who initially plead not guilty changed her plea to “No Contest” to second-degree murder of her stepson in May 2022. She is now serving a sentence of 15 years to life.
While in court, it was revealed Piper sent texts to the minor between Dec. 16-24, 2019, asking her opinion on a sexual “Christmas gift.” Investigators say Piper sent pictures to the minor and offered to pay her $250 to use the “gift” on herself. The illicit recordings were uncovered while Placerville Police Department officers searched for evidence related to the discovery of 11-year-old Roman’s body in the basement of Piper’s rented Placerville home.
Piper was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by seven-and-a-half years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced Monday.
Jordan, Father of Roman Lopez was arrested in connection with the death of his son in 2020 and is under investigation for child porn according to a complaint filed U.S. Attorney’s office. Jordan Piper is suspected of creating and possessing child pornography.
While federal agents were investigating the death of Roman Lopez, more than 400 nude photos of an underage girl were discovered on Jordan’s phone, documents show. It also appears that he sent inappropriate text messages to the girl.
A new criminal complaint alleges he sexually exploited a child where he was living in 2019 before moving to Placerville. The complaint says Piper used a GoPro to record the girl at a home in Groveland, California. Recordings showed the girl “using the bathroom and bathing.”
The complaint says a video made on Oct. 19, 2019 “shows (Piper) in the act of removing the camera from behind a wall outlet in the bathroom of a rental home in Groveland, California.” “In addition, the video camera was placed in a manner to maximize the chances of recording the genitals of ‘Minor Victim 1’ and other users of the bathroom,” the complaint says.
Child pornography charges were filed against Jordan Piper, 38, in late June 2022 following a federal investigation. Piper initially entered a not-guilty plea to an amended complaint filed March 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, but later changed his plea to guilty and was convicted on the charges March 20 as part of a plea agreement. Piper was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by seven-and-a-half years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced Monday.
Regarding the murder charge, Jordan is set to make an appearance via Zoom in El Dorado County Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, to change his not guilty plea, according to his attorney Tasha Paris Chalfant.
