LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Irma Mkrtchyan went missing in Las Vegas in January 2014, but it quickly turned into a homicide investigation with many questions.
In tonight's Clark County Unsolved segment, our Paulina Bucka talks with Irma's brother as he continues to look for answers.
It's been a perplexing question for 10 long years—what happened to Irma Mkrtchyan?
Irma's brother, Davit, lives in New York and a decade later he is still trying to find out what happened to his sister, including asking us why we are looking into this cold case.
DAVIT: "What is your interest in this, in this case like this?"
PAULINA: "What we're trying to do is bring back these cases, and we're trying to bring hopefully a fresh perspective. Maybe new people, maybe somebody sees something, maybe somebody heard something or they thought they heard something and they didn't quite, you know, do something. But I've seen these cases when we redo them and turn them into an unsolved series, they get solved sometimes or at least it leads to new answers or it leads to something."
His sister disappeared on January 19, 2014 and she has never been found.
Metro Police say she was last seen near South Durango Drive and West Desert Inn Road.
Irma was 45 when she disappeared, her family describes her as a devoted mother and a smart, hard-working insurance agent.
"Irma's kids were her life. You know, Irma did everything for them."
The mystery started with a series of text messages she sent to family members before her disappearance.
Those messages read:
"My battery is dying"
"I'm going to California on business"
"I'll be back on Friday"
Her phone not being charged raised a red flag for Davit. So he says he called her son Arthur.
"She was an insurance agent and she was always talking to the clients to make an appointment or to make a deal...I said Arthur something, something's suspicious. It's impossible. Call to the police," Davit says.
She also sent conflicting messages to her boss at Farmer's Insurance. "There's been an emergency with my husband's family. I'm heading to California for a funeral. I'll be back on Friday."
Irma's car was located at the Allanza apartment complex at Starboard Drive near South Durango. Her keys were found hidden in the gas tank cap, but Irma was nowhere in sight.
"I went to the police department. The missing department. I told them guys, this is, this is not a missing case. This is 100% something happened to my sister."
40 days later, the case was transferred to Metro's homicide section.
PREVIOUS REPORTING: Family provides new clues in search for missing Irma Mkrtchyan
We first talked about the case with retired Metro Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer back in 2019.
"You had two separate messages that were sent, very different messages that kind of basically were sent to throw people off that she was missing...we did focus with family members from the beginning."
Metro Police began to investigate any involvement with her ex-husband Ara Marutyan, her adult son Arthur, and her adult daughter Dianna.
Her ex-husband and son told investigators that Irma had developed a drug problem and said she ended up in Mexico as part of what they called "a religious awakening."
We reached out to her son Arthur—but he told us he does not want to comment on the case or the ongoing investigation.
During an interview with police in 2018 Arthur talked about his mother.
"The only way to be close to God is to leave all your material belongings and commit suicide," Arthur Mkrtchy.
Police served a series of search warrants at their home near Fort Apache and Desert Inn.
According to police documents, police seized $100,000 and also had wire taps on the family.
Police also searched the college dorm room of her daughter. Davit says his sister was in the process of leaving the home she shared with her ex-husband.
"Irma told me, I am going to really leave him," said Davit.
The investigation would turn into a legal battle—as the family filed a lawsuit against Metro accusing the department of violating their rights.
The lawsuit also called for the return of the items seized. In 2019 the district dismissed the case.
But 10 years after her disappearance, there are still no answers in Irma's case. We reached out to Metro for an interview.
While they declined an on camera interview—police did tell us this is an open case that they continue to investigate it as a homicide.
PAULINA: "What would you like to see happen? What is the best case scenario for you?"
DAVIT: "Obviously, we deserve to know where is Irma? We want a new investigation, a new eye."
No one has been arrested or charged in this case.
Despite a decade of uncertainty, Davit says he feels justice will be served one day for his sister.
"I still have a hope so we can, we can find out what happened to Irma."
If you have any information on what happened to Irma Mkrtchyan or her whereabouts you are urged to contact crime stoppers at 702-385-5555.
