Authorities identify skeletal remains found in trash can as Victorville woman
Authorities have attached a name to the skeletal remains found in a Victorville trash can earlier this month.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday identified the woman as 47-year-old Judith Ornelas of Victorville.
Foul play is suspected, though no motive or cause of death has been released by authorities.
Four Victorville residents were arrested Friday in connection with the case: Jayson Weiss, 31; Lori Rector, 57; Louis Chacon, 43; and Alphonso Lozano, 36. Detectives say the suspects were friends of the dead woman.
Weiss and Rector will face murder charges, while Chacon and Lozano will be charged with accessory to murder, officials said.
Rector, Chacon and Lozano were taken to the High Desert Detention Center. Weiss was in custody at the West Valley Detention Center on an unrelated charge and was booked on suspicion of murder.
The remains were found on July 8 after deputies were tipped off to a possible dead body in a trash can that was partially filled with cement.
Ornelas had been dead for more than a year, officials said.
A relative of Ornelas’ told authorities in April that no one had heard from her in a few months and that her social media channels had gone dark, but did not file a missing person report, according to officials.
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