Woman’s Body Found Near Smoldering Car in Field

The body of a woman was found next to a smoldering car at a ranch outside Oxnard on Saturday morning, authorities said.

The victim, a black woman in her mid-20s, has not been identified.

Her body was found about 10:30 a.m. by a farm worker in a dirt field at Navarro Ranch off Sturgis Road, about two miles west of Pleasant Valley Road, said Lt. Joe Harwell of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“There was a lot of blood, but we don’t know the cause of death,” Harwell said. “She was not in the car when it was burned.”

The autopsy is scheduled for today, Harwell said.

The two-door car was found in a field used to grow row crops. Authorities are unsure how the car got into the field.

“There are dirt tracks all over here, from cars and tractors, but unfortunately, the tires of the car are completely burned,” Harwell said.

The body was found partly clothed about six feet from the driver’s side of the car. Harwell declined to be more specific, saying further details may jeopardize the investigation.

Authorities are unsure how long the body was there and do not know if the woman died in the field or in another place, Harwell said. “When she was found, the car was just smoldering,” he said.

No witnesses have been located, but someone may have seen the car burning early Saturday morning, Harwell said. “Depending on what was used to set it on fire, it may have taken up to 30 minutes to burn,” he said.

Fire investigators are trying to determine how the car was burned, and detectives are tracing the owner of the car from the license plate, Harwell said.