Canyon Area Searched in Girl’s Death

Law enforcement officials continued an investigation Thursday into the apparent homicide of a 15-year-old Ventura girl as search crews hunted for evidence in a remote Santa Barbara County canyon where her remains were found last weekend.

Meanwhile, Ventura County sheriff’s investigators said they are looking for possible ties between the death of Jenniffer Vernals and the disappearance of Oxnard resident Kathy Silveri, who has been missing since January.

“We are exploring the possibility of a link,” said Capt. Larry Robertson of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s major crime unit.

The department plans to watch the case closely in hopes that it may shed light on Silveri’s disappearance, he said.

“We will be meeting and conferring with those agencies to see if there is any common denominator,” Robertson said. “We are just anxious to look for any similarities and see if there is a predator out there stalking females.”

Robertson said his office plans to review past cases involving sexual predators and wants anyone with information to come forward.

“If there is a survivor out there,” he said, “we want to find them.”

In the meantime, Silveri’s friends and family are hopeful that she will reappear alive.

“It is just such a tragedy the way she disappeared,” said Lydia Estrada, who worked with Silveri at the Las Islas Family Medical Center in Oxnard. “Our ultimate dream is that she will walk back in the employee door and say, ‘Here I am.’ ”

The mysterious disappearance of Silveri has baffled detectives since the 43-year-old community activist vanished from her Silver Strand home Jan. 12.

Jenniffer’s disappearance had likewise perplexed Ventura police, who eventually classified the girl as a runaway. She was last seen March 30 shopping at a thrift store in downtown Ventura.

After four months, the girl’s skeletal remains were discovered Sunday by a rancher near Toro Canyon Road in a remote wooded area above Montecito. The rancher was checking his water wells when his dog appeared with a leg bone.

Most of the girl’s remains were found within a 50-foot radius, a few bones were scattered more than half a mile away. Investigators said the bones were probably moved by animals.

An initial examination by the coroner indicated that the girl died several months ago, not long after her disappearance, officials said. Dental records revealed the girl’s identity.

Although the coroner has not yet determined the cause of death, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s officials are treating the case as a homicide and have launched an extensive hunt for clues.

On Thursday, search and rescue teams combed through the brush-filled canyon where Jenniffer’s remains were found looking for evidence such as a weapon. Investigators also headed to Ventura in search of information on her March 30 disappearance.

“We have got eight or nine investigators working this homicide investigation,” Sgt. Bill Byrne said. “We are contacting anybody and everybody that knew Jenniffer.”

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has also set up a hotline for tips: 681-4100 or 681-4150.

“We want these people who might know something to call us, even if it is rumor,” Byrne said. “We have a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers.”