Body of Shooting Victim Discovered Alongside Road

The body of a young Latina was found Wednesday dumped by the side of the road off Victoria Avenue near the Santa Clara River bridge.

The woman, who has not yet been identified by authorities, was in her late teens or early 20s and had at least one bullet wound to her head.

“We’re asking for help on this one,” said Ventura County Sheriff’s Capt. Bill Montijo, who is in charge of the investigation. “She had no identification on her, and as yet we don’t know who she was.”

A man riding to work on his bicycle spotted the body about 6:30 a.m. and waved down passing motorists for help.

The investigation closed down one northbound lane of Victoria for about three hours, backing up rush-hour traffic well past Gonzales Road.

An autopsy determined that the woman died between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities are asking anyone who may have seen a car stopped on the northbound side of Victoria Avenue at the Santa Clara River bridge to call them.

“We’re hoping someone saw something and can let us know,” Montijo said.

The woman, who was wearing Wrangler jeans and a brown flannel shirt, was found lying face-down a few feet down a dirt embankment.

She is described as 5-foot-3 and weighing 124 pounds with brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair.

The woman also had a deformity of her left hand, Montijo said.

“She had a thumb, but she was either born without all her fingers on that hand or she had the fingers amputated,” he said.

The woman does not match the description of anyone reported missing recently, according to local authorities.

During the morning investigation, detectives and evidence technicians laid out a string of evidence markers from the road across the 10-foot-wide bicycle lane and down about 3 feet to where the body lay.

There was a small pool of blood at the curb and around the woman’s body, making it appear that she was shot at the side of the road and then either dragged or pushed over the embankment.

A Sheriff’s Department search and rescue team sifted through the brush near the crime scene looking for clues.

Anyone with information should call Sheriff’s Sgt. John Fitzgerald at 654-2824 or the sheriff’s patrol desk at 654-2311.

This was the county’s 26th homicide of the year, the same number as last year at this time.