Identity of Woman Found Dead in Hedges Is Released
Detectives have released the name of a woman found dead in a clump of ivy and hedges last week.
Jennifer McLaughlin, 21, died of asphyxiation, Ventura Police Lt. Don Arth said Saturday.
The former Thousand Oaks resident had moved out of state but recently returned, Arth said.
Police found her body while issuing a citation to a homeless man who was sleeping in some bushes on an abandoned lot at Figueroa Street and Thompson Boulevard, officials said.
McLaughlin was not a transient, Arth said, but was friends with several homeless people who frequented the area.
Police believe McLaughlin may have been dead three to 10 days before she was found and are looking for anyone who might have seen her before she was killed, Arth said.
She was found wearing black sweat pants, a gray “B.U.M. Athletic Equipment” T-shirt and white socks.
She also was wearing a silver-colored fine-link bracelet and two necklaces--one a cord string with a turquoise stone and the other a choker with small white beads, detectives said.
Ventura police identified her body using fingerprints, officials said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Ventura Police Sgt. George Morris at 339-4474.
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