Police Ask for Help in Cracking Unsolved Cases

Sheriff’s investigators and local police are asking the public for help in solving west county cases that have stumped authorities for months--and, in some cases, years.

“Even an anonymous call would be appreciated,” said Ventura Police Det. George Morris. “It could be the last piece missing in the puzzle.”

This is a rundown of cases in which authorities said they need help.

* Authorities are searching for Manuel Alejandro Vasquez, 20, who is suspected of killing Ventura restaurant owner Felipe Arambula in June. Vasquez, formerly a Santa Paula resident, is also suspected of participating in a botched kidnapping attempt that ended in the fatal shooting of Arambula at his Ventura home.

* Eighteen months after the slaying of 17-year-old Buena High School student Jake Bush, police said they still have no suspects in the case. Bush was stabbed to death when he and his mother surprised a burglar at their Montalvo area home in Ventura. The intruder fled and police later found what they believe to be the murder weapon--a foot-long serrated knife.

* Although six years have passed since Jesse Strobel, 17, was stabbed to death near his mother’s house, police still hold out hope that new information could identify his killer.

Strobel was killed as he walked from his father’s pizza parlor on Seaward Avenue to his mother’s home about 10:30 p.m. Authorities say they have received many leads, but couldn’t build a solid case.

* In the 13 months since Oxnard resident Cesar Garcia was dropped off at St. John’s Regional Medical Center with a fatal gunshot wound, police have not found a man who fled the Port Hueneme house where Garcia was shot. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Jose Ramiro Pardo, 23. Police say Pardo is 5-foot-5 and weighs 145 pounds.

Pardo lived in Oxnard, but authorities say he moved to the Bakersfield area and then to Mexico.

Anyone with information regarding these cases should call Ventura County Crimestoppers at 494-8255.