All’s Quiet

It was a heinous crime: a 17-year-old Rio Mesa High School football player shot execution style and left in a burning car along a street in north Oxnard.

The culprits are believed to be so confident and callous that authorities have heard stories of them openly bragging about the killing.

But fear of retaliation has kept the community silent, authorities say.

Investigators believe many residents know what happened to Frank Miramontez--found the night of Dec. 23 with two bullets in his head, his silver 1985 Toyota Celica ablaze--and fear they could be next.

Speaking before a crowd that had gathered at the scene of the death for a prayer vigil earlier this month, Ventura County Sheriff’s Det. Tim Lorenzen pleaded with friends and onlookers to cooperate.

“The bottom line is the bad guys are winning,” said Lorenzen, his face illuminated by candles held by mourners. “They have won because of the fear factor, the intimidation factor. Please, please, we need your help to solve this.”

Silence fell over the crowd, and Lorenzen walked away with no new leads.

Meanwhile, the killers continue to run free--even though investigators hear rumors that the responsible parties are openly talking about their crime.

“That’s the frustration,” Lorenzen said from his office. “We have talked to people we know for a fact know what happened, and they won’t say anything to us.”

The homes around Cortez Street, where Miramontez was found, make up a small neighborhood where everyone knows each other.

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“People have children themselves and they are afraid of retaliation if they do come forward,” Lorenzen said. “The thing is, someone has to take the stance that this thing that happened was wrong and the proper thing to do is to come forward. If the shoe was on the other foot, they’d want someone to come forward on their behalf.”

It’s not clear whether the killers are gang members, but Miramontez was not, Lorenzen said. He was a good kid, never in trouble with the law, who spent hours after school helping out at his grandfather’s business, Tony’s Body Shop.

Maria Miramontez, the victim’s mother, struggled with her emotions as she talked about her son.

“Since he was about 4 years old he tried to work on little things [at the shop], clean cars up,” she said. “But he’d just get into trouble mostly.”

She remembered a time when her son stepped into a can of motor oil, getting thick black goo all over himself and the shop.

“He ruined a nice pair of pants,” she said, laughing for a moment.

School wasn’t always easy for him. His grades bounced up and down. During the down times, his mother talked with him, telling him she knew he could do better. She’d seen him do it before.

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“He’d say, ‘I’m trying, Mom; I’m trying,’ ” she said. “And he did. He wanted to be Mr. Perfect.”

He loved football, playing on the Rio Mesa High team three years in a row. And he enjoyed drawing, especially goofy little faces that he thought would make his mother smile.

“He always tried to cheer me up when I was down,” she said.

Like most teenagers, Frank Miramontez wanted a car for his 16th birthday. He got one--a 1985 Toyota Celica. It was a present from his mother.

She said her son spent most of last summer in her father’s shop fixing up his new wheels. He tooled under the hood and put on a new coat of silver paint.

He was at his grandfather’s shop the day before Christmas Eve, working to earn a little money to continue sprucing up his car. He finished early in the afternoon.

About 7:30 p.m., authorities discovered his Celica in flames on the side of road, near Tony’s Body Shop. Authorities found Miramontez slumped inside. He was taken to a hospital in Oxnard, where he died the next morning.

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Sheriff’s investigators said they have a pretty good idea what happened, though they have released few details. Still, detectives don’t have enough evidence to make an arrest. The right people still need to come forward, they say, with crucial information.

For the Miramontez family, living in a community that is too afraid to help catch a killer is hard. Frustration over the lack of cooperation has turned into anger for Rosie Ochoa, the victim’s aunt.

“How can this be?” Ochoa asked. “There are more good people than bad. So are we going to let the bad people rule? Is that what it’s going to come down to?

“We can’t let that happen. We can’t let them win.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Lorenzen at 654-2348.