Oak View Man Held in 2001 Death of Oxnard Woman

Sheriff’s detectives have arrested a man in connection with the rape and drowning of an Oxnard woman, whose body was found on a beach south of Mussel Shoals in 2001.

Douglas Edward Dworak, 37, of Oak View was being held in Ventura County Jail on suspicion of rape and murder in the death of 18-year-old Crystal Hamilton.

Dworak’s arrest Tuesday came after a two-year investigation and DNA testing by the sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit and deputies in Ojai, said Sgt. Renee Ferguson, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.

Officials began their investigation after a fisherman found Hamilton’s body along a rocky beach near the Ventura Freeway on April 22, 2001. Authorities identified the body through fingerprints. An examination by the county coroner found semen in Hamilton’s body, Ferguson said.

Results of a DNA test on the semen were compared last year to a national database of other DNA profiles. That comparison revealed a match with Dworak’s profile, authorities said.

Authorities interviewed numerous witnesses and issued search warrants before arresting Dworak on Tuesday morning at his workplace in Ventura.

“Unfortunately, it was a murder case that had very few solid leads,” said Sgt. Ernie Montagna of the Sheriff’s Department.

“We investigated many of them and they went nowhere. But the DNA provided a lead that took us right to the suspect.”

Hamilton was visiting friends in Ventura the day before a surf fisherman found her body on the beach, Ferguson said. Hamilton had phoned her father and asked him to pick her up later that evening. But she was not at the residence when he arrived.

Oxnard police said Hamilton was never reported missing.

This was the first DNA match the Sheriff’s Department made since it began using the national DNA database last year.

Investigators said they needed nearly a year to build a case against Dworak before making an arrest.

“What you’re basically trying to do is figure out what happened each minute of the day and track down where the victim went,” Montagna said.