Remains Of Missing 35

Apr 08, 2023

AGOURA HILLS, CA — Hikers stumbled across the remains of a missing 35-year-old in the Santa Monica Mountains, authorities announced Monday.

Hikers found the remains of Jose Velasquez, 35, of Camarillo, around 5:56 p.m. on Oct. 3, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. The body was found in the 2600 block of April Road in Agoura Hills, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.

The Acorn reported the body found on Oct. 3 near Mulholland Highway and April Road was wrapped in a tarp and tied with a bungee cord. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department has not publicly confirmed whether Velasquez's body was found wrapped in a tarp.

Velasquez was reported missing in July after he disappeared "under suspicious circumstances," authorities said.

Velasquez was last seen on July 27 near the Janss Market Place in Thousand Oaks, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. His family believed he had met with friends at a bar nearby, according to the Los Angeles Times. On Aug. 1, authorities found his work van about four miles from Janss Marketplace, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Velasquez is originally from Tegucigalpa, Honduras and moved to Simi Valley in 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported. He moved to Camarillo in 2021 after he got his general contractor's license.

Velasquez's loved ones made a GoFundMe to help pay to transport his remains to Virginia, where he had initially settled before coming to California, the Los Angeles Times reported. The GoFundMe had raised $2,625 of its $15,000 goal in just a day.

"On behalf of our family, we want to announce that our beloved Toñito was taken from us. After searching for him for two months, his body remains were found in the mountains of Santa Monica," loved ones wrote on GoFundMe. "We are asking for financial support to bring him home from California to Virginia and to be able to lay him to rest."

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