The death of a 35-year-old man, who went missing in late July and whose remains were discovered in the Santa Monica Mountains earlier this month has been ruled homicide.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, Jose Velasquez died of multiple gunshot wounds.
A native of Honduras, Velasquez moved to Simi Valley in 2016 and worked as a plumber, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. After obtaining his general contractor’s license in 2021, the 35-year-old moved to an apartment in Camarillo.
Family members told the Times that on the night of July 27, Velasquez had a beer near Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks with friends.
Velasquez’s work van was found about four miles from the shopping mall on Aug. 1. It did not appear that anything had been stolen from the vehicle.
The investigation into Velasquez’s death is underway by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Major Crime Bureau. Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact VC Sheriff’s Detective Jeff Jacobs at 805-384-4726.