Grandson arrested in missing woman’s death

Vehicle found in Barstow




By ABBY SEWELL
Desert Dispatch




Arturo Hernandez


BARSTOW • The grandson of a missing woman who turned up dead in the Mojave Desert has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Arturo Hernandez, 20, was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of his 58-year-old grandmother, Luisa Aguilar Ventura, on Thanksgiving Day. Despite inquiries on the status of the case, officials did not release the arrest information until Thursday.

They also did not previously release the fact that Ventura’s silver 2002 Toyota Tacoma had been found parked behind the Barstow Mall on East Main Street Nov. 20. Witnesses said the truck had been apparently abandoned there for about three days, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department report.

Sheriff’s department spokeswoman Jodi Miller said that investigators asked that the information be withheld until Thursday, out of fear of jeopardizing a sensitive investigation. She declined to elaborate on the reasons.

Family members in Pomona reported Ventura and Hernandez missing on Nov. 17, after they failed to return home from a trip to Las Vegas as expected. They had left a family member’s house in Las Vegas the day before.

Ventura’s body was found on Excelsior Mine Road, west of Interstate 15, on Nov. 25, according to the most recent sheriff’s report. The body had signs of trauma, Miller said, but a cause of death has not been determined, pending toxicology test results.

After Ventura’s body was found, family members told investigators that Hernandez was back in Southern California, Miller said. He was found at a bus stop in Rosemead by Temple City Sheriff’s Department personnel, who detained him and brought him to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department central headquarters for questioning. He was arrested there.

Miller said there was no obvious motive for the killing.

“Apparently (Hernandez) has lived with his grandmother for the majority of his life, and there’s no indication of why this may have happened,” she said.

Hernandez was arraigned in Barstow on the murder charge Tuesday and pleaded not-guilty, according to court records. He is being held at the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino on $1 million bail, with his next hearing date set for Dec. 9.

Investigators are now trying to piece together what happened between the time when the pair left Las Vegas and when Hernandez was arrested. Anyone who recalls seeing Ventura, Hernandez or the truck is asked to call the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department homicide detail at 909-387-3589 or the 24-hour dispatch center at 909-387-8313. To remain anonymous, call WE-TIP at (800) 78-CRIME or leave information on the WeTip Web site at www.wetip.com.

Timeline:

• Nov. 16: Luisa Ventura, 58, and grandson Arturo Hernandez, 20, leave a family member’s house in Las Vegas to head home to Pomona.


• Nov. 17: Family members in Pomona report them missing when they fail to arrive home.


• Nov. 20: Ventura’s Toyota Tacoma is found behind the Barstow Mall, where witnesses say it was abandoned for about three days.


• Nov. 25: Ventura’s body is found in the Mojave Desert southwest of the California/Nevada border.


• Nov. 27: Hernandez is arrested in Rosemead.


• Dec. 4: Officials release the information that Hernandez has been arrested.

Missing woman's body found in Mojave National Preserve

Luisa Aguilar Ventura, 58, was reported missing Nov. 17. Her grandson, Arturo Hernandez, 18, and his pickup truck are being sought.

Luisa Aguilar Ventura

By Esmeralda Bermudez
Los Angeles Times
and
Stacia Glenn
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

The body of a 58-year-old woman missing since last week was found in the Mojave National Preserve on Tuesday morning.

Luisa Aguilar Ventura was reported missing by relatives in Pomona on Nov. 17 after she failed to arrive in Madera, Calif., north of Fresno, with her 18-year-old grandson, Arturo Hernandez. She and her grandson, Arturo Hernandez, 18, were heading from Las Vegas to Madera. Ventura last spoke to her family when the two left Las Vegas at 6 p.m. on Nov. 16.

The incident is being investigated by homicide detectives, but so far has not been ruled a homicide, said Arden Wiltshire, spokeswoman with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. Authorities are searching for Hernandez.

"We don't even know if he's aware that she died," Wiltshire said about Ventura's grandson, adding that there were no signs of trauma on Ventura's body. The coroner's report has not been released. "We need to talk to him," she said.

A passing truck driver discovered Ventura's body near the Nevada and California state line in Cima and about 100 yards from Cima Road, south of the 15 Freeway. Ventura and Hernandez were traveling in a gray 2002 Toyota Tacoma, license plate 6Y27079. Authorities are searching for the truck.

Anyone with information is asked to call the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department homicide detail at (909) 387-3589.

Human remains identified

Desert Dispatch

BAKER -- The human remains found by a family of hikers last week have been identified and the Coroner's office determined the cause of death to be blunt trauma.

An autopsy was performed Friday on the remains found on May 14, when a family from Las Vegas was hiking in the Mojave National Preserve near Cima and Excelsior Mine roads west of Interstate 15 and north of Baker and found what looked like human remains.

A representative from the Coroner's office released the cause of death as blunt trauma, and investigators believe the victim died at another location and was later left at the Cima Road location.

On Monday investigators were able to determine that the body was that of Lawrence Thomas, 47, of Henderson, Nev., who was reported missing on April 22 in Henderson, according to information from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Homicide Detail. He was last seen on April 13.

Anyone with further information on the case is urged to contact homicide investigators Detective Jon Billings or Sgt. Frank Bell at (909) 387-3589.

Information can also be left anonymously by calling WeTip at (800) 78-CRIME. WeTip informants are eligible for up to $1,000 reward if their information leads to an arrest and conviction.