Identified! CA - Delano, Hisp/Ntv Fem 59UFCA, 30-34, 'Shirley, Seattle' tattoo, Jul'80 - Shirley Ann Soosay

[JerseyGirl]

Jun 21, 2016 - Wilson Chouest - preliminary hearing at Ventura County Superior Court for murder charges of the two women and the fetus of the pregnant victim

- An investigator said a man confessed to killing a woman and directing others to clean up his bloodied vehicle

- the woman found on July 15, 1980, in the almond orchard had 18 stab wounds to the chest and upper part of the abdomen and a total of nine "defensive" wounds to both hands

- toxicology showed the woman had a blood alcohol level of 0.29 percent. When asked if the blood alcohol level increases as a body starts to decompose, Comparini said yes

Investigator says suspect admitted slaying

Past victims testify in felon's trial over 1980 killings in Ventura, Kern counties

Past victims testify in felon's trial over 1980 killings in Ventura, Kern counties

 

[folieadeuxnola]

Jane Doe in 1980 California murder had Seattle tattoo

**Must watch video ...

Kern County Jane Doe, who had the “Seattle” tattoo, was found in an orchard July 15, 1980.

She was Hispanic or Native American. She was approximately 25 to 35 years old, 5-foot-3, and 115 pounds. She had black or dark brown hair with some gray. She showed signs of a previous pregnancy and was missing an entire top row of teeth.

Two women at a bar in Delano, Calif. north of Bakersfield told detectives they recognized Kern County Jane Doe’s tattoos. Initially unsure of the woman's name, they later told deputies the victim went by "Rebecca Ochoa," or "Becky," and she had served time in Kern County jail and in migrant worker road camp facilities.

However, investigators find no records of "Rebecca Ochoa" in their databases, and there were no fingerprint matches.

 

[Springrain]

Is my memory really bad or is the teeth thing new info?

 

[Suglo]

Could Shirley be the name of a daughter she had and Seattle where she either had her and/or left her (with family or through adoption). Can’t help but think that Seattle is key to identifying her.

 

[AutumnAkasha]

I've been getting quite hung up on the possible name mentioned - Rebecca/Becky Ochoa. Assuming that the women at the bar who provided this name were in fact talking about the correct woman, I do believe that this name has some thread of truth to it. I'm skeptical that Rebecca Ochoa was her actual legal full name since I feel that by now, especially with the trial of this murder, someone would have uncovered an unaccounted for woman by this name. Again, totally just my hunch. I do understand that paper trails and inter departmental communication was mostly terrible at that time so, it's entirely possible that this is her actual name and she has just fallen through the cracks somewhere - especially if she were an illegal migrant worker. There's also a handful of girls named Rebecca Ochoa listed in the California birth index (searched this at familysearch.org) during the possible birth years of this woman. I did a generous search of 1940-1960.

So, my hunches that I have been working on are that either her first or middle name was Rebecca/Rebekah/variation there of (in the above referenced search, I did find 2 or 3 woman with Rebecca listed as a middle name with the last name Ochoa). Ochoa may or may not be her legal last name. If it is not her legal last name, I'd suspect that it is the last name of her child/child's father, her mother's maiden name or the last name of an intimate partner.

As for "Shirley", I am thinking daughter, mother, or intimate partner. Following the leads I've mentioned above, that could mean in any of those cases the Shirley mentioned could be named Shirley Ochoa. I've found multiple women named Shirley Ochoa whose ages could fit any one of those scenarios. Unfortunately, looking at Facebook profiles, obituaries, etc for these Shirleys, I haven't found anything that jumps out as being linked to this woman.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what Seattle would represent. The first thing that came to mind was perhaps an unofficial marriage in Seattle to a woman named Shirley? or perhaps they met there? Or as mentioned in a previous comment this could represent the birth place of a daughter named Shirley. The Seattle part kind of almost rules out Shirley being her mother's name because I just can't think of why you'd place Seattle in such a way on a tattoo for your mother. Although, one interesting note is that one of the obituaries for a Shirley Ochoa mentions that her family was a military family and they moved all over the country so. that did pique my interest a bit and would kind of make sense - as if Seattle was a special place they lived or something memorable happened there.

I apologize that this has been long, I've just been kind of thinking out loud and sharing some of the rabbit holes I've been exploring. I'm really hoping that this woman's family can get closure soon.

 

[AutumnAkasha]

Also, has the prosthetic leg been confirmed? I've only seen it mentioned in one news article and I feel like that's a pretty huge identifier to not be mentioned in her NamUs profile or really anywhere else.

 

[carbuff]

Don't know if it makes any difference to where you look for research, but most migrant agricultural workers aren't illegal. There's a specific visa program for them and most such workers return year after year. I don't know whether there's a searchable database for that information or not.

 

[AutumnAkasha]

Don't know if it makes any difference to where you look for research, but most migrant agricultural workers aren't illegal. There's a specific visa program for them and most such workers return year after year. I don't know whether there's a searchable database for that information or not.

I'm hoping she is a legal migrant worker because that (in theory anyways) should make her more likely to identify. I have tried to search for her in immigration records and such but nothing too promising has come up.

If she does happen to be illegal, that would decrease my feeling that the name associated with her is true in some aspect only because I have family members who are illegal and while some use their legal name, others do not. I'm sure it's no surprise that there's a market for legal identities to be sold to illegal immigrants and if that were the case here then the whole "Rebecca Ochoa" lead would be useless.

I am still holding onto my hunch that the name is true to some extent though. My own hunch is also that she was a legal citizen whether born in the US or not. I have NO substantial evidence for that though - mostly just the hope that that's the case.

 

[AutumnAkasha]

Next rabbit hole - the women at the bar indicated that the woman they knew as Rebecca Ochoa had done time in the county jail. I've been browsing old news papers for arrests within a few years before the body was found. So fAR the only female with last name Ochoa I've found was Ophelia Ochoa in kern county in 1975. I wasn't able to see the reason for the arrest though. I wish we knew why she did time. I wish we knew who those two women from the bar were! ...So many questions for them!

 

[Al Ka]

Kern County and Ventura County Jane Doe may be closer than ever to being identified

The nonprofit was eager to help identify Ventura and Kern Doe. The coroner's office is currently working on getting a viable DNA sample from Kern Doe to send off. Meanwhile, the DNA Doe Project has made progress on Ventura Jane Doe, who was four months pregnant when she was killed.

The nonprofit found Ventura Doe is 60% Native American. The rest of her DNA is a mix that suggests her father was likely partially Hispanic. Volunteer genealogists have successfully found a third cousin of Ventura Doe, and are working on finding more closely related family members that will hopefully reveal her identity.

They say it's a process that with other cases has taken as little as four hours, and as long as 10 months.

In recent months, we've also learned more about where the does came from before their bodies were dumped in Kern and Ventura County.

Information was given to law enforcement that Ventura County Jane Doe was abducted from Visalia, 80 miles from Bakersfield. She's believed to have been hitchhiking near the College of the Sequoias.

Kern County Jane Doe is believed to have been taken from a bar in Lemoore. Now closed, in 1980 it was called Rubys.

Again, while the process for identifying Ventura County Doe's family is further along than Kern Jane Does, the DNA Doe Project and the Kern County Coroner's Office are hopeful they will soon know the identities of both women.

Kern County and Ventura County Jane Doe may be closer than ever to being identified

 

[UnlicensedPI]

That's the best news! I have so much hope

 

[Vivian Q]

Could Shirley be the name of a daughter she had and Seattle where she either had her and/or left her (with family or through adoption). Can’t help but think that Seattle is key to identifying her.

Could Shirley be the name of a daughter she had and Seattle where she either had her and/or left her (with family or through adoption). Can’t help but think that Seattle is key to identifying her.

I also think Seattle has some great meaning to her. The other tattoo of, "Mother, I love you" , could also be a tribute to her mother who passed away? Many people get their parent's name tattooed after they have passed on.

 

[paper sun]

is it possible that "shirley" was her girlfriend?

Imminently possible. Probable, really. The thread, except for cvaldez1975, seems to have skipped gingerly around the likelihood.

She already had a "mother" tattoo.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

In a sub thread on fb, Margaret Press answered a question concerning Kern County Jane Doe's status quo, and apparently, she's headed for the sequence lab shortly*!
DNA Doe Project


*At least, I hope it's this Kern County Jane Doe! They didn't specify

 

[taramarie]

In a sub thread on fb, Margaret Press answered a question concerning Kern County Jane Doe's status quo, and apparently, she's headed for the sequence lab shortly*!
DNA Doe Project


*At least, I hope it's this Kern County Jane Doe! They didn't specify

I think this is the woman Margaret is referring to, but I asked for clarification already since she isn’t listed as a “pending” case yet. They mentioned a few months back that they’d probably get this case though.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

I think this is the woman Margaret is referring to, but I asked for clarification already since she isn’t listed as a “pending” case yet. They mentioned a few months back that they’d probably get this case though.

Thank you! Yes, it would seem more logical since they're already working on Ventura Jane Doe and have mentioned communicating with the agency about doing Rebecca Doe as well, but the lack of a link or NamUs ID made me a bit uncertain.

Their pinned post also states that there are several Does in their pipeline again

 

[taramarie]

Thank you! Yes, it would seem more logical since they're already working on Ventura Jane Doe and have mentioned communicating with the agency about doing Rebecca Doe as well, but the lack of a link or NamUs ID made me a bit uncertain.

Their pinned post also states that there are several Does in their pipeline again

Margaret responded that Kern County JD’s extract is ready to send to sequencing as soon as the paperwork is finished!!!

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Based on QC results, additional extraction is being considered, according to the DDP.

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

Sounds like perhaps they've been more successful--per 3/2/19 DDP update:

at lab for final QC and sequencing.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

*Bump*

DDP case update from 15/5:

Kern Co Jane Doe (CA) - Second round of sequencing in bioinformatics.