CA CA - Johnnie Herrera, 20, Oxnard, 27 Aug 1971

[Bobby88]

This is the email that Elidet sent back to me after I agreed to do the article:

Hi, Bobby,


Thank you for getting back to me and for helping with this case. I am working with Oxnard Police Department, which is handling the case.

What I need from you is a picture and 3-5 sentence bio about you and your background. Should be written in third person, but we edit and proof read everything here so we just need your info.


You are going to be added as a contributor to this issue of the magazine. Once it is printed, it will also be available online, but I can send you extra copies for yourself.

This info will be included in our masthead, where we post the Letter from the Editor.


About the Case:


I am not looking for someone to write about how sad the family is that he is missing.


What I am looking for is information that can help solve the case, like a detective.
The Ventura County Star's article didn't include information that can lead to solving the case. I want to do better, our quality and standards are higher so I expect a more detailed article or story for our magazine.

The reason I contacted you was because I saw that you ask other questions like what happened at the bachelor party. That is exactly the kind of person I would like to be involved in helping write this article.


I can go interview and look for people that you need to me interview if we can find them.

Here are things I want included in the article (remember, I will be editing and contributing as well, so this article will be written by both of us, and you do get credit for it.)


1. Who's bachelor party was it? (I understand that this gentleman is deceased, however, this is something I want included.)
2. Who was at the bachelor party? (We would be contacting the detective assigned to this case.)
3. How was he at the bachelor party? Drunk, sober, hyper, etc?
4. Where did he work?
5. Who was he married to? (She is also deceased, but this needs to be included.)
6. Who were his friends?
7. What lead up to the disappearance? What did he do that day and night?
8. Where was the party vs. where did he live at the time? (I am adding a little map for illustration purposes.)
9. What high school did he attend?
10. What was he like? Personality?


The article does not need to be written in this order, these are just some of the things I need in there. I don't expect you to do all the research yourself.
I live locally, so I can be your eyes and research partner here in Oxnard. Any copies of old newspapers and such, I'm already working on it. I will be sending you information as I get it.


I am looking to contact the twin brother to interview him, and you will receive the audio of the interview for your research.


Please let me know what you need from me.

Call me anytime, 805-832-0351 and thank you for your time!



Elidet Bordon
805-832-0351
Editor
VenturaCountyCrimeBlog.com
Ventura County's Cold Cases

 

[branwynbreeze]

Wow, you are really getting the word out! Any news from Fresno about their UID?

 

[Bobby88]

Wow, you are really getting the word out! Any news from Fresno about their UID?

No, I haven't. I think in all likelihood, it's not Johnnie because I really don't think Johnnie was alive for very long after he was last seen. But it never hurts to look into these things and get an official confirmation one way or the other.

 

[Bobby88]

Just in case anyone is interested, here is what little I have started of the article for the magazine:

Whatever Happened to Johnnie Herrera?

The year was 1971. Richard Nixon was in the White House. The controversial sitcom All in the Family debuted on CBS. Rod Stewart’s Maggie May topped the pop music charts, and a new car at the time cost on average a whopping $3,500 and could be powered by gasoline purchased at forty cents a gallon. On August 27 of that year, twenty-year-old Johnnie Herrera, a handsome, dark-haired young man dressed sharply in a purple shirt and white pants, attended a friend’s bachelor party on the 700 block of West Cedar Street in Oxnard. He was reportedly seen at the party, but what happened after that is unknown. What is known is that neither Johnnie nor the blue 1969 Volkswagen Beetle he was driving that night have ever been seen or heard from again. He left behind a young wife (now deceased) and ten-month-old son, as well as a host of unanswered questions. His is the oldest unsolved missing persons case on file in Oxnard, and undoubtedly one of the most baffling.

Johnnie Joe Herrera and his identical twin brother Joe were born in Oxnard on February 17, 1951 to Mexican immigrant parents named Laureano and María Herrera (née Rodriguez). They were the fifth-born in a family that included a total of seven children, all seemingly normal kids. Johnnie and his brother graduated from Hueneme High School in 1969.

I haven't gotten any more info from Elidet yet to write any more than this. What do y'all think?

 

[ctaylor]

Just in case anyone is interested, here is what little I have started of the article for the magazine:

Whatever Happened to Johnnie Herrera?

The year was 1971. Richard Nixon was in the White House. The controversial sitcom All in the Family debuted on CBS. Rod Stewart’s Maggie May topped the pop music charts, and a new car at the time cost on average a whopping $3,500 and could be powered by gasoline purchased at forty cents a gallon. On August 27 of that year, twenty-year-old Johnnie Herrera, a handsome, dark-haired young man dressed sharply in a purple shirt and white pants, attended a friend’s bachelor party on the 700 block of West Cedar Street in Oxnard. He was reportedly seen at the party, but what happened after that is unknown. What is known is that neither Johnnie nor the blue 1969 Volkswagen Beetle he was driving that night have ever been seen or heard from again. He left behind a young wife (now deceased) and ten-month-old son, as well as a host of unanswered questions. His is the oldest unsolved missing persons case on file in Oxnard, and undoubtedly one of the most baffling.

Johnnie Joe Herrera and his identical twin brother Joe were born in Oxnard on February 17, 1951 to Mexican immigrant parents named Laureano and María Herrera (née Rodriguez). They were the fifth-born in a family that included a total of seven children, all seemingly normal kids. Johnnie and his brother graduated from Hueneme High School in 1969.

I haven't gotten any more info from Elidet yet to write any more than this. What do y'all think?

I think it's excellent Bobby, really sets the scene and makes you want to read more. I just saw your post from last month with the list of questions she would like answered or mentioned in the article. Wow, she's set you a real task! However, these are the questions that do need answered and it's great that she is helping from the local area. I wonder if the police asked all of these questions at the time. Be great to read the finished piece. As branwynbreeze mentioned earlier, you've done a great job getting word out there!

 

[Bobby88]

I think it's excellent Bobby, really sets the scene and makes you want to read more. I just saw your post from last month with the list of questions she would like answered or mentioned in the article. Wow, she's set you a real task! However, these are the questions that do need answered and it's great that she is helping from the local area. I wonder if the police asked all of these questions at the time. Be great to read the finished piece. As branwynbreeze mentioned earlier, you've done a great job getting word out there!

Thanks. As far as whether or not the police asked those questions at the time, I wouldn't be too surprised if they didn't. When it came to missing adults back then, police were less diligent than they are now and may have simply assumed that Johnnie ran away from his responsibilities voluntarily.

I can't remember if I posted this here or not, but branwynbreeze told me a few months back that she thinks she found the name of the friend who had the party. It wasn't John Herrera like I posted earlier; it turns out that that man was already married on 8/7/71, almost 3 weeks before the disappearance.

I now believe the man who had the party was actually José Lopez Aceves who married María Herrera (probably no relation to Johnnie) on September 4, 1971 in Ventura county. There doesn't seem to be any birth records for this man, indicating that he was probably born in Mexico. His marriage is the only one found in Ventura county records that took place just after Johnnie disappearance.

 

[Bobby88]

I found out that Johnnie's twin brother Joe has two daughters and the younger one, whose name is Joy, was a contestant on The Price is Right in 2006. I had seen her episode several times and it was only recently that I made the connection. I distinctly remember Joy saying later on in the show that she was from Oxnard.

Here's the clip. Doesn't she look EXACTLY like her father/uncle?

Price Is Right "Joy is having a joy of a time, but not Bob" - YouTube

 

[Bobby88]

Today marks the 40th Christmas Johnnie's friends and family have spent without him.

Merry Christmas, Johnnie, wherever you are.

 

[Bobby88]

I'm thinking of making a Youtube video highlighting Johnnie's case. What do y'all think?

 

[ctaylor]

I'm thinking of making a Youtube video highlighting Johnnie's case. What do y'all think?

It's a good idea Bobby, it gets the word out more...

I must admit when I saw this story about a skull found in Oxnard of course I thought of Johnnie right away but sadly it looks like this definitely isn't him - http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jan...artner=yahoo_feeds#ixzz1kPUSqM1m - vcstar.com

 

[Bobby88]

The show "Disappeared" is looking for case suggestions for their new season, and I'm sending in Johnnie's case.

 

[Bobby88]

I got this reply back today from Erin Browne of the show "Disappeared".

Hello Bobby,
Thank you so much for submitting.
I will look into Johnnie’s case as soon as I can. Thanks for the details you’ve provided.

Please just know that at this point we are only in the research stages, and there are no guarantees that any stories will make it to air but I will share the case with the team to see if it fits. It is particularly difficult to get a case that is more than 10 years old on the show, but it is possible – so I will look into it.

If you have any questions please feel free to send them my way.

Thanks again,

Erin Browne
NBC NEWS - Peacock Productions
Associate Producer
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
212-664-3799

 

[ctaylor]

I got this reply back today from Erin Browne of the show "Disappeared".

Hello Bobby,
Thank you so much for submitting.
I will look into Johnnie’s case as soon as I can. Thanks for the details you’ve provided.

Please just know that at this point we are only in the research stages, and there are no guarantees that any stories will make it to air but I will share the case with the team to see if it fits. It is particularly difficult to get a case that is more than 10 years old on the show, but it is possible – so I will look into it.

If you have any questions please feel free to send them my way.

Thanks again,

Erin Browne
NBC NEWS - Peacock Productions
Associate Producer
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
212-664-3799

Hope they can look into it and get it on the show. You're really doing great work Bobby to get Johnnie's case some more exposure

 

[Bobby88]

WARNING: This post may seem inflammatory and offensive to those involved in the case. These are questions I've had regarding Johnnie's disappearance based on my nearly two year's worth of research into the case. These questions, as uncomfortable as they may be, are in no way meant to attack, disrespect, or defame Johnnie, his character, or those who love and care about him. I almost didn't want to post these questions, but when I thought about it, I considered the fact that others who have looked at this thread may have the same questions, but were too afraid to ask them outright for fear of sounding insensitive. However, I believe it is by discussing such questions and looking at this case from all possible angles that we may be able to find out what happened to Johnnie all those years ago and thereby bring peace to his family after 40 years of worry.

The questions I have about this case are:

* Why wasn't it Annette who made the missing persons report? It was the husband and father of her child who was missing and legally, she would be Johnnie's next of kin.

* Why did Joe wait all those days to report his brother missing? I can forgive the first 48 hours since most police depts. won't/can't declare an adult officially missing during those two days, but why wait three more days? Especially since he swears up and down that Johnnie would never just disappear. Joe has probably kicked himself every day since then about not doing something sooner. But the question still remains - if he was so convinced that his brother wouldn't just vanish and that something was dreadfully amiss, why did he and the family think they would simply "happen" upon him somewhere around town during those three days?

* The VC Star article states that Joe and his family searched the San Fernando valley and Skid Row over the years "in the hopes of finding clues". What "clues" did they expect to find? I'm sure they were just trying to be thorough, but what made them think Johnnie was in either place, particularly Skid Row? Skid Row can be a very dangerous place; was Johnnie invovled in drugs or something that they even entertained the notion that he was there? I think there's a specific reason they looked where they did. This is one of those things where I think there's more to the victim than meets the eye.

* Although the same article didn't state what Johnnie actually did for a living, it did say that he was employed at the time of his disappearance. Didn't his boss and/or co-workers notify anyone when he abruptly stopped coming in for his shift? Unless he was on some leave of absence or was using up some sick days or something, five days is a long time to simply not come into work.

* Did Johnnie have a best friend (apart from his twin brother) in whom he may have confided if something was wrong? His relatives stated that he didn't seem unhappy, but sometimes people, particularly younger people, confide thing in their close friends rather than relatives.

* Detective Fenton states that people thought that it was only because he got Annette pregnant that Johnnie married her at all. Who specifically said this? And was it simply their perception, or did Johnnie confide this to them?

* What were the "indications" (as Det. Fenton put it) of marital and financial problems between Johnnie and Annette?

* How did Johnnie's friends and relatives feel about Annette, and how did hers feel about him? Was there any tension?

* What was Johnnie's personality like? Was he naive and trusting of others to the point of accidentally putting himself in danger to help someone (i.e., picking up any hitch hiker/vagrant he came across while driving without fear of the person possibly being dangerous)?

* Was there anyone who Johnnie didn't get along with who may have wanted to harm him? In other words, could someone have been bullying or harassing Johnnie and he simply never told anyone?

Any other questions, feel free to add them. This is one of those cases where it seems as though very little adds up.

 

[Bobby88]

I sent the following message to Detective Fenton, asking her more specific questions that she'd probably be able to answer based on her investigation:

Hello. I wrote to you about two years ago asking for info about the 1971 missing persons case of Johnnie Joe Herrera. Since then, I've been contacted by Elidet Bordon, a journalist in Ventura County who is planning to start a new magazine called "Ventura County Cold Cases" and had asked me to help write an article on Johnnie's disappearance. I don't know if she ever got in touch with you for more information, but I did give her your name and number. I haven't heard from her in a few months.

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of research into Johnnie's case and have since found out that his late wife's name was Annette (maiden name Evans; 8/22/53-1/29/95) and their son is Johnnie Jr. But I have some more specific questions if you don't mind:

* What was the name of the friend for whom this bachelor party was held? I've searched the Ventura County marriage records and have only been able to find one man who got married just after Johnnie's disappearance. His name was Jose Aceves, and he married a woman named María Herrera (presumably no relation to Johnnie) on September 7, 1971. Is Jose Aceves the correct man?

* About how many people were at the party? Was it a small gathering, or a huge celebration? Did any of the people questioned actually see Johnnie leave, or did he somehow slip out unnoticed (i.e., they didn't actually see him leave, but noticed at some point that he and his car were gone and therefore assumed he just left without saying anything)?

* Do you have the names of any of the people at the party?

* Was there drinking at the party? If so, did anyone say whether or not Johnnie had been drinking and/or whether or not he was drunk?

* Where was Johnnie living at the time? Did he and Annette and the baby have their own place, or were they living at 1325 W. Juniper St. with the rest of Johnnie's family?
(which I found out is only 6 minutes drive from the 700 block of W. Cedar St. where the party was held.) If they had their own place, what was the address?

* What did Johnnie do for a living? How long did he have the job before his disappearance?

* Was Annette ever questioned as to any possible involvement? The reason I'm asking is because if she and Johnnie had their own place and the people at the party saw him leave for home, it would only be Annette's word that he never arrived home. It would also raise the question of why, knowing her husband was missing, she didn't report it herself instead of her brother-in-law doing so.

* When Johnnie's brother Joe made the report on September 1, 1971, did he ever mention (or was he asked) why he didn't come to the authorities sooner? I know an adult has to be missing for 48 consecutive hours in order to legally be considered a missing person by police, but why did he wait three more days after the first 48 hours? I find that extremely baffling especially since Joe swore up and down that Johnnie would never simply vanish.

* I don't know if you're aware of this, but apparently during the five-day interim between the disappearance and the report being filed, Joe went to the McDonald's on Saviers Road (one of Johnnie's main hangouts) and someone said they thought they had in fact seen Johnnie. Do you have any more info on this unconfirmed sighting? What were the exact circumstances of this sighting? For instance, was Johnnie seen dining there or did this witness just see someone walking or driving by the restaurant and think it was him?

* You mentioned to me in our initial e-mails that there were "indications" that Johnnie and Annette were having marital and financial issues in their relationship. What specific indications and/or relationship problems were there? Were they not getting along? Was there abuse?

* You also stated that some people thought that it was only as a result of Annette's pregnancy that Johnnie married her. Who specifically thought or said this to investigators? And was this simply their perception of things, or did they say they Johnnie openly admitted this to them?

* How did Johnnie's family and friends feel about Annette? And how did her family and friends feel about him? Was there ever any tension?

* Did either Johnnie or Annette ever have any scrapes with the law?

* I know Johnnie was one of seven children, but do you know anything about his background, personality, habits, etc.? Was he street-smart, or more naive and susceptible to a possible abductor?

Do you have copies of the original police reports and/or statements from any of the people questioned by police? If so, I'd like to see them.

I've sent Johnnie's case into the Investigation Discovery show "Disappeared" and they said they'd consider it at their next staff meeting. I gave them your name, number, and e-mail address in case they needed more info from you. I'm hoping to get enough information about both the disappearance and Johnnie himself to eventually write a book about this case.

Any info you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Bobby Border





Whether I'll actually hear back from her, I have no idea. In any event, when I first started looking into this case in summer 2010, I never in a million years imagined that Johnnie's case would get such attention from people like the VC Star or "Disappeared". I really didn't expect to get much attention or cooperation at all intially. I expected people to simply look at the date of when he disappeared and dub it too old to be solved or even garner new leads.

 

[Bobby88]

Today would have been Johnnie's 61st birthday. Happy birthday, Johnnie, wherever you may be.

 

[Bobby88]

I happened to mention to my counselor today that I've been investigating Johnnie's disappearance and when I told her about the case, she seemed very interested and gave me a few ideas that I never even thought of.

First, she stated that in general, bachelor parties only invite a select few friends and relatives guests. The guests are usually those who have a specific function in the ceremony, such as the best man, ushers, etc. Therefore, she thinks that Johnnie actually had one of those roles.

Also, since most bachelor and bachelorette parties are held the night before the wedding or sometimes the week before, she told me that she thought it was outrageous that (assuming that Jose Aceves is the correct groom) the wedding simply went on as planned as though Johnnie wasn't even missed! Given that Johnnie was at the bachelor party, she thinks he may have had an actual role in the ceremony and therefore (if that was the case), she found it even harder to believe that the wedding went smoothly without Johnnie.

When we happened to discuss the fact that Johnnie's twin brother Joe made a point to look for him in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, which is very dangerous and has a lot of drug and gang activity, my counselor wondered if perhaps there was a stripper or call girl at the party who was from that dangerous area. She suggested that perhaps Johnnie had given the stripper a ride back to Skid Row. She said that perhaps Joe may have been aware of that and that could be why he went there to look for his brother.

 

[Bobby88]

Bump.

 

[Bobby88]

Bump.

 

[Bobby88]

Got this e-mail today.

Mr. Border,
I am the Sergeant over the Missing Persons Unit at Oxnard Police. I received a copy of a recent email you sent to my employee, Lynette Fenton. I wanted to touch base with you and let you know that she will no longer be releasing any type of information on our cases to you or anyone else. Since we have not talked, I am not certain who you are professionally. Unless you are another investigating agency, we can’t share information with you. I would be willing to talk with you about your requests regarding this missing person case.

Hopefully you understand why we can’t share information with you unless you are an involved party. If you would be interested in speaking with me you can contact me at the below listed phone number.

Thank you for your time.

[FONT=&quot]Sharon Giles, Sergeant[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sexual Assault & Family Protection Unit[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Oxnard Police Department[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]805-385-7620[/FONT]