A suspect has finally been named and arrested in the case of a man found murdered near Malibu in early October. The body of victim Jose Antonio Velasquez was found by hikers in the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu months after the victim had been reported missing.
The 35-year-old Velasquez of Camarillo had last been seen in Thousand Oaks in July 2022. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded the cause of death was from multiple gunshot wounds. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department announced an arrest January 13.
Murder charges were filed the following Tuesday. An arraignment of suspect Rotherie Durell Foster was scheduled for January 18, but Foster only made a brief Zoom appearance from jail. The arraignment has been continued to February 17 according to a Ventura County District Attorney spokesperson.
Foster has also been charged with eight counts of identity theft, two counts of forgery, and firearms violations from prior felony convictions.