Community
Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477). ###
Homicide / Cold Case Update
| Nature of Incident: | Homicide / Cold Case Update | ||||
| Report Number: | 80-12246 | ||||
| Location: | 100 Block Lakeview Canyon Road, Thousand Oaks | ||||
| Date & Time: | July 18, 1980 | ||||
| Unit(s) Responsible: | Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Bureau Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit Ventura County Crime Lab Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office California Department of Justice DNA Doe Project National Missing and Unidentified Persons Systems National Center for Missing and Exploited Children |
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| (S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent |
City of Residence |
Age | |||
| (V) Maricela Rocha Parga (V) Fetus (S) Wilson Claude Chouest Jr. |
Los Angeles Lemoore |
22 75 |
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| Narrative: |
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| On July 18, 1980, deputies with the Thousand Oaks Police Department responded to the upper parking lot of Westlake High School reference a deceased female being discovered. Deputies arrived and confirmed an unidentified partially clothed female had been left in the parking lot and suffered multiple stab wounds. An investigator with the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene and took possession of the body for further examination and determination of cause and manner of death. During examination by the Medical Examiner’s Office, the female victim was found to be pregnant at the time of her death. Detectives with the Major Crimes Bureau assumed the investigation and after exhausting all leads the case went cold and the female remained unidentified. Detectives referred to the unidentified female victim as Jane Doe Ventura County. In 2011, detectives with the Cold Case Unit reexamined the case and analyzed evidence for the presence of DNA. A DNA profile was developed from the evidence and in January 2013 that DNA profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Detectives were notified of a CODIS hit on the DNA profile that was submitted. The CODIS hit came back to Wilson Chouest who was incarcerated in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation serving a life sentence for a previous conviction for robbery, kidnapping and rape that occurred in September 1980. Detectives from the Cold Case Unit presented the case to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. In 2015, Chouest was transferred to Ventura County Jail and arrested for the murder of Jane Doe Ventura County. Chouest was found guilty of the murder of Jane Doe Ventura County and sentenced to another life term without the possibility of parole. At the time of Chouest’s conviction, Jane Doe Ventura County remained unidentified. Detectives were not satisfied by merely obtaining a conviction and continued to work to identify the victim in order to bring closure to the family. Through advances in DNA technology and collaboration with the DNA Doe Project, Jane Doe Ventura County was positively identified in January 2026 as Maricela Rocha Parga. The DNA Doe Project was instrumental in assisting identifying Maricela Rocha Parga, a case that remained unsolved for years and where identification was arduously pursued for several years after the conviction of her killer. The DNA Doe Project’s comprehensive genealogy research allowed detectives with the Cold Case Unit to trace DNA connections that ultimately led to Maricela’s positive identification. These types of cases are not just about solving a case, for those involved it is about giving a name back to the victim who deserves to be remembered and bringing closure to the families that have been searching for answers. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit continually investigates numerous cold cases through cooperation with outside agencies, working with various forensic laboratories, and utilizing assistance from volunteer organizations to solve and make progress of these types of cases. In 2022, the County of Ventura received federal funding through a request made with California Representative Julia Brownley’s Office. That funding was for the Sheriff’s Forensic Services Bureau, Sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau and the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations to continue efforts in support of a joint specialized unit that is dedicated to the investigation, laboratory analysis, and prosecution of backlogged violent crimes cases that hold the promise of being solved through DNA technology. The funding secured in 2022 was part of a three-year grant that funded investigator and forensic scientist positions to support the Cold Case Unit that was previously established to work both cold case and new homicide investigations. Most recently, the County of Ventura requested renewed federal funding through California Representative Salud Carbajal’s Office to continue working cold cases and bring resolution to cases involving missing and unidentified persons. |
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| Prepared by: | Sergeant Craig Hennes | ||||
| News Release Date: | 2/23/2026 | ||||
| Media Follow-Up Contact: | Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit (805) 383-8739 [email protected] |
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| Approved by: Photo Release: |
Captain Victor Medina YES NO |
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Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477). ###
Address/Location
Ventura County Sheriff's Office
800 S Victoria Ave
Ventura, CA 93003
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 805-654-9511