On October 3, 2021, the body of 35-year-old Jose Antonio Velasquez was found in the Santa Monica Mountains. A resident of Camarillo, Velasquez went missing on July 30 of that year under what authorities called “suspicious circumstances.” After his body was found by hitchhikers on Mulholland Highway, his body was sent to a medical examiner.
His disappearance investigation because a homicide investigation after it was found that he’d died from gunshot wounds.
California Man Charged with the Murder of Man Discovered in October 2021 After Months of Searching
The investigation turned up a name: Rotherie Durell Foster (37). Deputies with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office moved on Foster’s residence on January 13, 2023. A search warrant turned up evidence linking the Camarillo native to Velasquez’s disappearance and death. What was shared is that Foster used Velasquez’s credit card and checkbook about town following the man’s death.
Foster was arrested and charged with murder, eight counts of identity theft, two counts of forgery, and firearms violations tied to previous convictions in California. One conviction was for voluntary manslaughter while the other involved assault causing great bodily harm.
If convicted of Velasquez’s death, Foster faces life without parole or the death penalty.
