Ventura County partial human remains found in 1990 identified as 57-year-old woman
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office announced it has learned the identity of partial human remains that were found 36 years ago along the highway in an unincorporated area of Ojai.
The woman referred to as Jane Doe for decades has been identified as Patricia Diana Hunt Fielding, born on October 15, 1933, in Kern County, California.
Her remains were found in 1990 by accident, as fire department crews were responding to a traffic collision down an embankment near Highway 33 and Creek Road.
The Medical Examiner's Office recovered the remains for further investigation. It was estimated that the remains belonged to a female between 30 and 60 years old, with an estimated height between 5 feet 3 inches and 5 feet 6 inches.
The cause of death could not be determined, and the person's identity had remained a mystery until now. The sheriff's office said advanced DNA testing was used, leading detectives to identify a family who had not heard from a relative in several decades.
A Family Reference Sample was obtained and compared to the unidentified human remains. The comparison resulted in a positive identification.
Fielding was a mother of four, but little is still known about her life or the circumstances surrounding her death, the sheriff's office said.
Investigators hope that releasing her name will help provide additional information. Anyone with information regarding Patricia Diana Hunt Fielding is asked to contact the Ventura County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit at (805) 383-8739 or coldcase@venturacounty.gov.
