New DNA technology leads to arrest of SoCal man 36 years after violent Oxnard kidnapping

June 12, 2026 - 22:56

A 55-year-old Long Beach man is now in custody and facing kidnapping charges for a crime that happened 36 years ago, thanks to advances in DNA technology. Ventura County officials announced the arrest on Tuesday, saying that newly analyzed genetic evidence finally linked the suspect to a violent abduction in Oxnard back in 1988.

The case had gone cold for decades. In October of that year, a woman was forcibly taken from a street in Oxnard, held against her will, and assaulted before she managed to escape. Investigators collected evidence at the time, but the technology to test it did not exist. The case sat unsolved until a cold case unit reopened it and sent the evidence for modern DNA analysis.

That testing produced a match to a man already in the state's DNA database from a prior conviction. Detectives arrested him at his home in Long Beach without incident. He is being held on a no-bail warrant and is expected to be arraigned later this week.

Authorities credited the arrest to persistent detective work and the willingness of the victim, now in her 60s, to cooperate after all these years. They also noted that the case highlights how forensic science continues to solve old crimes that once seemed impossible to crack. The suspect has not yet entered a plea, and the investigation remains open.