126: The Identification of Ventura County Jane Doe: The Story of Maricela Rocha Parga

She Goes by Jane: A True Crime Podcast · Mar 10, 2026 · 51m

In July 1980, the body of a young pregnant woman was discovered in the parking lot of Westlake High School in Westlake, California. She had been brutally raped, strangled, and stabbed. Investigators quickly realized she had been killed somewhere else and left behind—but they had no idea who she was.

For decades, she was known only as Ventura County Jane Doe.

In 2015, DNA evidence linked her murder to serial killer Wilson Chouest, who was later convicted of the crime. But even with a killer identified, the woman he murdered remained nameless.

In 2018, the DNA Doe Project began working to…