Mirian Edith Mojica was 64 years old when she died on Wednesday, February 3, 2016, in West Hills. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 22500 Vanowen St. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Robbery-Homicide Division case.
The coroner's records describe her as a Latina woman in her mid-60s. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Mirian Edith Mojica has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Searches for her name turn up mostly people-search listings and social media posts by other women named Mirian or Miriam Mojica in several countries, none of which can be tied to the woman who died in West Hills.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was beaten in a fight, attacked by a stranger, assaulted indoors or on the street, or struck by a vehicle, all of which can lead to a finding of blunt force trauma. It does not say what time of day she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
One detail in the record stands out. Most homicides in the San Fernando Valley are handled by the LAPD's Valley Bureau detectives, but this case is listed under the Robbery-Homicide Division, the department's elite downtown unit that takes on high-profile, complex or unusual investigations. The record does not explain why the case was assigned there, but the assignment may suggest that investigators saw something about it that called for that unit's attention. No public statement about the case appears to have been released.
West Hills is a quiet, largely suburban community at the western edge of the San Fernando Valley, close to the Simi Hills and the border with Ventura County. It is known for its single-family homes on curving streets, its shopping centers and its parks and open space, and it is generally regarded as one of the calmer parts of the city of Los Angeles. Vanowen Street is a long east-west street that runs across much of the Valley, passing homes, apartment complexes and small commercial strips.
By the mid-2010s Los Angeles was recording roughly 250 to 300 homicides a year, among the lowest totals in decades, yet many of those killings still went unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Mirian Edith Mojica could be found in news archives or public records. More than nine years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Someone who lived or worked near the 22500 block of Vanowen Street in West Hills in February 2016, or who knew Mirian Mojica and saw her in the days before she died, may hold information that has never reached investigators. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
