Authorities announced Monday that human skeletal remains found last week in the Ventura Riverbed belong to a 21-year-old woman who had been missing for more than a year.
Family members last saw Zyanya Valora on April 26, 2024, at the Mira Monte home she shared with them in the 11000 block of North Ventura Avenue, according to the Ventura County Star.
Her parents, Damaris Dac and Gabriel Valora, wrote on a website dedicated to finding their daughter that they believed she slipped out of the home around 2 a.m. on April 25, possibly through her bedroom window, where they noticed a screen had been removed.
They also noted that her cellphone connected to public Wi-Fi about two blocks from the house around 3 a.m. The family said Valora, who had autism and had wandered away at night before, may have been abducted.
During early searches, Ventura County Sheriff’s K9 teams traced Valora’s scent to an area near the Oak View Community Center, roughly a mile south of her home, the Star reported.
On Sept. 24, 2025, a local conservancy group clearing invasive plants in the Ventura Riverbed south of Baldwin Road discovered skeletal remains about 2.5 miles from Valora’s home. Detectives from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Bureau and the Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the remains were human but could not immediately identify them.
Two days later, on Sept. 26, the Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the remains belonged to Valora.
The Facebook group Find Zyanya Valora issued a second confirmation Monday:
“It is with heavy hearts that we share that Zyanya has been found deceased. Over the past 15 months, this community has shown incredible compassion and dedication in our search for Zyanya. As her loved ones process this information, we kindly ask for privacy during this time of grief.”
The Medical Examiner’s Office reported no “obvious signs of lethal trauma” but said the exact cause and manner of death remain under investigation.
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