CA ZYANYA VALORA: Missing from Ojai, CA - 24 June 2024 - Age 21

Ojai family desperately search for missing daughter with autism

They missing woman's parents said Zyana Valora climbed out of her bedroom window and disappeared.

www.cbsnews.com

Ojai family desperately search for missing daughter with autism​

An Ojai family needs help finding their daughter who has autism after the 21-year-old disappeared more than three weeks ago.

"I am thinking about her every day, every night, every minute," father Gabriel Valora said. "I won't stop looking for you."

It has been just over three weeks since Zyanya Valora climbed out of her bedroom window and disappeared from her family.

"After seven days of looking for her, they stopped operations," mother Damaris Dac said. "We are now on the third week, and we don't have any clue of where she is at."

Her parents said that Zyanya's cell phone was last pinged at a nearby Airbnb on the morning of her disappearance. She is about five feet tall, 90 pounds, with black shoulder-length hair, brown eyes and a mole underneath her nose.

The last time her parents saw Zyanya, she wore a white tank top and black boxer-style shorts. Her parents think she is barefoot because all the shoes she owns are still in her closet.

"I wanted to let her know we are still looking for her," her father said.

While devastated, Gabriel continues sending texts to his daughter, hoping she will respond.

"Yesterday, I told her I was looking for her, for hours. Near the beach, near the railroad tracks," he said.

Their family, friends, and the community at large have all banded together to help the parents by putting up posters, hosting fundraisers, and doing group searches.

"Somebody knows something and we just follow that lead," Dac said. "That is the hope every day that we find something that can lead us to her."

Zyanya's parents said she is verbal but may not speak. They ask anyone who sees her to keep her engaged long enough to call for help.

Media - ZYANYA VALORA: Missing from Ojai, CA - 24 June 2024 - Age 21

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

$10,000 reward offered for return of Zyanya Valora, missing from Mira Monte

On Friday, July 12 — Day 18 of Zyanya Valora’s disappearance from her home in Mira Monte — her family organized a massive community search and is offering a $10,000

www.ojaivalleynews.com

$10,000 reward offered for return of Zyanya Valora, missing from Mira Monte​

On Friday, July 12 — Day 18 of Zyanya Valora’s disappearance from her home in Mira Monte — her family organized a massive community search and is offering a $10,000 reward “for the successful location and physical recovery of Zyanya.”

If anyone sees Zyanya or has any information about her, they are asked to call 9-1-1.

The flyer the family is handing out describes Zyanya as Hispanic, 5 feet tall, 90 pounds, with black, shoulder-length hair, brown eyes, a mole underneath her left nostril. She also has a mole on her forehead and a large mole on her right arm. She was last seen by her family on June 24, wearing a white tank top and black boxer-style shorts.

Some 60 people gathered July 12 along the bicycle path outside the Country Village Mobile Home Park in the 11000 block of North Ventura Avenue to help Zyanya’s parents, Damaris and Gabriel, find their 21-year-old autistic daughter. Zyanya’s last known contact was a ping from her phone to her computer on June 25 at 2:42 a.m. at the corner of Barbara and Oakcrest streets, two blocks from her home at the mobile home park.

Her parents last saw her at 8 p.m. the day before.


Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, with its Search and Rescue team, searched extensively from June 25 to 30 for the at-risk 21-year-old woman, who has been diagnosed with autism, but scaled back their search efforts significantly on June 30.

Family member Veronica Lujano said she wishes law enforcement could send out an Amber Alert about Zyanya, to spread the news about her missing beyond Ventura County. Even though the criteria for an Amber Alert is for children under age 18, she said that Zyanya’s at-risk status, with her autism and developmental age about 12 or 13, should be considered.

She said sheriff’s detectives are investigating Zyanya’s disappearance, but have little to go on. A screen from Zyanya’s bedroom window was found removed the day she went missing. Damaris said it is likely Zyanya left the house via the window, instead of the door, so the family dog would not alert the family to her leaving.

Zyanya was reported missing once before in 2020, when she was 17, leaving home at about 1 a.m., carrying a Bible. Back then, she was found in a nearby Baptist church within a few hours.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Two Ojai women create a ‘Find Zyanya Valora’ FB page

When Robin Newberger and Barbara Amador learned that Zyanya Valora, 21, of Mira Monte was reported missing June 25, they each knew they had to do something to find her.

www.ojaivalleynews.com

Two Ojai women create a ‘Find Zyanya Valora’ FB page​

When Robin Newberger and Barbara Amador learned that Zyanya Valora, 21, of Mira Monte was reported missing June 25, they each knew they had to do something to find her. Then, by chance, the women metwhen Zyanya’s mother, Damaris, organized a community search outside Country Village Mobile Home Park in the 11000 block of North Ventura Avenue on July 12.

The Valora family of Mira Monte has raised $10,000 to offer as a reward “for the successful location and physical recovery” of Zyanya. If anyone sees Zyanya or has any information about her, they are asked to call 9-1-1.

When Newberger and Amador started talking, they realized they could use their computer skills and contacts to create a Facebook page called “Find Zyanya Valora,” with photographs of Zyanya, who is autistic and has the developmental abilities of a 12- or 13-year-old. “We started collaborating and work well together,” Newberger said. They are posting information about the search for Zyanya in English and Spanish, with the help of Google Translate.

Their goal was to create a Facebook page that contains factual, up-to-date and credible information about the search for Zyanya.

As of July 25, they have 222 followers on their Facebook page and hope for many more. “We are trying to reach a broader audience, to move the search from local to national,” Amador said.

The women have teamed up with Zyanya’s mother, Damaris, and are not giving up. “Doing nothing yields nothing,” Newberger said, adding of their “Find Zyanya Valora” Facebook page, “This is something.”

Newberger and Amador want everyone to be talking about Zyanya and want to help her mother. “Damaris is everywhere all at once,” Newberger said, adding that they want to help lighten her load.

“I really appreciate it,” Damaris said, meeting with Newberger and Newberger’s husband, David Mulligan, and Amador, on the morning of July 25 at the Ojai Valley News office.

“As a parent, I can only begin to imagine what it would be like” to have your child missing, Newberger said. She said she wakes up in the middle of the night wondering where Zyanya might be. “She’s somewhere.”

Amador said that a few days ago, she noticed the exterior door to her garage was open, a bicycle in front of the door had been moved, and her car door was open. Nothing was taken, so she wondered if Zyanya might have sought shelter there. Amador then left a “little bag” with food, water and Oreos in the garage. Zyanya loves Oreos. But, the next day, “the little lunch stayed there,” Amador said.

Zyanya’s last known contact was a ping from her phone to her computer on June 25 at 2:42 a.m. in the area of Barbara and Oakcrest streets, two blocks from her home at the mobile home park.


Sheriff’s detectives are investigating Zyanya’s disappearance, but have little to go on. A screen from Zyanya’s bedroom window was found removed the day she went missing. Damaris said it is likely Zyanya left the house via the window, instead of the door, so the family dog would not alert the family to her leaving.

Zyanya was reported missing once before in 2020, when she was 17, leaving home at about 1 a.m., carrying a Bible. Back then, she was found in a nearby Baptist church within a few hours.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

FACEBOOK - FIND ZYANYA VALORA

Find Zyanya Valora | Mira Monte CA

Find Zyanya Valora, Mira Monte, California. 162 likes · 671 talking about this. MISSING PERSON: Zyanya Valora, autistic, Hispanic female, age 21, 5'0, 90 lbs. Last seen 6/25/24 in Ojai, CA. PERSONA...

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[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Ventura County Sheriff Urgently Needs Your Help Locating Zyanya Valora, Missing Since June 24, 2024

Ventura County Sheriff Urgently Needs Your Help Locating Zyanya Valora, Missing Since June 24, 2024

goldrushcam.com

Ventura County Sheriff Urgently Needs Your Help Locating Zyanya Valora, Missing Since June 24, 2024​

Ventura County Sheriff’s Office officials report that they urgently need your help in locating Zyanya Valora, age 21, who
has been missing since June 24, 2024.

Despite extensive efforts, there have been no credible leads to her disappearance. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the Public’s assistance. Zyanya is described as a Hispanic female, 5’0” tall, weighing 90 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Search for Zyanya Valora continues Aug. 31 with information booths at Ventura mall

The search for Zyanya Valora, 21, of Mira Monte continues with her family and community members setting up booths at several locations at the Pacific View Mall in Ventura on

www.ojaivalleynews.com

Search for Zyanya Valora continues Aug. 31 with information booths at Ventura mall​

The search for Zyanya Valora, 21, of Mira Monte continues with her family and community members setting up booths at several locations at the Pacific View Mall in Ventura on Saturday, Aug. 31, where they are handing out flyers in the hope of gathering leads to find the autistic woman last seen at her Ojai valley home on June 24.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Zyanya’s parents plead for help to find daughter

In an effort to keep attention on the fact that their daughter is still missing, Zyanya Valora’s parents, Damaris and Gabriel Valora, spoke during general public comment at the Sept.

www.ojaivalleynews.com

Zyanya’s parents plead for help to find daughter​

In an effort to keep attention on the fact that their daughter is still missing, Zyanya Valora’s parents, Damaris and Gabriel Valora, spoke during general public comment at the Sept. 24 Ojai City Council meeting. They asked the council to support putting lights and cameras in certain areas, including bus stops and along the Ojai Valley Trail.

Gabriel Valora said: “My daughter is still missing. One of the problems we are facing or the police and the detective (are) facing is the lack of information … in part … because we have no security cameras … especially on the 33 Highway, which again makes the police job very difficult in cases like my daughter’s because they have no clues, no information about it.

“I know this is not going to bring my daughter, but at least it’s going to help the police to keep safe the streets of Ojai.”

Damaris, also speaking during public comment, said: “You know the story. … My daughter has been missing for three months now. … It’s unfortunate that we are not in the Ojai … jurisdiction. We need to come here because it’s the only resource available for us to keep the word out. … Spread the word. If you were in my situation… what would you be doing. I’m not a politician. I don’t have resources. … I don’t know this system.”


Damaris said that a blinking sign on State Route 33 instructs people to get missing-person alerts, but people have to register with vcalerts.com

“Otherwise, you don’t get any notification. … Half the population (in the county) doesn’t know about her. That system doesn’t work at all,” she said.

Gabriel asked the council “to consider the installation of cameras at least at the bus stops, I know this is going to be an expense, which I’ll be willing to contribute … to raise money to do that. I know my daughter is not wandering on the streets. I know she was taken.”

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Zyanya is still missing

Zyanya Valora’s family had to spend her 22nd birthday on Dec. 17 still worrying about where their daughter is. Zyanya has been missing since she was last seen June 24

www.ojaivalleynews.com

Zyanya is still missing​

Zyanya Valora’s family had to spend her 22nd birthday on Dec. 17 still worrying about where their daughter is. Zyanya has been missing since she was last seen June 24 at her Mira Monte home.

A group of volunteers has been supporting the family’s search efforts by keeping flyers posted, managing a Facebook page and talking to local press. Volunteer Barbara Amador told the Ojai Valley News: “There are no more leads. It’s so frustrating. It’s been six months. … I just don’t know how someone just disappears like this.”

Amador said a call came in recently about a possible sighting of Zyanya near the county government building, and she and Zyanya’s mother, Damaris, searched “under the bridges and through the camp” with “no luck.”

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

First-of-its-kind event in Ojai aims to bring awareness to missing persons

Missing in the Ojai Valley aims to raise awareness of active missing persons cases dating as far back as the 1980s.

www.vcstar.com

First-of-its-kind event in Ojai aims to bring awareness to missing persons​

The Ventura County Sheriff's Office plans to hold a first-of-its-kind event aimed at raising awareness for missing persons cases in Ojai April 26.

Missing in the Ojai Valley is set for 10 a.m to 3 p.m. at Nordhoff High School, 1401 Maricopa Highway. The sheriff's office is contracted to provide police services to the city of Ojai and unincorporated areas of the Ojai Valley.

The event is open to the the public and focused on spreading awareness of missing person's cases in the area. People who have been affected by the disappearance of a loved one are encouraged to attend, said sheriff's Detective Chris Dyer.

The five-hour workshop was inspired by recent cases like Zyanya Valora's, Dyer said. Valora, then 21, went missing June 25 from her home in Mira Monte, an unincorporated community in the Ojai Valley. She left her home in the 11000 block of North Ventura Avenue around 2 a.m. that day.

Valora's family was personally invited by sheriff's officials and will have a table there, said Demaris Dac, Valora's mother. She will be handing out posters and raising awareness of her daughter's case.

Separately, the family has organized a search party April 26, led by her husband and joined by friends and family, to look again for any signs of Valora in the area, Dac added.

Sheriff's officials also will be presenting information about missing persons in the Ojai Valley dating as far back as the 1980s, said Dyer. They will also be showcasing techniques in the use of DNA. Families of missing persons are encouraged to bring medical and dental records, pictures and provide DNA samples, sheriff's officials said.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Hope for Missing People: Ojai event highlights searches for loved ones

Damaris and Gabriel Valora hope Saturday’s “Missing in the Ojai Valley” event sheds light on the case involving their missing daughter, Zyanya, 22, and potentially provides answers for other families.

www.vcreporter.com

Hope for Missing People: Ojai event highlights searches for loved ones​

Damaris and Gabriel Valora hope Saturday’s “Missing in the Ojai Valley” event sheds light on the case involving their missing daughter, Zyanya, 22, and potentially provides answers for other families.

When Zyanya was 14, she was diagnosed with autism after a frightening incident requiring intervention by Ventura County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) deputies, her mother told the Ventura County Reporter.

“We were getting ready to go to school. She put herself in the middle of the highway,” Damaris said. “I was taking a shower, my son was getting ready, so we didn’t notice until the sheriff was knocking on my door, like, ‘Are you missing a daughter?’…So, I went outside and she was there with the sheriff already. Somebody saw her on the middle of the road and they called 911. Immediately, they took her in. That was the first episode that she had.”

Zyanya had trouble adjusting to public high school and attended a charter school in Oxnard which was a better fit. She was still attending school until a few months before she was last seen by her parents on June 24, 2024, at their home on the 11000 block of North Ventura Avenue in Mira Monte. She had fallen into a deep depression, missing meals and sleeping irregular hours, Damaris recalled. On June 25, at about 11 a.m., Zyanya’s parents found her bedroom window open and the curtains were parted. Her family hasn’t seen her since.

Gabriel Valora told the VCReporter his family is thankful to the VCSO for hosting the event.

“Obviously we are very grateful they are still keeping the case alive and open,” he said. “We are in very close contact with the detective but…I mean, for like months and months and months, nothing new, nothing new. And that’s obviously very discouraging. But at the same time, I always think that every flyer we put out, it could be a new set of eyes, it could lead to something. So, we’re obviously hopeful and grateful.”

If there is one silver lining to the situation, it is that it has brought the rest of the family and the community closer, Damaris said.

“We’ve been making friends out of nowhere just because they’re concerned about my daughter,” she said. “We lost contact with some of the family members for years, and they’ve been here all the time now that she’s been missing. So, we are obviously super grateful about that and blessed.”

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Mira Monte, California, family desperate for answers in the disappearance of daughter Zyanya Valora

The 21-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum, was not in her bedroom on the morning of June 25, 2024, and has not been seen since.

www.nbcnews.com

Mira Monte, California, family desperate for answers in the disappearance of daughter Zyanya Valora​

For nearly a year, Damaris and Gabriel Valora have lived in a nightmare—their 21-year-old daughter, Zyanya, vanished from their Mira Monte, California, home in the middle of the night.

Her parents believe Zyanya left their home around 1:00 a.m. on June 25, 2024.

Zyanya is on the autism spectrum and also suffers from anxiety and depression, according to her parents. She is considered “at risk.”


On the morning of June 25, 2024, Damaris went into Zyanya’s room to check on her. She says she noticed the window was open, and its screen was off. “I pulled the curtain, and I was like ‘Zyanya, where are you?’ And I was like, ‘She’s not here.’”

Gabriel was already at work by then. “I called my husband immediately,” Damaris said. Gabriel left work to head home. When he got there, Zyanya still hadn’t returned, so the Valoras reported her missing to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office website, “On Monday, June 24th at about 8:00PM, 21-year-old Zyanya Valora walked away from her residence in Mira Monte, an unincorporated suburb located in the Ojai Valley.”

The last confirmed sighting was around 8:00 p.m. on June 24. “She came out of her bedroom and [poked] her head out at that time, and she went back to her bedroom,” Damaris said. But the Valoras believe she left around 1:00 a.m. on June 25, based on their dog’s behavior during the night. “The dog barked around 1:00 a.m.,” Damaris said. “And we didn’t get up. We didn’t check.”

“It was devastating when we realized that it took us a long time to realize that she didn’t — wasn’t in her room,” she said.

Damaris says she tried to remain calm that first day as the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office searched the area. “I didn’t say anything because I was hoping that we could recover her at the end of the day, so I didn’t say anything to anybody,” she recalled.

By the time the clock struck midnight and Zyanya hadn’t been located, that all changed. “I took my phone and I posted on Facebook, and posted on Instagram, and posted everywhere,” she said.

According to Damaris, law enforcement used every resource available to locate her daughter, including helicopters and K-9 units. However, their efforts turned up nothing. It also rained later in the week which would have made tracking Zyanya more difficult.

Damaris says there are a lot of woods around their home, as well as a lake, and a river — all of which were searched. Zyanya loved the water. “She will enjoy a lot of nature and see, um, the animals and — and she will enjoy the water,” her mother said.

Damaris and Gabriel thought it was possible Zyanya could be hiding during the day and walking around at night, so they made bags with her name on them filled with water and cookies and placed them outside churches in the area. “Because if she comes out in the night, we are hoping for her to have something to eat and something to drink,” Damaris explained.

Damaris worries that after Zyanya left, she could have been abducted. Although Zyanya is an adult, and would be 22 years old today, she comes off as much younger. “She’s just naive. She is like a child,” Damaris said. “She can’t defend herself.”


There is a $50,000 reward being offered by the family “for the successful location and physical recovery of Zyanya.”

 

[Kimster]

Not knowing you were updating this thread, I just tweeted about Zyanya still being missing!