From clues in the rented car, the police knew that the 20-year-old female student was seriously injured but her whereabouts couldn’t be found.
Not long after 20-year-old Megan Barroso joined a party with friends at midnight, the rented car she was driving was discovered in a worrying condition. An immediate search was conducted but Megan was nowhere to be found.
The unusual car
Around 4 a.m. on July 5, 2001, while on duty on a highway in Southern California (USA), patrolling police officers found an abandoned car. The windshield wipers of the car were activated, and the engine was still running but there was no sign of the driver.
The car was located on the highway exit, near the concrete median, as if there had been a collision. Initially, the police thought that young people out celebrating Independence Day had had an accident and then left the scene. However, upon closer inspection, they quickly realized that something much more horrifying had happened.
There were up to six bullet holes in the car, one on the hood, three on the windshield, one on the driver’s side door, and one on the passenger’s side door. Only five green bullet casings were found, but it was evident that the car had been hit by a series of bullets. A rifle barrel cleaning stick was also found near the car.
More alarmingly, the steering wheel and driver’s seat were bloodstained. A bloodstained bag was also found inside the car, a woman’s shoe was found in the footwell of the car, and the other one was found just outside. Upon opening the bag, the police found a mobile phone along with some other belongings. Strangely, despite signs indicating that the driver had been injured, there was no blood outside the car.
Through the car’s license plate, investigators identified it was rented by a woman named Megan Barroso the day before.
Mysterious disappearance
The search team scoured the nearby area with the hypothesis that Megan, while injured, had attempted to crawl onto the highway or somewhere else seeking help, but she was nowhere to be found. The 20-year-old student had vanished.
The night before, Megan, like millions of other Americans, had enjoyed Independence Day celebrations. Megan and her group of friends celebrated on the beach in the city of Moorpark, Ventura County, California.
With no signs of Megan, detectives spoke with Megan’s family. They said the kind-hearted student was well-loved, had no enemies, and there was no reason for them to fear for her safety. Investigators also interviewed Megan’s closest friend, Lindsay Gross, who also attended the party with Megan.
Lindsay mentioned that although the party lasted until midnight, Megan declined Lindsay’s offer to stay and left the party alone around 2:45 a.m. That was the last time Megan was seen alive.
From the amount of blood in the car, the police knew Megan was seriously injured and needed to be found as soon as possible.
Dramatic chase
Police began questioning people who were with Megan on the evening of July 4, 2001, the time before she disappeared. All have solid alibis.
According to Lindsay Gross, a close friend who went out with Megan on the evening of July 4, a man approached Megan to flirt but she refused. This person was later removed from the suspect list by the police.
On July 10, investigators received notice from the car rental company that the car Megan was driving was equipped with a data recorder, a device similar to an airplane’s black box.
Examining this data, police discovered that Megan was moving at high speed before hitting the median as if being chased by another car. In addition, a large scratch along the driver’s side of the car showed that Megan’s car had collided with another vehicle, possibly the reason why she lost control.
Meanwhile, further examinations were conducted at the crime scene. Nearly two weeks later, through analysis of found shell casings, authorities were able to determine that the shots were fired from an AK-47 rifle.
Testing showed that the perpetrator was only more than 18 meters away from Megan’s car when he opened fire, and the distance narrowed after each shot.
Mysterious rapes
Based on evidence at the scene, the police hypothesized that Megan was chased by someone, intentionally crashed into the car, and then fired a shot into the car door on the driver’s side of the car. Blood traces showed that Megan tried to grab her phone before the car crashed into the center median. Because there were no blood marks outside the car, police assumed she was put into another car by the attacker.
Police believe that despite her injuries in the attack, Megan was still alive at the time. However, they could not determine Megan’s location or clues about the attacker.
But not long after, the case had an important breakthrough. While Moorpark city police were having a headache over Megan’s disappearance, another investigation related to a series of rapes and kidnappings starting in 1996 in Simi Valley city was also underway.
The rapist’s victims were teenage girls and young women with dark hair. These crimes were committed just over 20km from Moorpark.
Moorpark investigators considered the possibility that the two cases were related. So they contacted Simi Valley police and discovered they might have been right.
Secrets in the Video Footage
On July 26, 2001, there was a breakthrough in the case when a man named Vincent Sanchez was arrested for burglary of a neighbor’s house.
While in custody, Vincent made a call to his roommate asking to discard a bag full of personal belongings. The roommate later discovered that the bag contained videotapes showing Vincent assaulting women.
The roommate quickly contacted the police to report what they had found. Upon reviewing the video footage, authorities confirmed that the women in them were victims of the serial rapist in Simi Valley.
The modus operandi of this pervert individual was breaking into the homes of young victims at night, threatening them with a knife, raping them, and filming the attacks.
Working with the police, the roommate also revealed that Vincent had an AK-47 rifle. He had taken it away a few weeks prior.
Upon inspecting the rifle, the police immediately noticed that the barrel’s cleaning rod was missing. The shell casings also matched those found at the scene of Megan’s disappearance.
Clues in the Pickup Truck
At this point, investigators began to believe they had found the suspect. They obtained a search warrant for Vincent’s residence and pickup truck. In the trash can outside the house, they found a green jacket with an orange lining, similar to the one Megan was wearing when she went missing. There was a bullet hole in the jacket.
Inspecting the truck, investigators found bloodstains at the rear and on the front passenger seat.
Additionally, on the rifle, police found a glittering sequin, similar to the one on the front and rear seats of Vincent’s truck.
Authorities contacted Lindsay Gross, Megan’s close friend who also attended the party with Megan before her disappearance. Lindsay recounted that on that day, she had put sequins in Megan’s hair and handed over the box containing these sequins to the police. Forensic analysis confirmed that they matched the sequin found on the rifle and in the truck.
DNA testing revealed that the bloodstains in Vincent’s truck belonged to Megan, and the paint scratches on the side of the truck also matched the collision between the two vehicles.
Difficult relationships
With the evidence at hand, authorities hypothesized that Vincent Sanchez had been following the victim Megan Barroso on the morning of July 5, 2001. He chased her with his pickup truck and overtook her, then fired at the victim’s car before pulling her into his own vehicle.
Investigating Vincent’s past, police learned that this man’s schooling was troubled and he eventually dropped out of high school. At 21, he moved to Lancaster and began a tumultuous relationship with a 17-year-old girl who already had a child with another man.
The two often argued over this one-year-old girl. In March 1992, they were both charged with child abuse when the girl was brought to the hospital in respiratory distress. Vincent served nearly two years in prison for this offense.
After being released, Vincent moved to Simi Valley and started working in the construction business. By the end of 1995, Vincent was injured in a crane accident and received a sizable compensation.
After that, he hardly worked and began dating Luz LaFarga, a mother of four who was about 10 years older than him. That’s also when the rapes began.
Their relationship was far from stable. Luz said Vincent was jealous and obsessed with her, sometimes driving to her house unannounced to check if she was home. According to Luz, things got worse when her boyfriend once broke into her house late at night and several other times peeped through the windows.
One night, Vincent came to Luz’s house with a sword and fled before the police arrived. Luz then applied for a restraining order against her boyfriend. The threats escalated, and a suicide note was found, prompting her family to seek help.
Surprising Discovery in the Car
In January 2000, Vincent was taken by his half-brother and father to a medical center for an 18-day treatment for depression. Lopez, Vincent’s half-brother, later arranged a meeting between Vincent and Luz in an attempt to resolve their issues.
While the couple was talking, Lopez searched through Vincent’s car and unexpectedly found a black ski mask, gloves, handcuffs, ammunition, and a bag containing women’s clothing.
Lopez confronted Vincent asking if he had a gun. Reluctantly, Vincent took his brother to a nearby dumpster where he had hidden a handgun. Lopez later confessed that he thought these items were related to the threats against Luz, so he didn’t ask his brother why he had them.
Vincent seemed stable for a few months, following five reported sexual assaults in 2000. But he never stopped harassing his girlfriend. In June 2001, Luz finally stated that it was over between them.
A neighbor reported that Vincent had fallen into a state of difficulty and despair over the failed relationship. According to this neighbor, one night he and Vincent drank beer on the lawn outside. Vincent began to cry and confessed that he had recently put his roommate’s AK-47 rifle in his mouth with the intention of suicide. “Vincent also said he had done things that I couldn’t believe,” the neighbor said.
On July 4, 2001, Vincent again drank beer at home, chatting with his neighbor and his brother. Vincent didn’t seem overly stressed.
At midnight, Vincent left with his dark blue Ford Ranger, as he often did. That was also when 20-year-old Megan Barroso met her fate.
Body Found under Mountain Crevice
Through investigation, police alleged that on the evening of July 4, 2001, Vincent Sanchez borrowed an AK-47 rifle from his roommate and left to confront his ex-girlfriend.
However, at this time, he spotted the car of 20-year-old student Megan Barroso on the morning of July 5. Vincent decided to follow Megan and then chased her with his truck. He overtook her, fired at the victim’s car, and then pulled her into his own vehicle.
On August 3, the search team found a body under a 15-meter-high mountain crevice in Black Canyon, about 24km from where Megan was abducted. The victim was wearing only a T-shirt and underwear, with a cord tied around her neck and waist. The body was so decomposed that it had to be identified by the Claddagh ring worn on the hand.
Dental records confirmed the victim to be Megan. The autopsy determined that she died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, still alive when thrown into the mountain crevice. During the examination, authorities found sequins on Megan’s hair.
Vincent Sanchez was charged with first-degree murder in Megan Barroso’s death and 14 other sexual assault charges. The trial process began in 2003 with efforts to push for the death penalty from the prosecution.
A Terrifying Criminal
Prosecutors stated that this unemployed carpenter targeted 15 women starting from September 1996 and culminating in the kidnapping and rape of a woman in Woodland Hills on July 9, 2001.
Vincent Sanchez was accused of researching his victims and their names before carrying out the attacks. This 31-year-old man became increasingly violent and reckless as his personal and emotional life deteriorated.
Vincent often broke into houses in the middle of the night by prying open glass doors, smashing windows, or sliding glass doors. He threatened his victims by mentioning a family member of theirs. One of the women recounted Vincent saying, “Do you want me to kill your mother?” while gagging the victim to prevent screams.
A complete picture of Vincent gradually emerged in the 1,145-page confession presented by the grand jury. From here, the chilling tale of a criminal terrified the residents of Simi Valley for five years and ultimately escalated into the murder case of 20-year-old student Megan Barroso was vividly retold.
The Collection of the Pervert
Prosecutors stated that Vincent Sanchez targeted 15 women starting from September 1996 and culminated in the kidnapping and rape of a woman in Woodland Hills on July 9, 2001.
One of the victims testified that she was startled by noises at 4 am. Waking up, she saw a knife poking through the bedroom door frame, advancing towards the latch. As she frantically tried to call 911, a masked man stormed in, gagged her, and pressed the knife to her throat.
He attempted to pull the victim through the window but had to flee when the mother heard her daughter screaming and rushed over. The woman’s blue underwear was later found in Vincent’s collection. In his attacks, he often took underwear, jewelry, or cameras from the scene and considered them as “trophies.”
Vincent was also accused of taking pornographic photos of some women with a head-covering hood. The figure of the man wearing a black ski mask and leather gloves also appeared in some videos documenting the attacks.
Failed Attacks
However, not all of Vincent’s attacks were successful. One woman who had been trained in self-defense recounted that she curled up and kicked hard at her attacker’s chest, causing him to fall into a dresser. After a struggle, he fled.
Another victim was unexpectedly attacked by Vincent in her hallway. She kicked and bit his finger, but he retaliated with punches, hitting her with an empty beer bottle, and choking her until she lost consciousness.
Upon regaining consciousness, the victim grabbed a wooden-framed family photo and struck Vincent’s head with all her might, causing him to stumble. Seeing the victim swinging a metal lamp, Vincent surrendered. “Okay, you win,” he said. “I just need to find my mask.”
He then tried to calm the victim, acted affectionate, and whispered encouragement before fleeing. This was also the approach he applied in some of his failed attacks.
When Vincent raped women, he would smother them with a pillow. In some cases, he kidnapped the victims, taking them home or to a dirt road on a hill while covering their heads with a sweater.
Vincent asserted that he didn’t sexually assault all of his victims. The man only admitted to raping five or six of them.
Before the court, Lindsay Gross, a close friend of Megan Barroso, testified that the student wore white capri pants on the day of her disappearance on July 4, 2001. According to the prosecution’s argument, because those pants weren’t found on Megan’s body when it was discovered, it was a clear sign that an assault had occurred.
On July 29, 2003, Vincent was convicted of murder with special circumstances – sexual assault. The jury sentenced Vincent to death.
However, in 2006, executions in California were suspended by court order. Vincent thus escaped the death penalty but would spend the rest of his life in prison.
