The tragic discovery of the body of Jennifer Lorber found yesterday by LASD Tactical team divers 225 feet from the shoreline at Paradise Cove was a sad end to the search for the young woman. However, certain details leading up to her death are alarming as well.
Yesterday, as the Air Five chopper combed the shoreline, residents noticed the chopper focus on one particular spot and shortly after, the discovery of a female body was announced by the Sheriff’s Department at 11:28 a.m.
The body of Jennifer Lorber was positively ID’d by a family member at the coroner’s office yesterday afternoon.
On Thursday, May 23rd, Lorber was visited at the M Motel, by a college friend, a firefighter from Ventura County. They spent a few hours together, and the friend who described Lorber’s behavior as being somewhat unusual, decided to leave the hotel anyway.
If her behavior was concerning to him, why didn’t this first responder, who has a duty to report someone who may be of danger to themselves, contact family members or friends – or even local authorities? Shortly after Lorber was reported missing, the friend left the country on a “previously planned trip”.
Lorber left the hotel at approximately 5:30 pm and went to Ralph’s at the Colony Shopping Center.
A few hours later, Lorber was seen on security cameras at Paradise Cove walking toward the beach at 9:30 p.m. A half hour later, she was seen walking away from the beach, toward the trailer park.
At around midnight, Lorber made contact with her family, and between 12:30 and 1:40 was the last communication that came from her cell phone according to law enforcement.
So what happened between 1:40 a.m. on May 24th and when her body was discovered the morning of May 30th?
Surfers and residents who have lived in the area for decades, watched the tide throughout the holiday weekend while law enforcement, and Search and Rescue, performed water searches. When Lorber’s body was found 6 days after the last known sighting, and only 225 feet from the shoreline, red flags were raised.
Why? Because one particular resident who knows that ocean tides in that area extremely well maintained that for her body to be in the water close to 6 days, and not be discovered only 225 feet from the shoreline seems highly questionable. Especially with boats, swimmers and rescue teams in the water every one of those days.
“Her body would have to be tied down with a trash can filled with cement for it not to be noticed sooner.” said the resident and waterman.
Yes, it’s a pretty bold statement. But, after numerous dive missions and searches over the holiday weekend, it raises reasonable doubt she committed suicide the last night she was seen on security cameras in the area.
Locals know the Paradise Cove cafe area to be exceptionally sleepy most of the time, however, extremely suspicious too, especially on a holiday weekend. Criminals like the area to prey on tourists. Only a couple of months ago, a waitress was held up at gunpoint on her way to work at the cafe.
The stretch of beach near the Paradise Cove pier has also become a serious nuisance with an abandoned house that has become a breeding ground for criminal activity and porn productions. Residents have become increasingly concerned about it and was one of the particular locations thoroughly searched by LASD after Lorber’s disappearance was announced.
Lorber’s last known direction according to the cameras was walking away from the beach up the stairs to the trailer park. Her backpack was found on the beach shortly after she went missing and was turned into Lost and Found at the Cafe.
While suicide seems to be the go-to for law enforcement in cases like this, there are other factors to consider before rushing to judgement that Lorber took her own life.
According to one of Lorber’s friends, she had long term plans that extended past that weekend, which included visiting her after Memorial Day. While situational depression brought on by traumatizing events in her life in recent years may have had some affect on her in the past, Lorber clearly made it through the toughest of times, including the untimely death of her sister, and was looking toward the future.
Unfortunately, her trip ended abruptly with that fateful visit to Paradise Cove.
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