After Man's Body Found In RivCo Riverbed, Arrest Announced

JURUPA VALLEY, CA — A suspect in the slaying of a man found dead last fall in a Riverside County riverbed was arrested and a murder charge was filed against him.

Convicted felon Justin Ronald Vanderford, 41, of Jurupa Valley is accused in the killing of 52-year-old Oscar Aguilar of Riverside, according to an announcement Thursday afternoon from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Aguilar's body was discovered shortly before 11 a.m. Sept. 27, in the Santa Ana Riverbed, south of Van Buren Boulevard and Clay Street, in Jurupa Valley. He had been shot.

No arrests were announced at the time, but the sheriff's department reported that its homicide detectives assumed the investigation.

More than three months after the grim discovery, Vanderford was arrested. According to jail records, he was taken into custody at about 5 p.m. Jan. 4 in Jurupa Valley, not far from the Santa Ana Riverbed.

Vanderford is being held at Southwest Detention Center on $2,050,000 bail, jail records show. He was formally charged with murder and sentencing enhancements of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury and being a convicted felon and narcotic addict possessing a firearm. He is scheduled for arraignment Feb. 5, according to court records.

A possible motive in the killing was not disclosed and it's not clear what led detectives to Vanderford.

The sheriff's department reported that its investigation into Aguilar's death is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call Investigator Miller at the Jurupa Valley Station at 951-955-2600 or Investigator Anderson with the Central Homicide Unit at 951-955-2777.