VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) – On Thursday, the day before the 10-year anniversary of the murder of Arnold Ikeda, local law enforcement announced the official closure of the investigation into his death.
According to the Ventura Police Department's Cold Case Unit, the evidence circumstantially implicates the primary suspect during their investigation, Johnny Caro, and no evidence of others participating in the killing has been recovered during the decade-long investigation.
Caro was killed in Desert Hot Springs, California on Dec. 30, 2021, and his homicide remains unsolved added the Ventura Police Department.
"This case has never been forgotten," shared Ventura Police Investigations Commander Ryan Weeks. "Our detectives worked it extensively from the start, and years later, the DA's Office took a deeper look through a cold case review. While this case will not proceed through the criminal justice system, we recognize the impact on Arnold Ikeda's family and hope these findings provide some long-awaited answers. We are grateful to those who contributed to this case over the past decade."
On March 20, 2016, dispatchers received a call around 10:40 p.m. from a person who said she arrived at a friend's home in the 400 block of South Evergreen Drive and found him bleeding and unresponsive detailed the Ventura Police Department.
First responders arrived at the scene, located Ikeda, and declared him dead at the scene from an apparent gunshot wound stated the Ventura Police Department.
According to Ventura Police, detectives investigated multiple leads, conducted more than 20 witness interviews, reviewed phone records, collected and reviewed surveillance footage, and conducted multiple rounds of forensic testing, but, despite those efforts, were unable to develop sufficient evidence to make an arrest.
Investigators did find that Ikeda had been in close contact with Caro, also known as Lieutenant or Lou, on the morning of his death noted the Ventura Police Department.
Caro was identified as the primary and only suspect in the case added the local law enforcement agency.
In February of last year, a comprehensive review of the case was conducted by the Cold Case Homicide Unit including new interviews as part of the process explained the Ventura Police Department.
Cold Case investigators concluded that the evidence circumstantially implicated Caro as the person responsible for the death of Arnold Ikeda and, based on their review of the available evidence and death of the their only suspect, closed the case detailed the Ventura Police Department.
The Ventura Police Department currently has 24 unsolved cold cases and encourages anyone with relevant information or interested in reviewing gathered evidence in those cases to visit www.cityofventura.ca.gov/ColdCases.
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