A 33-year-old mother of four was found dead on a slope off the westbound side of the 118 Freeway in Mission Hills early Friday morning, the victim of what California Highway Patrol officers reported as a hit-and-run. Ruby Ortiz was discovered around 6:40 a.m., and her family says they are still searching for answers about how she ended up there and who was responsible.
Ortiz's older sister, Celeste Miranda, says an unnamed caller told her they had seen Ortiz in a car with a man around 1:25 or 1:30 a.m., hours before her body was found. Miranda believes that man may have been Ortiz's partner, but as reported by CBS Los Angeles, the family has no way to contact him and no way to confirm what, if anything, he knows. The California Highway Patrol said the crash was reported at 6:06 a.m. that Friday on the westbound side of the freeway just west of the Golden State (5) Freeway, according to MyNewsLA.
A Family Grasping for Explanations
Miranda said plainly that the family does not know what Ortiz was doing on the freeway that morning, and that many things about the case simply do not make sense. She has also said the family has considered the possibility that someone may have wanted to hurt her sister, though no such determination has been made public. CHP investigators are looking into how Ortiz ended up on the freeway and what led to her death, per the station's report.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office determined that Ortiz died from blunt-force trauma, MyNewsLA reported. Authorities have not said why she was on the freeway, and a description of the vehicle involved was not immediately available, the outlet noted. A separate account from Hollywood LA News places the crash at SR 118 westbound near I-405 southbound at 6:11 a.m., differing from the time and location CHP gave MyNewsLA — the discrepancy between the two accounts has not been resolved. Hollywood LA News also reported that formal pronouncement of death was made that Friday morning.
Remembered as Devoted to Her Children
Those who knew Ortiz describe her as someone who prioritized her four children, who range in age from 4 to 13. A friend of the family has since set up a GoFundMe to help support them, which can be found by searching “In Loving Memory of Ruby Modesta Ortiz.”
For now, the family's questions remain unanswered. Miranda and the rest of Ortiz's loved ones are left waiting on CHP investigators while hoping the man seen with her hours before her death will someday come forward.
