The Life and Death of Jill Ann Weatherwax

Jill Ann Weatherwax was born on October 26, 1970. She graduated from Fenton High School in 1988. Jill was a talented runner and cheerleader. She pursued fashion shows and beauty pageants early on, showing great promise. People who knew Jill in these early years described her as ambitious but kind. She had her sights set on becoming a star.

After school, Jill took off for California where she dreamed of modeling and ultimately becoming a star. In 1991, she entered a pageant in which she was crowned Miss Hollywood. She also signed a recording contract and had made herself known as a talented singer. In a 1994 interview with the Tri-County Times, Jill described her voice as a mixture of Janis Joplin and Whitney Houston.

Soon after moving to California, Jill began dating actor and restaurant owner Ciro Orsini. According to an interview with Orsini, the couple was together for six years. He described her as a “special soul.”

After spending time in London, Jill opted to live in Oxnard, a town little more than an hour’s drive from Los Angeles. In the final year before her death, Jill had apparently been arrested three times in Ventura County for drug possession and being drunk in public.

At some point in March, Jill worked her way north to Fresno. On March 21, she was arrested in Fresno for being drunk in public. Three days later, she was allegedly seen outside an abandoned house. While the areas in which Jill was spotted were associated with drugs and sex work, her…