Police identify woman found dead in SLO; homicide suspected

Police identified a woman found dead at a homeless encampment in San Luis Obispo and said she may have been the victim of a homicide, police say.

The San Luis Obispo Police Department was notified Thursday of a deceased person in a homeless encampment near San Luis Obispo Creek behind the Chevron station at Calle Joaquin and Los Osos Valley Road.

The woman was identified through fingerprint analysis as Veronica Beatrice Baro, a 50-year-old unhoused resident of San Luis Obispo, according to a news release from the Police Department on Tuesday.

Baro was discovered “at an advanced stage of decomposition,” according to the release.

The exact cause of her death is currently unknown and pending autopsy results, but police are considering the death “suspicious” and are investigating it as a possible homicide, the release said.

Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact SLO Police Detective Sergeant Evan Stradley at 805-594-8068 or Crime Stoppers at 805-549-7867.

This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 4:39 PM.