Lara’s wife, Isabel Ponce-Lara, went to police in their hometown of Redmond, Oregon, on Monday, crying uncontrollably and saying Lara had told her that he hit Sawyer with his patrol vehicle, killing her, then panicked and hid her body, according to documents filed in court.
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Police believe she encountered Edwin Lara, a 31-year-old with an associate degree in criminal justice who was working as a security guard at a community college. Lara was charged with murder Tuesday in her death after a body was found.
After tearfully telling his story to her, Lara drove off, said his wife, a new Bend police officer who was anxious that he was suicidal. A small Northern California town was rocked by a shooting, kidnapping and carjacking on Tuesday, all allegedly committed by a man and woman from OR who led police on a high-speed chase before they were captured. The man reported his auto was taken and three of his family members were still in the vehicle. Isabel Ponce-Lara, reported him Monday as possibly connected to Sawyer’s disappearance, after her husband said he accidently struck Kaylee with his auto, but hid her body and belongings to cover up the crime.
Police in OR said they have located what is believed to be Sawyer’s body in Deschutes County, pending confirmation from the medical examiner. A medical examiner would confirm the identity, he said.
Police say Lara fled to northern California, where a chaotic crime spree was reported Tuesday north of Redding.
The mayhem in the former gold-mining town of Yreka started near dawn when a man was shot in the stomach at the Super 8 Motel. The shooting victim was in critical but stable condition, according to police.
Five minutes after police got the call about the shooting, another man phoned in from a gas station, saying his vehicle had been taken with his wife and two sons still inside.
“The man had come out of the gas station to see his dog running around and his auto gone”, Yreka Police Chief Brian Bowles told The Associated Press.
Around 7:01 a.m., the Red Bluff California Highway Patrol advised they had the two suspects in custody and the victim’s vehicle.
About half an hour after that 911 call, the three people called police to say that they had been dropped off at a rest area on Interstate 5 and that they were unharmed. CHP said the chase reached speeds of about 100 mph for about 10 miles. Police from the nearby town of Corning joined in before Lara pulled over and was arrested. They include attempted murder, kidnapping, and carjacking burglary.
Ponce-Lara, who had recently been hired as an officer at the Bend Police Department, came forward with the information immediately, the agency said.
Her family became increasingly concerned and reported her missing to police later that day. The woman’s family told the station that Lara had kidnapped her.
Lara had worked as a part-time public safety officer at Central Oregon Community College since December 2014, said Ron Paradis, executive director of college relations. She was hired to work at the police department September 28, 2015, according to the city’s human resources director, Rob DuValle.
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“We’re cooperating with the police as best we can”, Paradis said, declining to comment further.
