Two days later, her case was changed from missing person to homicide.
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Sawyer’s boyfriend of 2 years, Cameron Riemhofer, told investigators his girlfriend was out in downtown Bend Sunday night for a friend’s bachelorette party.
Lara’s wife, Bend police officer Isabel Ponce-Lara, told Redmond police he was acting strangely Sunday after work and that she questioned him the next morning, according to court records.
He told Ponce-Lara that he panicked and got rid of her body, but he didn’t say where.
Police said a body has been found that is believed to be Sawyer’s, and a coroner is trying to confirm the identity.
Police are searching for him and say he should be considered armed and risky.
His wife’s confession is supposedly what launched Lara’s alleged crime spree, which started when a 72-year-old man was shot at a Motel 8 in Northern California around dawn. The shooting victim was in critical but stable condition, according to police.
Court documents said evidence showed Lara had committed crimes of vehicular homicide, assault and hit-and-run.
Police received another call about five minutes later from a man at a gas station who said his vehicle was taken at gunpoint with three family members 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.
The suspect tipped off his wife, who is a police officer, to what happened and fled to California, where police say he allegedly shot a man in the stomach and carjacked a vehicle full of people.
The mother and two sons were later dropped off at a rest stop at around 5.41am along the interstate about 30 miles south of Yreka, near the town of Weed. Lara sped away at more than 100 miles per hour (160 kph). Police from the nearby town of Corning joined in before Lara pulled over and was arrested along with Maes.
Lara and Maes were booked into jail on charges including attempted murder, kidnapping, carjacking and burglary, Yreka’s police department said in a statement. But charges against Maes were dropped after police determined she was a victim, reports CBS affiliate KOIN. The woman’s family told the station that Lara had kidnapped her. “We’re a small department and stretched beyond our resources right now”. He was also charged with murder Tuesday in Bend, Oregon.
Lara was listed as a person of interest in the disappearance and death of 23-year-old Kaylee Sawyer by the Central Oregon Major Incident Team.
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“We’re feeling good about where we are in the investigation”, Hummel said.
