Police can't say whether woman and infant are Laci Peterson and son

Investigators load a decomposed woman's body discovered Monday at Point Isabel Shoreline Park in Richmond. Officials are looking into the possibility the body is that of Laci Peterson. The Bay Bridge can be seen in the background.

RICHMOND -- An autopsy continued into the night Monday after a discovery that sent Modesto police rushing to the East Bay to see if Laci Peterson's body had been found.

A woman walking her dog along the beach found a female adult body at 11:43 a.m. Monday, less than a day after someone else found a baby boy's body about a mile away along San Francisco Bay.

Peterson, 27, was eight months pregnant when she was reported missing on Christmas Eve. Authorities described the body found Sunday afternoon as that of a "full-term male child."

It was found about 15 feet from the waterline in marshy wetlands bordered by condominiums and an industrial area, said Sgt. Enos Johnson of the Richmond Police Department.

Residents said the grassy patch where the baby's body was found is often covered by water.

An autopsy Monday morning did not confirm if the baby was connected to the Peterson case, or to the adult body found Monday, authorities said.

Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department, said it was "way too early" to tell if the baby's body and woman's body had been in the water the same amount of time.

The adult's body was found lodged in rocks in the vicinity of Point Isabel Regional Shoreline. East Bay Regional Park District police notified Modesto detectives after the discovery.

"Because of the location of where we found the body and the notoriety of the case involving Modesto, it was prudent to notify the Modesto Police Department," said Norman Lapera, police chief of the park district. "This potentially could be a drowning victim."

Doug Ridenour, spokesman for Modesto police, said his department got the call at 12:15 p.m. Investigators were flown to the scene by helicopter; they arrived about 5 p.m.

"At this point, we have no information nor has the recovered body been identified as that of Laci Peterson," Ridenour said in a news release Monday evening. "Until such time as our department has been notified and it has been confirmed that the East Bay body is related to the Modesto case, this is an East Bay Regional Park District Police Department case."

Still, Modesto police and Stanislaus County sent five people, including a representative of the district attorney's office.

At one point, a total of about 20 investigators converged at the scene. The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department dispatched canine teams trained to detect human remains.

Lapera said it appeared the woman's body had been in the water for "quite some time" but he could not give specifics about the condition of the body.

The autopsy on the woman's body began shortly after 6 p.m. at the county coroner's office in Martinez.

Lee said it could take several days to process the information and determine the cause of death and the identity of the body.

Lee said investigators were examining some clothes found with the woman's body. He would not elaborate on the clothes, other than to say they were not maternity clothes.

The autopsy on the baby's body did not yield cause of death, Lee said. DNA-type tests were performed, but results could take weeks.

Peterson's stepfather reported her missing Dec. 24 after talking with his son-in-law, Scott. Scott said he had returned from a fishing trip out of Berkeley, and Laci was gone when he came home. Police started searching in East La Loma Park, where Scott says his wife had planned to take their dog for a walk. Earlier in the day, a neighbor had found the golden retriever, with a muddy leash attached, and returned the dog to the Petersons' back yard.

Police have conducted a number of searches at Scott and Laci Peterson's Covena Avenue home and a Modesto warehouse used by Scott Peterson in his work as a fertilizer salesman. They also confiscated Scott Peterson's 2002 Ford F-150 pickup and his wife's Land Rover sport utility vehicle. They also have searched several waterways, including the area around the Berkeley Marina.

The case gained worldwide attention, and a $500,000 reward was offered for Laci Peterson's safe return. In February, Peterson's due date passed; she was expected to give birth about Feb. 10 to the couple's first child, a son they had named Connor.

In March, police reclassified the case as a homicide, and a $50,000 reward was issued for information that leads directly to the location and recovery of her body.

Scott's mommy quoted at the end.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5636586.htm

Bodies of woman, fetus found
LACI PETERSON CASE: POLICE SEARCH FOR LINKS TO MISSING MODESTO WOMAN
By Linda Goldston, Yomi S. Wronge and Crystal Carreon
Mercury News

The search for Laci Peterson took a dramatic turn Monday with the discovery of a badly decomposed female body along the shore near Richmond, about a mile from where a hiker on Sunday found a full-term fetus about the age of the missing Modesto woman's unborn son.

Police from Richmond and Peterson's hometown of Modesto swarmed the narrow beach at Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in the wake of the grim discovery, looking for evidence that the body is that of the 27-year-old substitute teacher who was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve. Authorities said it could be days before tests determine whether the bodies that washed ashore were those of Peterson and her baby.

Sources told the Contra Costa Times that the woman's body was missing its head and legs. The sources also said maternity undergarments were on the body -- although a Contra Costa County sheriff's spokesman disputed that.

News of the discovery reverberated from the Bay Area to Modesto, where Peterson's parents posted a sign on their front door asking for privacy, to Southern California, where her in-laws still support her husband, Scott, as suspicion swirls around him.

Nationwide headlines

Revelations that Scott Peterson was having an affair helped propel her disappearance into national headlines, and a $500,000 reward offer for her safe return generated thousands of tips from across the world. Scott Peterson told police that he took a solo fishing trip to the Berkeley Marina and Brooks Island near Richmond on the day his pregnant wife vanished from Modesto.

Scott Peterson was not home Monday night and couldn't be reached for comment, but his mother, Jackie Peterson, said she broke the news to him after learning about the bodies from a reporter.

``He's just trying to get through the day and be positive about things,'' said Jackie Peterson, who said Scott told her he would continue to post fliers and not give up his mission to find his missing wife and the first-born child they planned to name Connor.

On Monday, Modesto investigators flew by helicopter to Point Isabel about two hours after a woman walking her dog spotted the body lying chest down, just up from the waterline, among concrete slabs designed to buffer the shore from erosion.

``It's not a pretty sight,'' said Norman Lapera, chief of East Bay Regional Park District Police, who said the remains were skeletal with some flesh attached.

He said the body recovered Monday appeared to have been in the water for some time.

``At the point where we looked at the victim and said it appeared not to be a man, we thought it prudent to contact Modesto PD,'' Lapera said.

Modesto Police Chief Roy W. Wasden would say only, ``We know there have been two bodies recovered, an adult and an infant.''

Nothing more found

Police with two search dogs combed the shoreline for about an hour Monday evening but called off the hunt without finding anything more.

``I feel confident that everything that's there, we've recovered,'' Lapera said. ``But there's no way of knowing what Mother Nature will do.''

Dog paw prints dotted the wind-whipped trail atop a 6-foot-high ledge that overlooks the spot where the dog walker found the body.

The spot offers panoramic views of Point Richmond, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco's skyline, and nearby Brooks Island.

On Sunday, about 1 1/4 mile north of Point Isabel, a man walking found the body of a full-term or near-full-term fetus near Point Richmond, said Sgt. Enos Johnson, spokesman for the Richmond Police Department.

The fetus's body was taken to the Contra Costa County Coroner's Office for an autopsy Sunday.

Johnson said he couldn't confirm reports that the umbilical cord was still attached. ``I saw a picture and I didn't seen an umbilical cord,'' he said, ``but then the body was very badly decomposed.''

In his 29 years with the Richmond police, Johnson said, he had seen hundreds of bodies wash ashore, from boating accidents to suicides to murders. Nothing stood out about this one.

``This is a big, busy bay. The water can sometimes send a body back and forth over rocks. By the time it washes up, it can look pretty bad.''

Searches came up empty

Investigators had come up empty in previous searches near the Berkeley Marina during the four-month hunt for Laci Peterson.

Sonar equipment detected a promising lead in January, but divers discovered it was an old anchor.

Modesto police called off a search of Brooks Island on March 13 because of bad weather.

Scott Peterson has remained the main focus of Modesto police. Investigators removed dozens of bags of evidence from the Petersons' home on Feb. 18 but refused to divulge what, if anything, they found.

What happens next with this Central Valley mystery continues to grip people around the country. From Modesto to Maine, dozens signed on Monday to a Web site dedicated to Laci Peterson's disappearance to offer their prayers and speculate whether Scott Peterson was involved.

His parents insisted he wasn't.

Jackie Peterson, who lives in the San Diego area, said she believes Laci is the victim of a kidnapping, not a homicide.

``It's not just a feeling, I'm a realist,'' she said. ``To date there is no evidence that Laci is dead or that that is her body. I don't think there is a connection to Laci at all.

``There are several missing pregnant women in that area,'' she said. ``I'm sorry for whoever it is. I'm sorry for their loved ones. I don't believe it's possible that it's Laci.

``It would just break my son's heart.''

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.