Posted on 08/02/2003 2:53:00 PM PDT by lainie
I heard that, too. Just now, KFI said the man wanted for questioning lives near the site and they think he may have some information they want.
"Our main focus is to talk to Mr. Keuck to try and ascertain why his vehicle was located two and a half miles from the original crime scene and find out what he knows about this," Deputy Darren Harris told KTTV in Los Angeles.
Investigators found chemicals "consistent with manufacturing methamphetamine" in the area, Harris said, but the site was not being considered a full methamphetamine lab. An investigation was underway.
Tried 483.3375, 483.8125, and 483.5125?
Or just search the area between 483.2 and 484.2.
Chances are good, though, they've gone encrypted.
Meanwhile, authorities were seeking Donald Charles Kueck, 52, of Llano, whose 1973 yellow and black Dodge Custom was found 2½ miles from the crime scene.
Kueck was not considered a suspect but he may have seen the shooting, authorities said.
"It is our No. 1 priority to find this guy and talk to him," sheriff's Deputy Darren Harris said.
Deputies found a vehicle registered to Kueck in the area where Sorensen's body was found. Inside the vehicle was evidence linking the car to the killing, Deputy Darren Harris said Sunday.
The car is a faded yellow 1973 Dodge Custom with a black vinyl top, with California license plate 122HFM, Harris said.
While Harris stressed Kueck is not considered a suspect in the killing, investigators believe he may have information about the killer.
Kueck is 6 feet tall, approximately 180 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
At any one time Sunday, more than 100 law enforcement personnel continued to comb a 15-square-mile grid surrounding the area where Sorensen, 46, was shot to death just after noon Saturday.
Sorensen, Lake Los Angeles' resident deputy, had been going door to door to resolve a trespassing case, Harris said.
Somewhere in the area of 21000 East Ave. T-8, Sorensen and another person struggled. Details about the altercation remain sketchy, but Sorensen was shot at least once in the upper body with a large-caliber semi-automatic weapon, Harris said. Initial witness reports say a half-dozen shots were heard.
Sorensen's body was found away from his patrol vehicle, but investigators declined Sunday to reveal exact locations.
The suspect car, the body and the shooting site were in the same general area, but Harris declined to give details, saying only that there are three separate crime scenes.
Sheriff's officials would not confirm a report that Sorensen's gun and radio were missing.
It initially was believed the killer might still be in the area, but that now seems unlikely, investigators said. By late Sunday, the three helicopters that had circled the area since Saturday afternoon were called off, and investigators downshifted from a manhunt to a search for evidence.
Deputies from Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties and California Highway Patrol officers spent Saturday and Sunday combing the rugged desert terrain for clues that might link a suspect to the murder. Deputies searched on everything from horses to all-terrain vehicles.
Harris said the search was breaking down by Sunday evening.
"We combed the area very thoroughly," he said.
The next step will be to analyze the collected evidence. "In that respect it's just the beginning," Harris said.
"The person who did this has never felt pressure like the pressure they are about to feel from the Sheriff's Department. We'll spend tonight, tomorrow and every day thereafter trying to find the person who did this. "If you kill one of our family members, we're going to come after you," Harris said.
During the search, deputies stumbled on chemicals that were first identified as those which could be made into methamphetamines. Harris later said officials were not linking the chemicals to the production of drugs, noting the chemicals could be used for several other purposes.
But during a search, a detective opened a drawer near where the chemicals were found, creating a flash fire.
Arson and explosives experts, narcotics investigators and hazardous materials teams were called to the scene.
The detective was not injured and the area was cleaned.
"We are getting tips and we are following up on them," Harris said. He pleaded for help from the public in getting clues to the crime and finding Kueck.
"The bottom line is every one has to be responsive to our request," Harris said. "This is unacceptable.
"When you hear something like this it puts a knot in your stomach. When I heard about this I felt physically sick. But eventually that wears away and I became angry. We shifted into that mode that I want to find the person who did this."
Harris said that he knew Sorensen and was saddened by his death.
"Steve was the kind of guy who worked 24 hours a day for this community," Harris said. "He would get up and go out on calls at any time of the night."
Harris is not the only person who will miss Sorensen.
Jett Dwyer, 13, came by the scene to find out what happened to his friend.
"He's funny and everyone pretty much liked him," Dwyer said. "I can't think of anyone who really didn't like him."
Sorensen was always available to the community, but he also held a high profile.
"This is a small community and he was a big-time cop," Dwyer said. "You would always see him no matter what."
Calls such as the one Sorensen was investigating are not uncommon in the Lake Los Angeles area.
"It's not unusual up here with all the vacant land around," Lancaster sheriff's Capt. Carl Deeley said Saturday, adding that people often contact the Sheriff's Department or a deputy because they see a person or a trailer on their land. Usually a deputy will talk to the trespasser and land owner and try to find a resolution, Deeley said.
But the area has its hazards, Deeley said.
"This type of area, being as remote as it is, is a dangerous area," Deeley said. "He deals with outlaw bikers, gang members, a variety of people, yet he is involved in the community, with the sports and the local schools."
Local law enforcement officers were shaken by the news of the death of Sorensen, the first Antelope Valley lawman shot and killed on duty since Palmdale narcotics investigator Richard B. Hammack in 1992.
"It's very tough for us, you know, we're angry, we're upset," Deeley said. "We've lost a great human being, not just a deputy sheriff, we lost a great human being, and his wife and child have lost him forever."
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley called Sorensen's murder "a reminder that there is evil among us, and this unfortunately is the ultimate inevitable. You have 'x' number of law enforcement officers who are out there protecting their communities who are going to be killed in the line of duty."
Cooley was notified of the shooting Saturday evening and drove to the scene, arriving about 10 p.m. and staying until after midnight. It was a sad case of déjà vu for Cooley, who was the head deputy of the Lancaster branch of the district attorney's office when Hammack was killed 11 years ago.
In a call to the Valley Press on Sunday, Cooley said he expects to see the Antelope Valley community come together following the tragedy, just as it did when Hammack was killed. "As much as it grows and as many people as it gets, there's still the sense that this our community and these are our deputies," he said.
In 1992, Cooley wrote what are known as "Mincey Warrants," the legal term given to warrants used to search an area following a murder. This time, the warrants were done quickly because Deputy D.A. David Evans, an avid pilot, was at the nearby air strip when the shooting occurred.
"He saw the commotion and wondered what was going on," Cooley said. "When he found out he said, I'm going back to help. So he did and he was still there when I got there."
Cooley said he had a gut feeling about the shooting. "I'll offer a slight, uninformed prediction. When they catch the killer, whoever it is, he or she will be (someone who was already facing 25 years to life for a third strike). I'm not basing that on anything, it's just in my gut."
Valley Press Columnist William P. Warford contributed to this report.
http://www.avpress.com/n/mosty1.hts
I bet they were dumping stuff out and discovered that some common household cleansers etc, don't mix real well.
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