Remains Found; Husband Held

San Diego County sheriff’s deputies Saturday arrested the husband of one of two Ramona women who have been missing for more than two years and said the man will be charged with two counts of murder.

Authorities said the arrest of Russell Laverne Klein, 38, a handyman, appears to solve the baffling case of a suspected double slaying that has frustrated investigators in the semi-rural community.

Meanwhile, 50 sheriff’s deputies and volunteers searching for the women’s bodies on the grounds of the suspect’s home discovered human remains Saturday in a grave on the 13-acre site. The unidentified remains were turned over to the San Diego County coroner’s office, which was expected to examine them in detail today.

The two women--Susan Klein, who would be 36, and Ann Milyard, who would be 37--have been missing from their Ramona home since neighbors reported their disappearance on Dec. 28, 1984, the Sheriff’s Department said. The two apparently lived at the same Magnolia Road address where the remains were found Saturday, and where Russell Klein was arrested.

Although authorities have long suspected foul play, they said that evidence had been insufficient to charge anyone until a confidential informant provided additional information earlier this month. That unspecified information, sheriff’s officials said, led to the execution Saturday of a search warrant.

Klein was arrested without incident at his home. He was being held without bail at the San Diego County Jail on suspicion of murder.