Ramona

The remains found April 17 buried on a Ramona ranch have been identified as those of Ann Milyard, 37, the former girlfriend of the man who lived on the ranch and who is now charged with her murder.

Russell Klein, 37, a handyman, is being held in County Jail on suspicion of murder in the death of Milyard and his wife, Susan Klein, 36. Both women have been missing since December, 1984.

Identifying Milyard’s remains took almost one week because the body had been buried for quite some time, sheriff’s reported. A forensic odontologist identified the remains by dental records supplied by Milyard’s family.

Sheriff’s deputies began investigating the women’s disappearance in late December, 1984, after the Kleins’ neighbors reported that the women had not been seen for several days, said Lt. Bill Baxter of the sheriff’s homicide division.

At that time, however, there was not enough evidence to obtain a search warrant for the area or to link Klein with the disappearance of the women, Baxter said. On April 15, detectives obtained information from a confidential source that enabled them to obtain a search warrant for the area two days later.