Body May Be That of Missing Woman, Law Officers Fear

A body authorities fear might be that of a missing 21-year-old Garden Grove woman was found late Wednesday off a remote road in the Santa Ana Mountains just inside Riverside County, Garden Grove police said.

Police said, however, that identification of the body was being delayed until today because investigators were moving slowly in an effort to preserve evidence.

“There’s a possibility it’s her,” said Garden Grove Police Sgt. Douglas Morrill. “We’re checking all the avenues we can. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Riverside County Sheriff’s Lt. Nick Padilla said the description of the body and that of the missing woman, Denise Marie Duerr, were “pretty consistent.”

Duerr was last seen by her boyfriend as she was heading to work early Monday at Data Circuits in Orange. Witnesses at the townhouse complex where she lives in the 13000 block of Monroe Street said they saw Duerr’s 1984 black Pontiac Fiero pull out of the garage area, but could not confirm that Duerr was the driver.

“I am convinced that if she was physically able to speak she would have already called her mom,” Joseph E. Duerr, the missing woman’s uncle, said earlier Wednesday.

The body was found at the end of Fresno Creek Road in a wilderness area of rolling hills and brush south of the Riverside Freeway just over the Orange County line in Riverside County.

Riverside County deputies said the body was found about 5:40 p.m. by Ronald Gray, 23, of Buena Park, who had stopped there to let his two dogs run.

According to deputies, Gray said the dogs began sniffing at the edge of the road, and he went to see what they had detected. It was then he saw a woman’s body lying on her back about 10 to 15 feet from the end of the gated road. Deputies said there were no obvious signs of trauma on the body.

Riverside County sheriff’s deputies delayed moving the body up to the road until a team of forensic experts was assembled. “They want to make sure no latent evidence is destroyed,” Morrill said.

No car was found at the scene. Police reported they had not located Duerr’s car as of late Wednesday night.

Joseph Duerr earlier Wednesday offered a $1,000 reward for information about the whereabouts of his niece’s car. Duerr said that if the car can be found, it might bear clues.

Distinguishing Marks on Car

“She was very much what I would call a momma’s girl,” the uncle said. “She just wouldn’t leave without letting her mom know. It just isn’t like her.” He said the young woman and her mother, Mary Ellen Ducharme, also of Garden Grove, were very close.

Duerr said the black sports car had several distinguishing marks.

“She hand-painted the logo of the car on the back panel in hot pink. Two weeks ago, she had her stereo ripped off and in the process the thieves tore out a part of the center console,” Duerr said. The car also had a personalized license plate that reads “CEEYA 3.”

Garden Grove police spokesman Roger Flanders said tipsters had started calling the department, claiming they had sighted the Fiero, after hearing television news reports about the disappearance. Family members said the police told them two callers said they had seen the car in Torrance.

Police described the missing woman as 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighing 104 pounds, with blond hair. Her left eye is green while her right eye is blue and hazel. She was last seen wearing blue jeans with a black belt, a black short-sleeve blouse and black high-top athletic shoes.

Family members said the woman wears a diamond bracelet with her name inscribed on it and a gold necklace that has a small diamond in the center. Riverside deputies said bracelets were found on the body.

Times staff photographer Kari Rene Hall contributed to this story.