THE HUBER MURDER CASE : Woman Whose Items Were at Suspect’s Home Is Alive, Well

Deborah Aileen Clark was at Critters Cocktail Lounge in Glendale, Ariz., on Thursday night, surprised at being the center of attention and feeling “freaked out” about her possible brush with a murder suspect.

Authorities, who had found Clark’s birth certificate and other personal effects this week about 200 miles away in the Dewey, Ariz., home of murder suspect John J. Famalaro, had spent two days searching for the 39-year-old woman who they feared was missing.

But that fear was dispelled late Thursday when Clark was found at Critters “alive and well,” Glendale Police Officer James Toomey said.

“We feel much better knowing she’s all right,” Toomey said. “We still want to talk to her about any possible connection to Mr. Famalaro.”

Authorities have been trying to trace a list of women whose names were garnered from items found during a search of Famalaro’s home--including identification, credit cards and clothing, some with crimson stains. They have successfully located all of the women.

“We’ve moved rather swiftly through the list of names and have been fortunate that we’ve been able to find everyone,” said Yavapai County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Laurie Berra.

For her part, Clark said she finds the whole thing “very eerie,” adding that patrons at Critters have asked for her autograph.

“It freaks me out very much. I’m just glad to be alive,” she said.

Clark said she had read stories about Famalaro’s arrest in a local newspaper and had even seen her name published in a story Thursday morning. But she did not make any connection until she was contacted by police later in the day.

“When I saw the name in the paper, I thought it must have been somebody else because there are a lot of people with that same name,” Clark said. “I didn’t think anything of it. I never thought I would be involved.”

She said she does not know Famalaro or recognize him from his pictures. But she said she does remember meeting a man at a bar in December who stole her purse after she rejected his advances.

Clark said she was drunk the night she and the man met and does not remember much about him. But she said she does remember that he was driving an orange-and-silver U-Haul truck.

“He tried to force himself on me and when I said no, he got mad and left with my purse and the U-Haul,” she said. “I never saw him again after that.”