FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Killer May Have Stalked Jogger for Weeks Before He Struck

Police on Wednesday released a new composite sketch and a more detailed description of the man they believe shot flight attendant Jane Carver in the face June 10, leaving her to die in a flower bed just a block from her home.

Drawing on witness accounts, police believe the killer had stalked Carver, 46, for weeks and had tried to abduct her before he killed her.

The man is described as black, 30 to 40 years old, small in stature with a thin build. He is 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8, 140-150 pounds, with short hair, a receding hairline and medium to dark complexion, police said. He had two to three days’ growth of beard. He has high cheekbones and was wearing a dark or tweed sports coat with a high-collared shirt and dark pants.

Carver was shot in the face as she was finishing a run on Warner Avenue, just around the corner from her home in a quiet Fountain Valley housing tract.

“The suspect leaned over the victim for a moment, then calmly returned to his car and drove away,” reads a police flyer printed Wednesday.

The car is described as an American-made, 1978 to 1984 two-door hatchback, possibly a Plymouth Champ or Dodge Colt. It is white, dirty in appearance, with a dark front grille.

Police are focusing on the theory that the killer had been stalking Carver based on reports of a man fitting his description seen in the neighborhood and near Mile Square Regional Park, where Carver jogged, for three to four weeks before the killing.

Fountain Valley Police Lt. Bob Mosley said Wednesday that police are also looking into the possibility that the man is a serial killer.

Mosley said police are working closely with the state Department of Justice and the FBI to identify other murders that “match the MO” of Carver’s killer, who committed his crime near a park.

A $25,000 reward is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.

Anyone with information should call (714) 965-4466, 962-4447, or 965-4483.