Remains Confirmed as Missing Ventura Mom

Medical examiners confirmed Sunday that skeletal remains found in a steep ravine north of the city are those of a Ventura mother missing nearly a month--a discovery investigators say will help them solve the mystery of her disappearance.

In what police described as a “needle-in-a-haystack search,” the body of Sherri Renee Dally was found by a group of volunteers Saturday about 5 p.m. approximately 35 feet below Canada Larga Road. Medical examiners used dental records to confirm the identity, but could not yet say how she died.

Now that authorities have Dally’s body, they can more effectively compare her genetic makeup with a key piece of evidence: blood found in a rental car that investigators believe was used to abduct her on May 6.

“This is incredibly important for the investigation,” said Ventura Police Sgt. Gary McCaskill, a lead detective on the case.

Dally, 35, was last seen getting into a blue-green car in the parking lot of a Target store on East Main Street. Two weeks later, police arrested Diana J. Haun, a Port Hueneme woman who worked with Dally’s husband, Michael, on suspicion of kidnapping and murder.

Haun’s name appears on a rental form for a blue-green 1995 Nissan Altima, signed out the day before Dally’s disappearance and returned the day after.

But Haun, 35, was released from jail May 23 after authorities said they did not have enough evidence to charge her.

During four days of questioning, Haun maintained that she lost her credit cards shortly before the car was rented. Supporting her story, the signature on the credit card receipt seized from the rental agency did not appear to match Haun’s normal signature, said her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Neil Quinn.

Quinn argued that merely matching the blood evidence in the car to Dally’s DNA will not solve the case. Rather, he said, investigators must determine who was driving the car.

“From what’s been reported, I don’t think DNA will make or break the case,” Quinn said Sunday.

Police investigators said they still consider Haun their prime suspect but are also questioning other suspects. Detectives have declined to say if Michael Dally is under investigation.

Workers and neighbors said that Michael Dally and Haun were involved in a romantic relationship. A week after his wife’s disappearance, Michael filed court documents seeking a legal separation from his wife of 14 years and sole custody of the children.

He said he made the move because he feared he could lose custody of his children. A hearing is scheduled for today.

On Sunday, Michael declined to talk to reporters, but his niece, Hannah Murray, who is staying with him, said he was very upset.

“He’d like to know who could do that to his wife,” Murray said. She said the two boys--Max, 6, and Devon, 8--are also upset at the news of their mother’s death. Earlier, authorities drew some of Devon’s blood to compare it with the blood in the car.

Sherri Dally’s mother, Karlyne Guess, said Sunday that although her family was still in shock from the news, they were relieved that the body had been found and grateful to the people who found her.

“We want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts, all the volunteers who spent their time looking for her,” Guess said.

The search for Dally was led by some of her close friends, who began looking for the missing woman over Memorial Day weekend.

“This is terrific work on their part,” said Lt. Carl Handy of the Ventura Police Department. “This has been a communitywide effort. The volunteers were looking for a needle in a haystack, and they found the needle.”

Kristin Olson, who helped organize the search, said she received dozens of calls with suggestions on where to look for Dally. One of the callers said to look along Canada Larga Road.

“People were searching everywhere,” Olson said. On Saturday four parties of about six people each combed rural areas near Ojai, Oxnard and along the Santa Clara River bed, she said.

Olson, whose group had called off the search for the day, decided to take a drive up Canada Larga Road, a country road off California 33. There she ran into one of the search teams and joined them.

About an hour later, a member of the search party descended into the thick brush that covers the dry creek bed along the road and found the remains.

“I felt right away that it was her,” said Olson, obviously shaken by the discovery. Dally had been a baby-sitter for Olson’s daughters since 1988. “I immediately called the detectives,” she said.

Sunday morning, investigators and members of a sheriff’s search-and-rescue unit used a climbing rope as a handrail to descend into the ravine, which police said was infested with rattlesnakes and poison oak.

About 12 investigators carefully collected small pieces of evidence in plastic bags. Stakes labeled with tags were planted over a wide area of the ravine indicating where body parts had been found.

“The condition we found her [in] is not inconsistent with that of someone who has been missing for a month,” Handy said. “The remains were exposed not just to the elements but to everything that lives in the canyon.”

Given the location where the remains were found, it appeared Dally’s body was dumped from the roadside into the ravine.

A distinct odor emanated from the ravine, and the bottom of the ditch was littered with miscellaneous trash, including an old clothes dryer and several gutted mattresses.

Overhead, a helicopter searched the adjoining hillsides for additional evidence.

For many of Dally’s friends, the grim discovery brings some solace.

“I’m glad they found her,” said Peggy Heise, one of Dally’s neighbors and a member of the search party. “We all became obsessed with finding her. Now we can all move on.”