Body ID’d as Irvine Woman’s

One of two bodies discovered at a remote property belonging to a paroled sex offender was identified Saturday as the remains of an Irvine woman who disappeared in San Luis Obispo last year.

San Luis Obispo police identified the remains as those of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student Rachel Newhouse, 20, an Irvine native, and Cuesta College student Aundria Crawford, 20.

Authorities said the bodies, discovered Friday, were identified through dental records.

The owner of the property, 33-year-old Rex Allan Krebs, a local lumberyard worker, is the prime suspect in the apparent homicides, police said. Krebs has not been arrested but is in custody on unrelated parole violations.

The news confirmed the worst fears of the Newhouse family. Rachel Newhouse disappeared in November while walking home from a fraternity party. Her blood was later found smeared on a downtown bridge railing.

A few months later, Crawford was abducted from a duplex where she lived alone.

Another San Luis Obispo woman, Kristin Smart, remains missing after being abducted in 1996. Krebs is not a suspect in her disappearance, authorities said.

Art Krebs, 60, the suspect’s uncle, said that if police suspicions prove to be well-founded, his nephew deserves to be punished.

“We want the families there to know that we feel the same way they feel,” he said. “We are grieving. This is devastating for us, too. . . . If he’s a predator, he needs to be put away.”

The suspect’s sexual offenses date to 1987, when he raped one woman and assaulted another.

He pleaded no contest to rape and sodomy charges, and was sentenced to a 20-year prison term. He was released on parole in Sept. 1997 after serving half of his term.

California Department of Corrections officials said Krebs received psychological treatment after his release but never entered a sex offender program as suggested by a judge.

Allison Cohen contributed to this report.