Slain Woman’s Body Found Near Yosemite

Authorities discovered the body of a slain woman Thursday in a rural corner of Tuolumne County and were trying to determine if the victim was one of three Yosemite sightseers who mysteriously vanished more than a month ago.

Tuolumne County Sheriff Dick Rogers said the body was discovered shortly after noon, then declined further comment until a news conference this morning.

Investigators discovered the victim near the northeastern corner of Don Pedro Reservoir along California 120, about a 45-minute drive from the Sierra forest where the trio’s torched rental car was discovered last week.

Rogers declined to say how the victim died or provide other details. Authorities cordoned off a long strip of highway near Moccasin Vista Point and investigators from the FBI, Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department and the county coroner’s office were at the scene Thursday night.

The discovery of the body comes a week after two charred bodies were found in the trunk of the rental car near Long Barn, a Tuolumne County community about 30 miles from Don Pedro Reservoir.

One of the victims was identified as Carole Sund, 42, of Eureka, but the other body has yet to be identified and is undergoing DNA testing. Officials would not discuss Sund’s cause of death.

The last confirmed sighting of Sund, her 15-year-old daughter Juliana and family friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, who was visiting from Argentina, was Feb. 15 at a lodge in El Portal, a tiny community at the front entrance to Yosemite National Park.

Don Pedro Reservoir sits near the junction of California 120, a well-traveled route to Yosemite, and California 108, which winds into the Sierra and passes the thickly wooded slope where the red Pontiac Grand Prix was found last week along an old logging road.

The three tourists disappeared as they were set to return from a weekend outing in Yosemite. Authorities scoured the roads leading from the park for a possible accident, but began to suspect foul play when a portion of Carole Sund’s wallet was found on a busy street in Modesto, about a two-hour drive from Yosemite.

Investigators have declined to discuss any potential suspects. Before the body was found Thursday, FBI Special Agent James M. Maddock said he expected a federal grand jury to be impaneled, probably next week, in Fresno to assist in the investigation of the case.

The families of the victims, speaking from the Modesto hotel where they have been staying, had little to say except that they were looking forward to any information that will bring the case to resolution.

“We’re hopeful this recent development will help investigators solve this case,” said Raquel Pelosso, Silvina’s mother. “We’ll know more tomorrow. At this time, I’m not prepared to answer any questions regarding my feelings because nothing is definite yet.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.