Woman Held in Body-Parts Case Is Wanted in Oregon

A woman arrested Friday after human remains were found in two freezers inside a Canoga Park apartment also is wanted by Oregon authorities in the slaying of her young daughter, Los Angeles police said Saturday.

A fingerprint check by Los Angeles police detectives identified the woman as Karen Lee Huster, 41, an Oregon fugitive. She has been on the run since April, when she was indicted in the killing of her 10-year-old daughter, who has been missing since 1996.

Los Angeles police, responding to a call at 11:15 a.m. Friday about a possible killing, forced their way into the De Soto Avenue apartment when no one answered the door. Inside, Huster was found with what police said appeared to be self-inflicted wounds.

Body parts were found in the freezer compartment of a kitchen refrigerator and a large commercial-style freezer in the dining room, Lt. Dan Aikin of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Saturday.

After her arrest Friday on suspicion of murder stemming from the remains found in the apartment, Huster refused to identify herself and was booked as “Jane Doe.”

Authorities have not yet identified the victim, but say the remains appear to be those of an adult man.

The apartment’s tenant, a 73-year-old man, is missing, police said. His name will not be released until relatives have been “notified of his missing status, due to the uncertain nature of the investigation,” according to a statement by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Authorities in Los Angeles and Oregon would say little Saturday about Huster. In April, an Oregon grand jury indicted her for murder in the slaying of her daughter, Elisabeth Anne Huster.

According to a Web site of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, Huster had numerous run-ins with state authorities over the whereabouts of her daughter. The site included extensive background on Huster’s case, which has generated much attention in Oregon.

Huster has served jail time for refusing to help authorities find her daughter.

In an interview Saturday from his home in Pleasanton, Huster’s ex-husband described his former wife as a Northridge native, with an often hostile personality.

Michael Huster, said that after the couple separated in 1995, he initiated divorce proceedings. His wife then tried “to hide my daughter away from me,” he said. The couple also has a son, who is 19 and lives in Oregon, he said.

Michael Huster--who moved from Oregon to the San Francisco Bay Area after the couple’s separation--joined friends and neighbors in contacting Oregon authorities in December 1996, worried because Elisabeth, then 10, had not been seen for four months.

On Christmas Eve 1996, Karen Huster told local sheriff’s deputies that her daughter was staying with relatives in California but would not say where, according to one news release.

A short time later, authorities said the mother disappeared, turning up in the seaside town of Newport, Ore., in February 1997. Local authorities served three search warrants but were unable to locate the missing girl. Huster was found guilty of custodial interference in May 1997, according to documents on the sheriff’s Web site.

Michael Huster said he was awarded full custody of the child, if she is found.

A judge warned the mother that she would be sent to state prison if she did not reveal the whereabouts of her child. She refused, and was sentenced to prison in June 1997.

Elisabeth Huster’s story was featured on the TV show “America’s Most Wanted” on April 17, 1998.

No one called with tips, according to Oregon authorities, and other investigative efforts have been fruitless.

Karen Huster was released from prison in February 1999 and returned to Washington County. More than a year later, on April 13, a grand jury indicted Huster for the death of her daughter.

But Huster had disappeared again.

On April 19, Huster was in Kingman, Ariz., according to Oregon authorities, who said Spanish language tapes and a map of Mexico were found among her possessions.

Meanwhile, Michael Huster, whose divorce from the suspect was finalized in February 1997, said Saturday that he still holds out hope that his daughter, now 14, is alive.

He said his former wife often exhibited a “hostile kind of personality,” adding that she could be distrustful and quick to anger.

“I think anyone’s capable of doing something like that if they’re pushed or if they are under enough stress,” Michael Huster said, referring to her Canoga Park arrest on suspicion of murder. “So, yes, I think she’s capable of it. I would hope and pray she didn’t [do it], of course.”