Man Sought for Clues on Slain Deputy

An Antelope Valley man is being sought as a “person of interest” in the slaying of a veteran Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who was shot to death Saturday while conducting a trespassing investigation at a remote High Desert trailer, authorities said.

While officials stopped short of calling 52-year-old Donald Charles Kueck a suspect, a sheriff’s spokesman said investigators have uncovered evidence that a car registered to Kueck was used in the crime and said that he “may be considered armed and dangerous.”

The car, a 1973 Dodge Custom which is similar in appearance to a Dart, is yellow with a black vinyl top and bears the California license plate number 122HFM.

Sheriff’s officials on Sunday sought the public’s help in locating Kueck, who lives in Llano, a short distance from where Deputy Stephen Sorensen’s body was found Saturday afternoon.

“It is believed that Kueck may have information concerning the murder of Deputy Sorensen,” according to a Sheriff’s Department press release. “Kueck resides in the area near where Deputy Sorensen’s body was found and may have witnessed the shooting.”

Added Deputy Darren Harris: “It is our No. 1 priority to find this guy and talk to him.”

Sheriff’s officials declined to release further information about Kueck, citing the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, new details emerged about the circumstances surrounding Sorensen’s slaying. The deputy may have stumbled upon a methamphetamine operation while investigating the trespassing complaint in the 21000 block of East Avenue T8 in Llano.

According to police documents and interviews, Sorensen notified sheriff’s dispatchers that he had arrived at the scene about 12:30 p.m. -- his last communication with the department. A short time later, someone called 911 reporting that shots had been fired from the area in which Sorensen was conducting his investigation.

After dispatchers were unable to contact Sorensen on the radio, deputies raced to the scene. There was no sign of Sorensen, but they found his patrol car and signs of a struggle and blood, according to the police. Investigators found chemicals used to make methamphetamine near the location but said it was unclear whether it was an active laboratory.

Officials launched a search for the deputy, using helicopters, off-road vehicles and dogs. Sorensen’s body was discovered about an hour later less than a quarter mile from his patrol car. He had been shot in the torso with a large-caliber, semiautomatic rifle.

Kueck’s Dodge was found about 2 1/2 miles from the original crime scene and the deputy’s 9 mm pistol was missing, according to Deputy Harris.

Sorensen, an Army veteran and former lifeguard, was the resident deputy for the rural Lake Los Angeles area, about 80 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. His 150-square-mile beat included several sparsely populated communities on the edge of the Mojave Desert. His home doubled as his office, and he was known to some in his patrol area as the “town sheriff.” He left behind a wife, Christine, and two children.

A uniformed deputy who was a friend of Sorensen’s stood guard outside a modest ranch-style home where Sorensen’s wife and other family members were grieving on Sunday afternoon.

In a statement, Sorensen’s family thanked the community for the outpouring of support and expressed its gratitude for those who were “tirelessly seeking the perpetrators of this thoughtless act.”

“Steve selflessly fulfilled his desire -- to be a resident first and deputy second,” the statement said. “He recognized that everything that happened in the community affected him and his family. He worked tirelessly, with his family and friends, to better his community and everyone’s way of life.”

A former neighbor of Sorensen’s said the deputy and his family moved out of their home on 171st Street East to another home nearby about a year ago because Sorensen had been receiving threats.

The Sorensens were so concerned about their privacy, the former neighbor said, that they only gave out their new phone number -- not their address -- to neighbors they were leaving behind.

Sheriff’s officials declined to comment on whether Sorensen had been receiving threats or, if he had so, whether they may be related to his slaying.

Those who knew him expressed shock and sadness Sunday as the details of his death unfolded.

“I’m telling you everybody is in shock. It’s something no one even imagined could happen,” said Gayle Joyce, editor of the weekly newspaper, the Lake L.A. News.

Joyce said Sorensen frequently dealt with one of her reporters regarding issues in the community. “He was a very compassionate man, very caring,” Joyce said. “This is truly a loss to the community.”

On Sunday afternoon, police cars from all over Southern California -- their emergency lights flashing -- sped back and forth on the High Desert roads surrounding the crime scene. Meanwhile, investigators conducted a 15-mile grid search using helicopters, horses and scent-tracking dogs.

“They’re combing through and searching for potential clues that may [help us catch] a deputy killer,” said Harris, the sheriff’s spokesman.

The deputy declined to release details about what investigators had found, saying, “these are things only a killer would know.”

Times staff writer Scott Glover contributed to this report.