Body May Be Redlands Teenager’s

Authorities said Monday that they suspect that the body of a young woman found buried in a shallow grave near a Redlands citrus grove is that of Kelly Laurel Bullwinkle, the 18-year-old college student who disappeared after work three weeks ago.

The decomposed body was found Saturday afternoon by two paint-ball players a few miles from Bullwinkle’s apartment, and San Bernardino County coroner’s officials said they expect to identify the body today.

Bullwinkle was last seen the afternoon of Sept. 13, when she got off work at a Baker’s Burgers restaurant in Redlands.

Bullwinkle’s mother said Monday that she still had faith her daughter would be found alive but that Saturday’s discovery has made it difficult to retain hope.

“I’m totally devastated,” Diana Bullwinkle, 44, said from her home in Redlands.

Squads of volunteers have been posting fliers with Bullwinkle’s picture and searching surrounding desert areas on horseback since police labeled her disappearance as suspicious after finding her abandoned car Sept. 14 at the Ontario Mills mall.

“She had pets to take care of, classes to take and she had to be back at work,” her mother said. “This [disappearance] was not like her.”

As she awaited word from law enforcement authorities, Diana Bullwinkle expressed remorse and anger, saying she believed her only child’s disappearance was treated with less urgency by the media and law enforcement than the recent child abductions that attracted national attention.

“My daughter only turned 18 in June, but because she was considered an adult, not a child, [police] had to first rule out that she wasn’t a runaway, which took time,” her mother said. “This didn’t receive the immediate attention in the news it deserved, because she wasn’t eligible for an Amber Alert. When your child is missing, nothing is ever fast enough.”

Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened to Bullwinkle after she left work. On the day Bullwinkle disappeared, she telephoned a female roommate and told her that she intended to hang out with friends after leaving the restaurant.

The body was found in San Timoteo Canyon near a patch of orange groves at San Timoteo Canyon and Alessandro roads.

Lt. Patrick Beaver of the Redlands Police Department said the body was in an advanced decomposed condition that “would be consistent” with the time of Bullwinkle’s disappearance.

“There’s nothing that tells us it’s not her,” Beaver said.

“We’re waiting on dental records.”

Kelly Bullwinkle is a full-time student at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, after graduating from Redlands’ East Valley High School this year. In high school, she lettered for three years in cross-country and played clarinet in the school band.

Kelly also is fond of horseback riding. Nicknamed “Little Kelly” by her riding friends, she performed in several equestrian competitions with her horse, Banner.

“Kelly’s a very warm person, sharp-witted with a sly sense of humor,” said Missy Myrick, who had trained her since Kelly’s grandfather gave her a riding session as a 12th-birthday present. “She loved animals and was passionate about horses.”

Kelly planned to attend Sonoma State and major in psychology, her mother said.

Diana Bullwinkle, a single mother and former U.S. Coast Guard recruiter, has lived in Alaska, Northern California and Southern California with Kelly. When they lived in the Northern California town of Petaluma, the Bullwinkles participated in the 1993 search for Polly Klaas, the 12-year-old who was later found murdered.

Diana Bullwinkle was on a ship in Central America working as a Coast Guard health services technician when she received word that her daughter was missing. After returning home, she held a news conference and attended a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Klaas’ death, hoping to draw more attention to her own plight.

“Now that the worst may have happened, it’s become big news,” Diana said. “The day I held my press conference, it got bumped down in the news because there was an earthquake in Japan. Now, we’re supposed to care about Arnold [Schwarzenegger] groping 15 women? Where are people’s priorities? My daughter is missing.

“It might be too late for Kelly, but I would hope people would just remember that the next time something like this happens.”