One Dead After Pursuit in Missing-Woman Case

A woman believed to be connected to the disappearance of a Lake Forest woman was found dead in a car Sunday after she and her husband led police on a high-speed chase and shot at sheriff’s deputies outside Denver, authorities said.

The woman found in the car matches the description of Deborah Sue Miller Vovos, 39, of Riverside, but authorities have not officially identified her, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Her husband, Nicholas James Vovos, 22, was arrested Sunday morning by sheriff’s deputies for Morgan County, near Denver, on suspicion of felony evading arrest and attempted murder of a police officer, Amormino said. One deputy, he said, was slightly injured during the chase when a bullet hit the window of a patrol car and sprayed glass.

Orange County deputies had been seeking to question the couple in the disappearance of 62-year-old Carolyn Dunn Avdeef, who was last seen at her Lake Forest home June 15. According to Amormino, police officers in Cheyenne, Wyo., who first spotted the Vovoses driving Avdeef’s blue 2005 Honda Accord about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, gave chase but couldn’t catch them. Morgan County deputies spotted the same car the next morning about 45 miles outside Denver, Amormino said.

They chased it for at least 10 miles at speeds exceeding 100 mph. The Vovoses may have started shooting during the pursuit, Amormino said, but definitely began shooting after pulling the Honda into the parking lot of a convenience store in Lochbuie.

After the gun battle, deputies arrested Nicholas James Vovos and found the body of the woman matching Deborah Vovos’ description dead of a gunshot wound. Amormino said authorities had not determined who killed the woman -- whether her wound was self-inflicted or caused by someone else.

With Avdeef still missing, Amormino said, “As time goes on, the likelihood that she was a victim of foul play increases.”

On Sunday, Orange County sheriff’s deputies traveled to Colorado to interview Nicholas James Vovos.

“We wanted to question them in her disappearance,” Amormino said. “But their actions in Wyoming and Colorado make it more suspicious.”

Avdeef had rented a room to the couple and Deborah Vovos’ mother, Amormino said. Police said the couple had an extensive criminal record and were suspected of taking money from Avdeef’s bank account.

Avdeef’s employer called police June 22 after she failed to show up for work.

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Times staff writer Jia-Rui Chong contributed to this report.