Saturday, January 15, 2005

Missing Oak Harbor girl found dead
18-year-old's statements lead police to body in compost

By JAKE ELLISON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The body of Elaine Sepulveda, a 15- year-old Oak Harbor girl missing since November, was found early yesterday in a shallow grave at a Whidbey Island residence.

Oak Harbor police have arrested an 18-year-old man on investigation of second-degree murder, said Capt. Rick Wallace of the Oak Harbor Police Department.
 
Elaine Sepulveda had told friends that she was pregnant.

The home where police found Sepulveda belongs to the man's grandfather.

The girl's remains were discovered at 4:30 a.m. in a large compost pile in the back yard of the house, near the intersection of Regatta Avenue and Southeast Sixth Avenue in Oak Harbor.

The grandfather told officers the 18-year-old had confided that he accidentally killed the girl. He said he had knocked her to the ground while preventing her from committing suicide, Detective Sgt. Jerry Baker said in a probable-cause statement.

The cause of Sepulveda's death had not been determined as of last night, Wallace said.

The 18-year-old is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer does not usually identify suspects unless they are charged in court. Prosecutors are expected to file charges early next week.

Sepulveda disappeared Nov. 6 after apparently sneaking out of her home to meet the man. Officers believe he was the last person to see her.

Widespread searches failed to find her.

Police believe a new search organized by two national organizations that was scheduled to begin yesterday caused the suspect to discuss the missing girl with his grandfather, Wallace said. The Laura Recovery Center and the Klaaskids Foundation for Children had set up the searches.

"We suspect that this basically was the tipping point for the young man," Wallace said. "At that point, he told his relative things that implicated him, and the relative passed that on to us."

The man was arrested at the Oak Harbor Police Department, after he and his grandfather spoke with police there. Because of statements the man made, officers began searching the residence at 1 a.m. and later discovered her body, Wallace said

Police had interviewed the 18- year-old earlier in the investigation into Sepulveda's disappearance. During the interview, the suspect gave police clothing that the girl was believed to have been wearing when she left her house.

Citing the ongoing investigation, Wallace would not discuss whether the girl's body was clothed when she was discovered.

The girl's mother, Mary Jiminez, wept after the suspect's bail hearing yesterday. She asked for prayers for her daughter.

"Now that we have Elaine back home, we can put her to rest," she said.

Public defender Craig Platt, who is representing the suspect, declined comment.

According to Baker's probable-cause statement, the girl had told friends she was pregnant with the suspect's child.

In earlier police interviews, the man said he had encountered the girl by chance early the day she disappeared. He denied having had sex with her, saying she was too young and that he was not interested in her. He told police he was aware of her claims that she was carrying his child and said he had offered her Internet information on miscarriage and abortion.

On Nov. 7, the man's mother called police to report finding a bag of Sepulveda's clothing in her son's closet. She said her son told her he found the bag in the middle of a road. The suspect subsequently said Sepulveda had asked him to hold the clothes for her because she was afraid they smelled like illegal drugs she had smoked at a party.

Police do not believe anyone else was involved in the girl's death.

Wallace said the suspect's grandfather "didn't have any idea that Sepulveda was there and that up until midnight, he didn't believe (the suspect) was involved. He was distraught over the situation."

More headlines and info from Whidbey Island.
P-I reporter Jake Ellison can be reached at 206-448-8346 or jakeellison@seattlepi.com This report includes information from The Associated Press.