AT RISK MISSING PERSON
Date: 8/28/2003 Case #: 03-45233 Soc. Sec #: Name: HEATHER MARIE CARPENTER Address: REDDING, CA 96003 Height: 5 Feet 4 Inches Weight: 125 Age: 22 Sex: F Eyes: BROWN Hair: LONG BLONDE Complexion: FAIR Race: WHITE Birth Date: 3/10/1981
OTHER INFORMATION BELOW
$25,000 REWARD! ****A TOTAL OF $25,000 IS BEING OFFERED FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE WHEREABOUTS OF HEATHER CARPENTER**** HEATHER CARPENTER, 22 YEARS OF AGE MISSING SINCE 08/04/2003 SHASTA COUNTY SECRET WITNESS: $20,000 THE CAROLE SUND/CARRINGTON MEMORIAL REWARD FOUNDATION: $5000 IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT MAY HELP US IN FINDING HEATHER PLEASE CALL:     - SECRET WITNESS 530-243-2319     - REDDING POLICE DISPATCH 530-225-4564
Redding Police Department-Missing Persons Unit (530) 225-4214            www.reddingpolice.org
TRAK (299:1.75.74)  This flyer produced on a TRAK System.  For more information about TRAK see www.trak.org

Month later, no trace of woman

Parents, clinging to hope, continue search for clues

Margo Horner
Record Searchlight

September 04, 2003 �?2:12 a.m.
Ed and Cydney Carpenter see their missing daughter, Heather, every day. But only in memories and nightmares.

"We're always looking in cars," Ed Carpenter said. "You see a blonde dressed like her and you're like 'Oh, is that her?' "

Every day for the past month, the Carpenters have been searching for their 22-year-old daughter.

Heather Marie Carpenter disappeared Aug. 4 after a 17-year-old boy dropped her off at her apartment following an all-night party.

Since that day, Ed and Cydney Carpenter have used sick days and vacation time from their jobs. They've abandoned their Chico home, allowing friends and neighbors to tend their yard and collect their mail.

Even sleep provides no escape for the emotionally drained family.

"You go to bed worrying that somebody's mistreating or tormenting her," Ed Carpenter said. "There's days we wake up and it feels almost like she's going to be found that day."

But so far, that day hasn't come.

"We're kind of like losing hope as time goes on," said Ed Carpenter, who fears foul play. "It's hard for us to understand how anyone could be so callous or uncaring that they would not come forward with information about her whereabouts."

Large-scale searches have been mounted near Keswick and in southern Shasta County, near Happy Valley and Clear Creek.

Law enforcement and search and rescue volunteers have surveyed both regions from the air and driven the roads countless times. They've mapped caves, explored rugged dirt trails and dived in rivers. Nearly everyone who has ever known Heather Carpenter has been interviewed, Redding police Sgt. John Hawkins has said.

Ten Redding police investigators are working full time on the case.

Family, friends and strangers have beaten down blackberry bushes and waded through creeks. There've been candlelight vigils, fund-raising auctions, donations, fliers and national television appearances.

Secret Witness of Shasta County and the Carole-Sund Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation offer a total of $25,000 for information leading to the 22-year-old woman's whereabouts.

But there are no developments and no suspects in the case, Redding police Sgt. Damon Minor said Wednesday.

Community support has helped the family cope, Cydney Carpenter said.

"People stop me on the street and pray and hug me," she said. "And food. They bring food to our house every day."

Cydney Carpenter said the family is working closely with police and that detectives call her at least twice a day.

Hawkins sometimes hugs Cydney when he sees her. And he has said that investigators are taking this case very personally, calling the missing woman "our girl."

"How can you do something to little innocent people," said Ed Carpenter while holding baby pictures of Heather.

"I don't want to think that a human being has the capacity to treat another human being with such low respect and treat them as an object to just be discarded or held against their will and not feel any remorse, guilt or empathy," he said.

Reporter Margo Horner can be reached at 225-8215 or at [email protected].

Hi Stacey,

 

I was drawn to your post and I am going to post some thoughts on Heather sometime this week as I find time.  I did a chart for the time last seen and will share some observations, maybe it will get the ball rolling on a group discussion and we can zoom in together where she may be.

 

Karin Galaxie

Panel questions witnesses

Grand Jury seeks clues in disappearance of Heather Carpenter Jim Schultz

Record Searchlight

Heather Carpenter

September 11, 2003 �?2:12 a.m.
The Shasta County Grand Jury has begun interviewing potential witnesses in the Aug. 4 disappearance of 22-year-old Heather Marie Carpenter of Redding.

Shasta County District Attorney Jerry Benito confirmed Wednesday that the jury was convened at the request of his office as the investigation into the woman's disappearance enters its second month. Witnesses were interviewed Tuesday but law enforcement officials wouldn't say if more sessions are scheduled.

Among those subpoenaed was the 17-year-old boy who has told investigators that he dropped off the blond-haired, brown-eyed Carpenter at her apartment following an all-night party, said Redding attorney David Wilson, who has been retained by the teen's family.

Benito said that law forbids him from disclosing who was summoned to appear before the Grand Jury and who testified during the proceeding.

And he cautioned against speculating about the purpose of the jury's work and whether it might issue an indictment.

Benito said his office is working closely with the Redding Police Department in the investigation of Carpenter's disappearance and will use "every option" to find her.

Wilson said he knows of at least eight people who were summoned by the Grand Jury and that his teenaged client has been interviewed "probably a dozen times" by Redding police.

But, Wilson said, he wasn't sure why the Grand Jury became involved.

"It's unclear to me if they are on a fact-finding mission or are trying to bypass a preliminary hearing" by eventually issuing an indictment, he said.

Since Carpenter's disappearance, Redding police Sgt. John Hawkins said investigators have conducted almost 300 interviews and that the number continues to grow.

And, he said, he remains optimistic that a break in the case is forthcoming.

"I am the eternal optimist," he said. "The glass is never half empty."

Carpenter's father, Ed, said Wednesday that he was unaware that the Grand Jury was looking into his daughter's disappearance.

"I know nothing of it," he said. "I can't tell you if it's good or bad."

His wife, Cydney, said that they have not had a chance to contact authorities, noting that they spent most of Wednesday being interviewed by a TV news crew from NBC's "Inside Edition" for an upcoming segment about their daughter's disappearance.

Ed Carpenter also noted that he and a group of about 30 others searched for his daughter this past weekend in the Keswick Lake area along Spring Creek Road

But that search failed to produce any evidence or leads.

"We didn't find anything," he said.

Still, he said, it did serve another purpose.

"We've eliminated a road where someone might have thrown out anything," he said. "We're eliminating possibilities."

Secret Witness of Shasta County and the Carole-Sund Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation are offering a total of $25,000 for information leading to her whereabouts.

Reporter Jim Schultz can be reached at 225-8223 or at [email protected].

Stacey and all,

 

I have had a few minutes to look at the chart for the time Heather was reported as last seen, and there are not many optimistic signs.  Regretfully my feeling is that Heather has likely come into harm's way.  The condition of the authorities in this chart is very weak, which to me says they are having a difficult time finding her or even dealing effectively in this case.  It may go unsolved for quite some time.  Moon in this chart occupies a dangerous area of the zodiac, which indicates an unpredictable and most unfortunate event.  There are many other concerning signs.  I would be inclined to look in an eastern direction.  Not sure what the area is like in that direction, but she may possibly be found in a forest area, or a place that is rocky or steep, also in an area associated with heat -- possibly recent forest fires?  Or where there has been an outdoor camp fire or other heat element.  Hot, humid air.  Another possibility is near recreation areas like parks.  Perhaps an eastern state or public park.  I feel much concern for this young lady and hope I am proven wrong!  Does anyone else have any sense of Heather's whereabouts or circumstances?

 

Karin Galaxie

Heather has been  found and he killer as well!

interesting it was the young boy in the truck...just as we had thought!!

 

Body of missing Redding woman found

By GREG WELTER - Staff Writer

REDDING - A Chico couple learned Thursday that the body of their daughter, who has been missing since August, was found in a shallow grave northwest of Redding and a teen-age male has been charged with killing her.

The news confirmed the worst fears and closely held suspicions of Ed and Cydney Carpenter, who said they've known the identity of the man who allegedly abducted their daughter Heather for some time.

Heather Marie Carpenter, 22, disappeared from her Redding apartment early on the morning of Aug. 4 following an all-night party.

Information recently called in to Shasta County's Secret Witness Program led investigators late Wednesday to a remote site near Keswick, three miles northwest of Redding, where Carpenter's remains were unearthed after a brief search.

"The gravesite had been there a while, perhaps since August," said Redding police Chief Leonard Moty.

He said information identifying its location was remarkably accurate.

Police believe an 18-year-old Keswick resident, Patrick Michael Larmour, is responsible for the young woman's disappearance and death and arrested him Thursday afternoon on suspicion of homicide.

Moty said other charges may be pending.

Larmour is being held without bail in the Shasta County Jail.

The police chief and Shasta County District Attorney Jerry Benito called a press conference for this morning hoping to announce additional developments in the case.

The cause of Carpenter's death wasn't immediately disclosed.

Moty said Carpenter and the teen-ager didn't know each other before the party. Investigators said they've confirmed reports that Larmour drove her home the morning of Aug. 4, then left with her a short time later, but aren't sure if she ever went inside her residence.

Larmour was located shortly after Carpenter's disappearance and has been questioned several times since August. A description of his vehicle was widely circulated by police, who hoped someone may have spotted it the day of Carpenter's disappearance, but clues in the case proved elusive.

Aided by Shasta County police agencies and volunteers, the young woman's family mounted a number of massive searches for Heather and kept the story of her disappearance in the media.

Over the past few months, Ed and Cydney Carpenter became increasingly convinced that Larmour was the prime suspect in the case and had abducted their daughter. With the investigation ongoing, they kept that opinion to themselves.

Cydney Carpenter said she was looking forward to the day when she could openly talk about the man who turned the lives of her family upside down.

Larmour was 17 when Carpenter disappeared, but turned 18 in October.

If the case is prosecuted, Moty believes the teen-ager will be tried as an adult.

Redding police investigators and department chaplains came to Chico Thursday morning to tell the Carpenters dental records confirmed that the body found Wednesday was that of their daughter.

The couple were in seclusion Thursday and didn't wish to make a statement.

As recently as nine days ago, Cydney Carpenter said she believed her family would soon be getting closure on the case. "We can deal with death, but not the unknown," she said.

Out of empathy, and for the sake of their own survival, the Carpenters became keenly interested in the Laci Peterson case and that of Dru Sjodin, the 22-year-old woman missing from North Dakota. Chris, Heather's older brother, had struck up a dialogue with Staci's brother, Brent. Her older sister, Heidi, posted messages about Heather on the Sjodin family Web site.

Carpenter held down two waitressing jobs in Redding and was planning to return to college. Police said she had several friends in the Redding area, most of whom were interviewed during the investigation.

Moty said he didn't know if anyone would be claiming a $25,000 reward, which was specifically offered for information leading to Heather's safe return.

 

Teen charged with murder in death of Shasta woman

By Christine Vovakes --
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Saturday, December 20, 2003

REDDING -- The 18-year-old man accused of killing Heather Marie Carpenter made his first appearance in Shasta Superior Court on Friday but did not enter a plea.

Patrick Michael Larmour is charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of the 22-year-old Redding woman who had been missing since she left an all-night party with him the morning of Aug. 4.

Her body was discovered Wednesday. A tip to the area's Secret Witness hotline led searchers to a shallow grave in a remote area four miles from the home the suspect shared with his parents in Keswick, a few miles northwest of Redding, police said.

Police arrested Larmour on Thursday

Shackled and dressed in a dark-blue jail jumpsuit over an orange T-shirt, Larmour shuffled into court and took his place with other inmates awaiting hearings before Superior Court Judge Wilson Curle.

Muscular and broad-shouldered, the dark-haired Larmour sat ramrod-straight but looked nervous as he occasionally glanced at spectators in the crowded courtroom. The man, who turned 18 two months ago, blinked several times before the proceedings began.

Joined by Redding attorney David Wilson, Larmour told the judge that he would defer entering a plea until Dec. 29.

If convicted, he faces 25 years to life in prison, said Shasta County District Attorney Jerry Benito. Because Larmour was 17 at the time the crime is alleged to have occurred, he could have been tried as a juvenile.

"Because of the seriousness of the offense, I made the decision to try him as an adult," Benito said.

Larmour is charged with one count of first-degree murder without any enhancements or special allegations.

"But as the investigation proceeds, we may add some," the district attorney said.

Investigators, assisted by personnel from the California Department of Justice, are continuing their efforts at the crime scene. Evidence was gathered from an area of about a quarter square mile, Police Chief Leo-nard Moty said.

Police, volunteers and the woman's parents, Chico residents Ed and Cydney Carpenter, had searched the area based on incoming calls to Carpenter's cell phone in the hours after her disappearance. But the Secret Witness tip prompted investigators to narrow their focus to a rugged section near the Iron Mountain Mine, Moty said.

According to friends of Carpenter, they were concerned at the end of the all-night party in Redding about allowing her to drive home because she had been drinking. Larmour offered to drive her about 6:30 a.m. Aug. 4, Moty said.

In his initial interviews with police, Larmour said Carpenter attempted to use a hidden key to enter her Redding apartment. When that didn't work, he said, she planned to contact the manager and he left.

Police think the two left her apartment together. Carpenter was not seen alive again, Moty said.

"In the beginning, we were looking at lots of people, but eliminated them because they had alibis that were proven," Moty said.

In recent weeks those people were interviewed again.

"All of that brought us back to focusing on Larmour," Moty said.

The suspect's father, Ed Larmour, said in a phone interview Friday, "We're so devastated by all of this. Our hearts go out to the Carpenter family.

"Our son has always been such a good kid and such a joy to be around," he said of the 2003 Shasta High School graduate. "He was going to go into the service last spring, but we asked him to wait and spend the summer with us."

Larmour is in the Shasta County Jail. Bail is $1 million bail.

<SPACER type="block" width="1" height="1" />

 

REDDING - Stephanie Weber placed a bouquet of flowers beside a shallow two foot-by-three foot pit in the rugged hills above Redding Friday and wept quietly.

If it hadn't been for a tip to the Shasta County Secret Witness Program, the spot might have become the eternal resting place of Heather Marie Carpenter, Stephanie's best friend since high school.

Carpenter's remains were found there Wednesday by Redding police, ending a four-month investigation into her disappearance and prompting the arrest of Patrick Michael Larmour, an 18-year-old Keswick resident charged with her killing.

He was arraigned Friday afternoon in Shasta County Superior Court.

District Attorney Jerry Benito said the case against Larmour is strong, but the death penalty can't be pursued because the man was 17 when he allegedly abducted and killed the pretty young blonde woman.

Larmour turned 18 in October, but Benito said his age now has no bearing in the case. He will be tried as an adult, Benito said. If convicted, his sentence will be 25 years to life in state prison.

Redding Police Chief Leonard Moty said Larmour may have eventually been charged with the crime, but finding Heather's remains was the missing piece of the puzzle they needed in the case.

He wouldn't say why the discovery became an iron-clad entrée to the suspect's arrest.

Police have confirmed Larmour drove Carpenter to her Redding apartment complex following an all-night party Aug. 4, then left with her again a short time later.

They also believe he was the last person to see her alive.

Police said calls likely placed by Larmour on Carpenter's cell phone had them focusing early in the investigation on an area off Iron Mountain Road known as the Chappie-Shasta Off Highway Vehicle area.

The area, popular with four-wheel drive enthusiasts, is less than four miles from the Keswick home where Larmour lived with his parents.

It is only accessible by a four-wheel drive vehicle, which Larmour is known to have owned.

Despite the possibility of a narrower search area, Redding police Sgt. Ole Olson said the victim's body might never have been found without precise information.

"In this kind of terrain, you'd have to be right on top of it to notice that anything was there, and then you might not even see it," Olson said.

Officers brought in to search for the young woman's remains had to clear away massive amounts of brush just to access the area.

Olson said only hair, fibers and remnants of bedding were found in the pit.

The young woman's bones trailed down from the burial site for several yards. Hundreds of small orange flags dotted a hillside, marking the location where bone fragments and other pieces of evidence were found.

A positive identification was made of the body using dental records.

An anthropologist from Chico State University and three of his students were enlisted by Shasta County authorities to assist with the identification of Carpenter's remains.

Turhon Murad said determining the cause of death in the case will require a forensic scientist to examine the bones of the young woman as closely as he did in identifying them. "I won't say it's impossible," he said.

Moty said Friday the cause of death is still under investigation. Carpenter's remains have been turned over to a Department of Justice Laboratory for examination.

Murad said he would be willing to assist further in the case, and won't be surprised if he's asked.

Moty said a motive for the crime is yet to be determined. He wouldn't comment further on the investigation, except to say, "The case never went cold."

The arrest of Larmour confirmed long-held suspicions by Carpenter family members that the teen-ager was the prime suspect in the case.

Since being told their daughter was dead, Chico residents Ed and Cydney Carpenter have been in seclusion. They were in Redding on Friday and investigators said they might visit the grave site.

Stephanie Weber said she's known Heather Carpenter since the age of 15. She's now 23, and Heather would have been in March.

"We were supposed to grow up together and have kids together," said Weber, already a mother of two.

The two women met at Foothill High School in Redding. Weber said Carpenter had a lot of interests, but especially liked playing tennis and excelled at it.

"We both liked music and shopping and would often make shopping trips to Chico," she said.

Stephanie's mother Sandra said Heather had a positive influence on her daughter's life. "She was always there for her. They had planned a whole life together."

Redding has been rocked by the death of Heather, Sandra Weber said.

"My daughter can't imagine why she would be hanging around with a 17 year old," Sandra Weber said. "Now she's afraid he'll get the lightest sentence - 25 years - and be back on the street in 12."

A steady, chilly rain began to fall as the two women stood on a lonely trail just 15 feet from where Heather Carpenter had lain for so long. They were numb to the discomfort. Their beloved friend had suffered a horrible fate, and many lives were the lesser for it