The remains of a Lompoc woman missing for almost a decade have been found, police announced at a press conference on March 23.
Lompoc Police Department officials informed members of the media that a local citizen recently discovered a human jawbone while hiking in a remote part of Santa Barbara County. That person turned the bone into the Sheriff’s Department, which sent it to the U.S. Department of Justice for identification.
Preliminary dental records and a follow-up DNA test revealed it to be the mandible of Dana McPeek, who disappeared on May 4, 2001, after visiting Chumash Casino with a friend.
McPeek, 33, was last seen driving her 1992 Toyota pickup truck, which was later discovered abandoned in an alley. Police labeled McPeek a “high-risk” missing person because of a diagnosed mental illness.
Lompoc Sgt. Chuck Strange, the case’s supervising detective, said it’s impossible to determine a cause of death because of the
limited amount and advanced age of the remains.
However, he said McPeek’s death is
“definitely suspicious” and is being investigated as a possible homicide.
McPeek’s family members have said they believe there are people in the Lompoc area with more information about her death and are urging them to step forward.
“I would agree with the family. There are definitely people in the community who know more than what they’re saying,” Sgt. Strange said. “That’s how this case is going to be
broken.”
Police are currently withholding the exact location where McPeek’s jawbone was found so they can conduct a more thorough investigation.
Anyone with further information regarding McPeek’s disappearance is asked to call the Lompoc Police Department at 736-2341.
This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 7, 2011.
