BEND, Ore. -- The case of a missing 23-year-old Bend woman has now become a homicide investigation, police said Monday night. A man identified as a person of interest has been arrested in California.
Kaylee Sawyer was reported missing just after 7 p.m. Sunday. Her family said she had last been seen 18 hours earlier at her apartment, near Central Oregon Community College.
Family members also said her car was still in the parking lot, and that she had her phone but it was apparently turned off.
Just before midnight on Monday, Bend police announced the case had become a homicide investigation and they were looking for a person of interest.
"The investigation into the disappearance of Kaylee led officers to multiple addresses in
the Redmond, Oregon, area," said Lt. Clint Burleigh. "Edwin Lara has been identified as a person of interest in this case."
Lara, 31, lives in Redmond and works at Central Oregon Community College as a part-time campus public safety officer.
Just after 8:30 Tuesday morning, police announced that Lara had been taken into custody near Redding, California. Lara and a woman were arrested after an elderly man was shot and critically wounded, and a mother and two sons were driven away at gunpoint in a carjacking.
Bend Police were headed to California Tuesday to pursue leads in the case of Kaylee Sawyer.
Sawyer was described as 5-foot-2, 120 pounds, with blonde hair and blue-green eyes. She was last seen wearing a black dress and brown boots, and carrying a green purse.
The group Destiny Search Project is working with Sawyer's family to aid in the search. Volunteers were asked to meet at 21772 Repine Dr. in Bend, starting at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The group is also working on plans for a public vigil. Details will be released Tuesday.
