BEND, Ore. (AP) - Human remains discovered last week in central Oregon are those of Sara Gomez, a Bend woman missing since February, the Oregon State Medical Examiner determined Wednesday.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said the cause and manner of death are still under investigation, but authorities believe the 24-year-old woman was killed by her ex-boyfriend, Bryan Penner.
“In the final months of her life she found peace as she had finally broken free of the abusive relationship she was in with Bryan Penner,” Hummel said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Penner did not accept this. Penner killed Sara because if he could not have her no one would.”
Penner, 31, was arrested two days after Gomez vanished, charged with violating a restraining order she had taken out against him. He hanged himself in the jailhouse showers March 11 and was never charged in connection with the disappearance.
Penner’s suicide sparked worries that the woman’s body might never be found. But a hiker discovered the body wrapped inside a tarp Friday about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Bend.
Hummel said evidence indicates the remains had been in the same place for months.
The Bulletin newspaper reported that some in Bend, including relatives of Gomez, believe an accomplice helped Penner. The rumors have been fueled in part by several of Gomez’s personal items being found on other people following her disappearance.
But Hummel and Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson said the evidence suggests Penner acted alone. Authorities believe he killed Gomez in his apartment, and then took her bound body to a location off U.S. Highway 20.
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