Sad News for Missing Calif. Woman's Family
R E D D I N G, Calif., Dec. 22 -- For months, Heather Carpenter's parents held out hope that their missing 22-year-old "angel" would be found alive. Now their hope has turned to despair.
The young woman's body was found Dec. 18 in a shallow grave in a remote area near Keswick, Calif., about three miles northwest of Redding. Carpenter was positively identified through dental records but the cause of death was not immediately determined.
"We've had a long five months," Carpenter's mother Cydney said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "It's been torture for us. We're heartbroken. She was our precious angel," she said.
Police say Carpenter's remains were finally discovered after a tipster gave them information that 18-year-old Patrick Michael Larmour, the last person to see Carpenter, was involved with her murder.
The teen has since been arrested and charged with murder. He has not entered a plea and is not talking to police.
"We had several people who came to us and passed on some information and then one person finally … gave us a more direct location of where to look for the grave site," Redding Police Chief Leon Moty said. "Certainly that was the piece of the puzzle that helped break this thing open for us."
Larmour had told police he had dropped Carpenter off at her apartment after she had too much to drink at an all-night-party on Aug. 4. He had reportedly just met Carpenter for the first time that night.
From the beginning, police were unable to substantiate Larmour's alibi, making him the prime suspect, police said.
For Parents, an Emotional Rollercoaster
Carpenter's father, Ed, says his family were forced to ride an emotional rollercoaster for months, as they waited to find Heather.
"She was just loved by everybody and just not having her here at Christmastime, it's just about destroyed our family," he said.
After Carpenter disappeared, her anguished parents appeared on Good Morning America and other news programs pleading for help.
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