REMAINS OF 2 WOMEN FOUND IN REMOTE DESERT AREA

excerpts from news published on August 27, 1996 by TheArizona Republic Byline: Abraham Kwok

Bow-hunters in a remote high-desert area north of Phoenix have discovered the skeletal remains of two young women, authorities said Monday.  Investigators are trying to determine whether the bodies are those of two female roommates who disappeared May 24 duringa walk from their Glendale apartment to a nearby convenience store.

A forensic anthropologist has been brought in to help, authorities said.  The bodies, discovered Saturday afternoon, appeared to have been dumped over a ledge in southern Yavapai County roughly 20 miles east of Interstate 17 near TuleMesa, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Laurie Hadley said.

Investigators are using dental and other medical records to determine whether the remains are those of Diana Shawcroft and Jenni Lueth, both 19, childhood friends who went out for soft drinks and cigarettes and vanished. It was not immediately known how long the victims had been dead.  The deaths are being investigated as cases of homicide.

Glendale police thought they had a critical break early in their missing-persons case when two witnesses reported seeing the women get into an older-model pick-up truck parked at the convenience store, but despite hundreds of fliers that Jenni Lueth's parents passed out and posted no arrests have been made.