Thursday, January 25, 2007

Warrant for gun matches case dates

By CHRIS A. COUROGEN

State police at Newport want to see a gun that may have been used in a homicide that took place during the same 11-day period Elaine Pierson was missing.

Police would not comment on possible links between a search warrant they obtained Tuesday in Cumberland County Court and the Perry County woman's slaying.

But the time frame on the warrant -- Dec. 27, 2006, to Jan. 6 -- coincides with the last day Pierson was seen and the day her body was found in a wooded area of Rye Twp. The Pierson case was the only known homicide in the Newport barracks' jurisdiction during that period.

The warrant, sought by Trooper James Albert, seeks "the barrel of a .22 caliber firearm and any and all ammunition for the same," believed to be in the possession of the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department. The warrant did not name the owner of the gun.

Documents stating why police believe the weapon is tied to a homicide were sealed by the court.

Last week, the sheriff's department confiscated weapons from the home of Antonio Mercede II, 46, of the 400 block of Woodcrest Drive in the Good Hope Farms section of Hampden Twp. Mercede's cell phone records were the subject of a previous search warrant in connection with Pierson's death.

Cumberland County Sheriff R. Thomas Kline would not say if the gun now sought by state police was taken from Mercede last week when he was served with a protection from abuse order filed by his ex-wife, who lives in North Carolina.

Although Pierson's death has been ruled a homicide, authorities have not released the cause of her death. Search warrants previously obtained in Dauphin County indicated police were looking for evidence related to firearms and ammunition.

Search warrants have also targeted Rochelle Laudenslager, 45, of the 6200 block of Spring Knoll Drive, Lower Paxton Twp.

Police have not labeled Mercede or Laudenslager suspects in Pierson's slaying.

"Nobody has been ruled out at this time," said Sgt. Charles Ringer of the Newport barracks. "Leads are continuing to come forward and we are pursuing those leads."

Documents detailing why police wanted to search Laudenslager's home, office and cars were also sealed.

Warrants seeking cell phone records for Mercede and Laudenslager said interviews conducted during the investigation called their credibility into question.

Laudenslager's mother has said her daughter was involved about four years ago in a relationship with Pierson. Laudenslager was with the group of searchers who found Pierson's body Jan. 6 off Idle Road on the Perry County side of Blue Mountain, just off of Lambs Gap Road.

Mercede's sister, Marianne Cowden, has described her brother and Pierson as friends. She said Mercede spoke with Pierson by cell phone in what is believed to be her last conversation.

Pierson once played on a softball team coached by Mercede. The two reconnected when Mercede returned to Pennsylvania last year following cancer surgery in North Carolina.

Reached by phone yesterday, Mercede refused to comment on the protection order or the confiscated weapons. A message left for his ex-wife through her Charlotte attorney was not returned.

CHRIS A. COUROGEN: 255-8112 or ccourogen@patriot-news.com

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