Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Police focus on searcher's home

Investigators take journals, photos from friend of woman believed slain

By CHRIS A. COUROGEN

Items seized during the search of Rochelle Laudenslager's home included items related to a resort vacation involving Elaine Pierson, photos, a journal, a computer and a copy of the July 4, 2006, edition of The Patriot-News, documents show. Neighbors said Laudenslager's white BMW and her red Kia Sportage were towed away.

Police have searched the home of one of the women who found the body believed to be that of Elaine Pierson of Rye Twp., Perry County, who was reported missing Dec. 29.

Sunday afternoon, a day after friends of Pierson found the body near Lambs Gap on Blue Mountain, police searched the home of Rochelle Laudenslager, 45, of Lower Paxton Twp. State police had obtained warrants to search Laudenslager's home in the 6200 block of Spring Knoll Drive, two vehicles registered in her name and her mother's home in Gratz.

Laudenslager was among volunteer searchers who found the body about 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the bottom of a steep embankment off Idle Road in Rye Twp. At press time, officials were awaiting forensic results before making an official identification.

Laudenslager and Pierson lived together about four years ago and remained friends, according to Laudenslager's mother, Betty M. Laudenslager. Public records confirm that Rochelle Laudenslager had lived at Pierson's Trout Lane address.

Rochelle Laudenslager could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Betty Laudenslager said she expected her daughter to retain an attorney.

"The police said she didn't need [a] lawyer, but you never know what to believe," the mother said.

Police have designated no one as a suspect and refused to comment yesterday on the searches or any other aspects of the case. By law, a search warrant cannot be issued without documentation stating why police think the search will turn up evidence of a crime. The documents supporting the request have been sealed by Dauphin County Court.

Court documents that are public records state the searches were in connection with a homicide but do not specify the victim. They state that police were looking for human biological evidence, evidence related to firearms and ammunition, and clothing that might contain biological or firearms related evidence.

Items seized during the search of Rochelle Laudenslager's home included items related to a resort vacation involving Pierson, photos, a journal, a computer and a copy of the July 4, 2006, edition of The Patriot-News, according to the documents.

Neighbors said Laudenslager's white BMW and her red Kia Sportage were towed away. No documents have been filed detailing what was found in the search of the vehicles.

Betty Laudenslager said police who searched her home in the 500 block of East Market Street, Gratz, told her they were investigating her daughter in connection with Pierson's death.

Betty Laudenslager said her daughter told her: "Oh, my God, Mom, I wish I hadn't gone with them on the hike. She looked horrible." She said her daughter told her that she did not know for certain that the body was that of Pierson, but it was clad in a white blouse that she said was similar to one Pierson owned.

Pierson, 48, was reported missing on Dec. 29, two days after a cell phone call on the evening of Dec. 27 that officials have said is her last confirmed contact with anyone. Police have not released details of that call.

State police had said there were no signs of foul play at Pierson's house or any indication that anything was missing. Pierson's wallet, glasses, cell phone and car keys were in the house, and her two vehicles were in the garage, troopers said. Also left behind was her German shepherd.

Police ceased their large-scale search on Thursday after two days of combing 1,000 acres of woods around Pierson's home. Friends decided to keep searching, though, and Friday night planned another effort. More than 60 volunteers took part on Saturday.

"We really had nothing else to do but pray and search, so we kept searching," said Tracy Ingram, a friend of Pierson's who helped organize the search.

Ingram said a law-enforcement friend of one of the organizers suggested criteria for areas to search, including embankments near roads.

The body was found less than five minutes after the searchers fanned out in small teams near a parking lot off Lambs Gap Road on the Perry County side of Blue Mountain. About 10 searchers found the body as they were entering the woods along Idle Road. The body was found in thick brush less than 20 yards from the road but was not visible from the road, Ingram said.

Ingram refused to comment specifically on Laudenslager's role in the search but said the teams were assigned by the organizers, who also determined which areas each team would search.

"They got in a line and then were told where they would go to search," Ingram said. CHRIS A. COUROGEN: 255-8112 or ccourogen@patriot-news.com

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