Updated at 1:04 a.m., Wednesday, July 27
A public safety officer at an Oregon college has been accused of killing a 23-year-old Bend woman following his arrest Tuesday in Northern California, where police there say he shot a man, carjacked a family and led officers on a high-speed chase.
Edwin Lara
Edwin Lara, 31, a part-time officer at Central Oregon Community College, was arrested Tuesday near Redding in the death of Kaylee Sawyer, who was last seen early Sunday in the parking lot of her apartment complex near the Bend college.
Bend Police Chief Jim Porter said investigators believe they know where Sawyer's body is and are concentrating their efforts in an area of Deschutes County. The medical examiner will confirm whether the body is hers, Porter said.
Lara's wife, Isabel Ponce-Lara, is a Bend police officer, according to media reports. She told Redmond police he was acting strangely Sunday after work and that she questioned him the next morning, according to court records.
He started crying, she said, and told her Sawyer walked out in front of him while he was driving in the dark Sunday and that he hit her with the vehicle's front bumper, according to court records.
Ponce-Lara said her husband told her he panicked and disposed of Sawyer's body, according to court records. He didn't indicate where he put her body.
Lara told his wife some of Sawyer's things were in a shed at the Redmond home they share, records show. Ponce-Lara found a bag with a purse and shoes inside it in the shed.
Police found the purse covered in blood in the shed, according to the records. They said the purse was Sawyer's and that it contained her driver's license and passport.
Authorities also found blood, grass and a security uniform covered in blood in the trunk of Lara's vehicle -- which he used to leave his home around 11:30 a.m. Monday, his wife told police.
Lara took his 9mm Glock pistol when he left home and said things leading his wife to think he might be suicidal, she said told police.
Ponce-Lara went to police right away, records show.
"Officer Ponce-Lara is not suspected to be involved in the disappearance of Kaylee Sawyer," Bend police said, adding that she "has been cooperative throughout the investigation."
Porter said Tuesday that Ponce-Lara was on administrative leave, The Bulletin reported. The leave isn't because of any policy violations, he said.
Lara has family in Los Angeles, Ponce-Lara told police, and may have been headed there.
He apparently didn't make it that far.
Police in Yreka, California, say he shot and critically injured a man at a Super 8 motel, then stole a car with a family still inside.
The wounded man called 911 about 5 a.m., police said in a news release. Five minutes later, another man at a gas station called to report his car was stolen with three family members still inside.
At 5:41 a.m., three family members were dropped off unharmed on Interstate 5. Later that morning, California Highway Patrol found the family's car and arrested Lara north of Redding, police said.
The man in the motel shooting is in critical but stable condition, police said early Tuesday evening.
Lara was arrested with Aundrea Elizabeth Maes, a 19-year-old from Salem, who also was taken into custody. Police said Tuesday they were processing the paperwork for her release because "it is evident" that she is a victim. Her status Tuesday night -- and how she and Lara are connected -- was unclear.
Sawyer was a dental assistant at Awbrey Dental Group, according to her Facebook profile. A vigil in her honor was set to be held Tuesday night at Bend's Discovery Park, said Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel.
Lara has worked for Central Oregon Community College since December 2014, said spokesman Ron Paradis. The community college primarily serves residents of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties, as well as parts of Wasco, Klamath and Lake counties. In 2014-15, it served more than 16,700 students; 10,070 credit and 8,353 non credit, according to the school's website.
Lara faces charges including attempted murder, kidnapping, carjacking and burglary in California, police said.
-- Francesca Fontana and Jim Ryan
ffontana@oregonian.com; jryan@oregonian.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report