BEND, Ore. (AP) — The state medical examiner has confirmed that human remains found in May are those of Sara Gomez, a Bend woman who was reported missing in February.
The Bulletin reported this week that the exact cause of the 24-year-old woman’s death is unknown.
Gomez was reported missing Feb. 20 after she hadn’t returned home for several days.
People searched an area east of Bend for weeks, but her body wasn’t found until May 25, when a man spotted a black tarp under a tree off a dirt road.
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Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel says Gomez’s body was wrapped in the tarp and blankets and other items that were bound around her body with duct tape.
Hummel says the autopsy confirms that Gomez was killed by her ex-boyfriend, Bryan Penner. Hummel says police found blood and rope in his apartment.
Penner killed himself in jail in March.
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Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com