Homicide arrest made in Marine wife's disappearance

Sheriff's deputies tape off an area near Lake Skinner, where a woman's body was discovered Tuesday afternoon in connection with the disappearance of Brittany Killgore, 22, of Fallbrook. — The Press-Enterprise

Brittany Killgore

FALLBROOK — Leads uncovered Tuesday in the suspicious disappearance of a 22-year-old Marine wife led to the discovery of a woman's body in a remote area of Riverside County, sheriff's homicide officials said.

The body, found about 2:30 p.m. near Lake Skinner east of Murrieta, has not yet been identified as that of Brittany Killgore, who vanished on Friday.

The gruesome discovery came just hours after homicide detectives arrested a 27-year-old woman on suspicion of murder in connection to the case, sheriff's Capt. Duncan Fraser said at a 4 p.m. news conference. Jessica Lynn Lopez was taken into custody at a Ramada Inn on Rosecrans Street in Point Loma.

San Diego paramedics were called to the motel shortly after 10 a.m. on a report that a person was suffering from self-inflicted lacerations, said fire department spokesman Maurice Luque. Lopez was taken to UCSD Medical Center, where she was under guard, sheriff's officials said.

A Camp Pendleton Marine linked to Killgore's disappearance, Louis Ray Perez, 45, was arrested Sunday on unrelated weapons charges and is expected to be arraigned Wednesday. He has not been charged with murder.

"He is being actively investigated for this disappearance," Fraser said.

Authorities did not elaborate on the relationship between Lopez and Perez, or how they may have known Killgore.

Sheriff's crime lab investigators were continuing to process evidence in the area where the body was found Tuesday afternoon. The body will be examined and identified by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

Sheriff's investigators had spent the day Monday scouring the De Luz Canyon area north of Fallbrook but suspended the search after nothing was found. Officials have not said why they suspected something might have been found there.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said earlier Tuesday that the case had reached a national audience and several new leads were pouring in from the public.

Killgore moved into a Fallbrook apartment in 2010 with her husband, who is deployed to Afghanistan. She was last seen by a friend Friday wearing a deep purple evening gown with a glittery floral pattern. Her cellphone was found by trolley security in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, although detectives said Monday they have reason to believe she never left the Fallbrook area.

The initial investigation led detectives to Perez, who was uncooperative when questioned by detectives. He was arrested at the Fallbrook sheriff's substation Sunday on suspicion of possessing an AR-15 assault rifle stolen from Camp Pendleton.

He is being held in jail in lieu of $ 500,000 bail.

Killgore's husband, also a Camp Pendleton Marine, has been overseas for several months and was returning home early because of his wife's disappearance. Court records show she filed for divorce last week — three days before she went missing.

Attempts to reach her family by phone and email have been unsuccessful.

The Sheriff's Department and Naval Criminal Investigative Service are working together on the case.

Caldwell asked anyone with information about the case to contact Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 or the Sheriff's Department at (858) 565-5200.

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