Stephanie Condon Remains Positively Identified, Found After 10 Years

[Delilah]

ID of teen's remains a tragic end to Ore. mystery

By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER – 1 hour ago

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man walking his dogs found what investigators and a heartbroken family had sought for more than a decade: the remains of a southern Oregon baby sitter who was just 14 when she vanished in 1998.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said Wednesday that the remains found March 13 are those of Stephanie Condon. Nevada authorities assisting in the Oregon investigation arrested a longtime suspect in the case on an unrelated charge around the time Hanlin made his announcement.

"Now, it's really about finding justice for Stephanie," said her father, Marty Condon, as he held back tears at Hanlin's news conference.

She was 14 in October 1998, when she disappeared while baby-sitting her cousin's 2-year-old twins in Riddle, a small town about 180 miles south of Portland.

Investigators say Dale Wayne Hill, who was arrested in Dayton, Nev., on Wednesday on a charge of failure to register as a felon, is the last person known to have seen her alive.

Hanlin said Condon's remains were found by a man was walking his dogs on a logging road near the town of Glide, about 30 miles northeast of Riddle. Joseph Mellin, of Glide, told authorities he found a human skull when he stopped to rest the dogs at the base of a tree.

It took a week to recover all the remains, Hanlin said. The Oregon State Police crime lab confirmed the identification last week through dental records. Au

Hanlin said other significant evidence was found but did not elaborate.

"The family has never forgotten, has never stopped working on trying to find her and who did this," neighbor Carol Linton told the Roseburg News-Review. "They've updated billboards constantly. They've worked constantly to keep her face out there, her name out there. There's relief they finally found her, but it still definitely hurts."

Hill, 39, had been identified from the beginning of the investigation as a suspect. Deputies say he told them he saw the girl the night she vanished when he stopped by the house where she was baby-sitting.

No charges related to Condon's death were filed against Hill as of Wednesday afternoon. Hanlin said the recovery of the remains would lead "the arrest and prosecution of the person responsible for Stephanie's death."

Douglas County Sgt. Aron Alexander said numerous people were investigated "and Hill is the only one who hasn't been cleared. He's still a suspect."

A year after Condon disappeared, deputies said they believed Hill harmed her in retaliation against Cheryl Richey, the mother of the children Condon was watching.

Richey was at a bar with another man the evening Condon vanished. She returned home about 1:30 a.m., finding the twins asleep and Condon gone.

Douglas County sheriff's spokesman Dwes Hutson said Wednesday that Hill and Richey were acquaintances but would not elaborate.

A month after Condon vanished, Hill was arrested and charged with burglary for breaking into a Myrtle Creek home and stealing a pair of women's panties. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to nearly six years in prison.

During the decade of investigation, Douglas County detectives said Hill's .38-caliber handgun was missing, and that Hill told them he had sold it but could not remember to whom.

Search and rescue teams combed back roads near Myrtle Creek, especially in areas where a truck similar to one owned by Hill had been reported by local residents.

Hundreds of clues poured in, from as far away as Kentucky and Missouri and even some foreign countries. The reward fund for information reached $25,000.

"I never expected them to find her," said Kayla McCurry, a high school freshman when Condon disappeared and now a substitute teacher in the Portland area. She remembered classmates feeling kept in the dark at the time.

"It's nice that there's some closure for her family," she said. "This is 10 years of just kind of floating around not knowing."

[Maureen]

I'm so glad she was found for her family's sake, but oh how sad.

[Dianne]

How terribly tragic. Now her parents know where their child is and the wondering can cease, but it's so very sad.