Body of Missing Santa Monica Woman Found in Hollywood Hills

By Erica Williams
Staff Writer

March 3 -- A body wrapped in a sleeping bag or blanket found in the Hollywood Hills Monday afternoon is that of Kristine Johnson, a Santa Monica woman who has been the subject of an intensive search since she disappeared February 15, police said.

The body of the 22-year-old was spotted shortly after 1 p.m. by hikers near the bottom of a ravine on one of the steep hillsides off Skyline Drive in North Hollywood in the Laurel Canyon area, police said.

"We have definitive identification based on a body marking that lets us know that it is the body of Kristine Johnson,'' said Santa Monica police Chief James Butts, Jr., whose officers were investigating the case. "This is a homicide investigation at this point."

Butts told reporters at the scene that a tattoo on the body made investigators "95 to 100 percent" certain that the body was indeed Johnson's.

According to several reports, police do not believe that the victim was killed where the body was found and that the body had been there for some time.

One news helicopter reporter described the scene as very graphic and said the station would not air the video.

Butts told reporters that police have a man in custody they believe is connected to Johnson's disappearance and, now, homicide. That suspect has been in custody on another "serious felony charge," and was arrested shortly after Johnson disappeared.

Police have not released the name of the suspect or any other information in order not to tip off potential accomplices, Butts told reporters. He added that police no longer believe that more than one person is involved, but they will continue to withhold the name. The suspect has not yet been charged, Butts said.

The department received about 700 tips, two of which strongly pointed to the involvement of the individual in custody, Butts said. Based on those tips, police conducted a background check and took a closer look at the man.

Investigators were expected to bring in floodlights and stay on scene most of the night processing it for forensics evidence, Butts said.

By early evening, the LA County Coroner had arrived and was preparing to move the body.

There is yet no indication of how Johnson died, and the cause may not be known for another three days or so, Butts said.

The discovery of Johnson's body came after some 100 volunteers searched the Hollywood Hills and Topanga Canyon during the weekend. Earlier on Monday, Johnson's mother, Terry Wark, appealed for more volunteers to search Southern California for her daughter.

Johnson vanished February 15 after telling her roommate that she was going to meet a photographer in Beverly Hills for an audition for a photo shoot for a movie production. Johnson never returned home.

After Johnson's disappearance, a witness told police that she had been lured to West Hollywood for a photo shoot under similar circumstances. Police released a composite sketch based on the witness' description.