Update on Laci Peterson

[The Evil Genius]

Prosecutor: Body Is Probably Laci Peterson

Thu Apr 17,11:56 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer

RICHMOND, Calif. - The county prosecutor in Modesto says he feels "pretty strongly" that the body of a woman that washed up on shore this week is the missing Laci Peterson.

"If I were a betting man, I'd put money on it," Stanislaus County District Attorney James Brazelton told the Modesto Bee for a story published Thursday.

A state crime lab was working to determine whether two bodies found on the shores of the San Francisco Bay were Peterson and the baby she was carrying when she vanished Dec. 24. She was eight months pregnant at the time.

"I feel pretty strongly it is (Peterson)," said Brazelton, whose jurisdiction includes Modesto. "It's too much of a coincidence to have a female and a baby found close to each other a day apart and no others were reported missing."

Asked about Brazelton's comments, Laci Peterson's stepfather, Ron Grantski, said Thursday that he had not been told that personally. "Our family is waiting until we are told personally, not told by the press," he said.

State Department of Justice (news - web sites) spokesman Nathan Barankin told the paper that lab technicians had determined that samples from the infant's body, found Sunday, contained enough intact DNA to be used for testing. A determination was expected Thursday on whether enough DNA could be extracted from the woman's body, found Monday.

"We've determined that we can yield a usable DNA profile from the fetus sample," Barankin said. "We're doing a little more work on the adult sample to finally determine whether we will be able to get a usable DNA profile."

Earlier, lab supervisor John Tonkyn had said, "We don't have another person in mind" other than Peterson.

When asked why dental records weren't being used, Tonkyn said the lab wasn't provided with teeth. Published reports have said the woman's body was headless. The full-term baby still had an umbilical cord attached.

The 27-year-old substitute teacher vanished on Christmas Eve from her home in Modesto, 90 miles southeast of Richmond. She was eight months pregnant. Her husband, Scott Peterson, said he saw her as he left to go fishing that morning in Berkeley, not far from where the bodies were found.

Scott Peterson, 30, a fertilizer salesman, hasn't surfaced publicly since the bodies were discovered by people walking dogs. His in-laws stood by him early in the investigation, but a rift developed after he acknowledged having an affair with a Fresno woman.

Scott Peterson has not been named as a suspect in his wife's disappearance, but police have seized his boat, truck and nearly 100 items from his house.

His father, Lee Peterson, said Tuesday at his house north of San Diego that he didn't know where his son was.

"What if Scott were here?" he said. "Is that a big deal?"

The property manager of the building where Scott Peterson rented an office, who identified himself only as Mark, said Peterson moved out earlier this year and is trying to find someone to take over the lease.

If the woman's body is not identified as Peterson's, the lab will begin comparing the samples with likely matches in a database of 100 DNA samples of other missing people or their relatives. The state has more than 25,000 active missing person cases.