Woman still missing as investigation intensifies
As friends and family turned out for a candlelight vigil on Thursday night for missing Santa Monica resident Kristine Johnson, police zeroed in on the man who may have abducted her.
The suspect whose composite sketch was released earlier this week and is wanted for questioning has been identified. However, police aren’t releasing the name.
A significant tip led police to serve 10 search warrants in Los Angeles County on Thursday, but nothing turned up in the raids, police said.
“We have a strong focus and a viable lead,” said Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. “But we have less than probable cause to make an arrest at this time.”
Johnson, who turned 22 years old on Thursday, reportedly went to meet a supposed Beverly Hills photographer at the Century City Mall on Saturday, Feb. 15 for a film audition.
She never returned. Police found her car Monday in the valet parking garage of the St. Regis Hotel in Century City. It had been parked
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 28, 2003. Read the original PDF.