Veronica Ruiz, 25 MISSING California IRS AGENT [REMAINS DISCOVERED] MSG Since 12-3-07

[Grande]

Northern California IRS Agent, Gun Missing
Searchers Find Pack That May Belong to Veronica Ruiz, Who Vanished a Week Ago

http://i5.tinypic.com/7w7qh4i.jpg

Volunteer searchers may have found a backpack belonging to a 25-year-old IRS agent who went missing one week ago after a difficult breakup with her boyfriend.

The possible discovery in a Northern California state park, confirmed to ABC News by the Mill Valley Police Department, would be the first clue uncovered since Veronica Ruiz told family and friends last Monday that she was going for a hike near Mount Tamalpias.

About 80 volunteers combed rugged California terrain Sunday for any signs of the missing woman. Authorities suspended the official search in the park for Ruiz Wednesday after finding no evidence that she was the victim of foul play.

"We've eliminated anything that might have been suspicious," Dean Loutas, a Mill Valley detective, told ABC News. "We're not talking about a kidnap victim or anything like that."

Loutas said that Ruiz's car was found parked at her house near the base of the mountain. The only things that were missing, Loutas said, were her work credentials, her government-issued firearm, a backpack and her running gear. The last time her cell phone was used was 2:09 p.m. last Monday.

Ruiz, a criminal investigator for the San Rafael office of the Internal Revenue Service, is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and worked at the tax and audit firm KPMG before joining the federal tax agency, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

Ruiz and her boyfriend of two years broke up last weekend. Last Monday, Ruiz, who goes by the nickname "Nikki," called in sick to work. She then declined an offer to have lunch that day with a friend who was concerned about her, the Chronicle reported.

During that telephone call, Ruiz told the friend that she was going to go for a hike in Mount Tamalpias State Park to clear her head. The woman was known by her family for hiking the local mountain and running the distance to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Despite the decision by authorities to suspend the official search for Ruiz, which included local police, sheriff's officers, park rangers, the FBI, IRS and tracking dogs, after two days, friends and family pushed ahead with volunteer searches this weekend and created a Web site to bring attention to her search.

Police investigating the case received reports from two citizens who claimed to see Ruiz the day she vanished, one at 11 a.m. at a trail head in the park and the second at noon at an inn on the mountain slope, the day she vanished, according to the Mill Valley Police Department. Neither sighting could be confirmed.

"If she was active and alive and detectable, we would have come across her by now," Loutas said. "We've exhausted all of our possibilities."

The woman, Filipino in descent, may have been wearing trail running shoes, black running pants and a gray and orange Camelback water supply pack, according to police. She is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3977470&page=1

[Pauli]

Friends, family refuse to give up hope for missing Marin IRS agent


Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer (dbulwa@sfchronicle.com)
Monday, December 10, 2007



Friends and relatives of a 25-year-old Internal Revenue Service agent missing for a week from her Mill Valley home refused to give up hope Sunday and organized volunteers to scour the steep Mount Tamalpais trails where the woman may have ventured after a difficult breakup with her live-in boyfriend.

More than 80 volunteers fanned out on trails in the sprawling, densely forested state park, looking for signs of Veronica "Nikki" Ruiz. They shouted her name and picked up objects in hopes that they were connected to her - a shredded shoe, a soccer ball, a collection of meditation rocks.

Back at the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Mill Valley, residents and businesses dropped off food and refreshments for the volunteers, who used a donated conference room where they pored over maps to mark where they had already looked.

Ruiz's exhausted sister, Maricris Ruiz, sat on a couch and said there is still reason to be hopeful. The missing woman took her government-issued handgun with her, and the weapon has not been found.

"We know she's off the trail, because we've looked on every trail," said Maricris Ruiz, 33, of Daly City. "It's hard to say what happened. She could have easily gone off a trail and gotten hurt."

Ruiz said she has even accepted help from half a dozen psychics who called to say they believed her sister was near the ocean or a rock formation.

Veronica Ruiz was last seen early last Monday, two days after she and her boyfriend of two years broke up. The two had moved to Mill Valley from San Francisco six months earlier.

A mutual friend of the couple, Maricris Ruiz said, had slept at her sister's home on Throckmorton Avenue near downtown Mill Valley on Saturday night, to console her. The friend left for work before 8 a.m. Maricris Ruiz said her sister called in sick to her IRS job in San Rafael.

When the friend called about noon, Veronica Ruiz declined a lunch invitation, saying she was going on a hike. Two people later reported unconfirmed sightings of her at Mount Tamalpais locations: one at 11 a.m. at the Blithedale trail entrance not far from her home, the other an hour later at the West Point Inn, to the west.

Maricris Ruiz said it appears her sister sent text messages to family members and friends in the early afternoon, thanking them for their support. There has been no sign of her since, and Mill Valley police late Wednesday suspended their search.

The week has been difficult for Veronica Ruiz's family. Her father, who lives in the Philippines, had a massive stroke when he was told of the news over the telephone, and remains paralyzed on the right side of his body, according to Maricris Ruiz. Her mother went into shock and had to be hospitalized after learning the official search was suspended.

Mill Valley detectives are still investigating the case, police said Sunday.

Based on what was missing from Veronica Ruiz's home, her sister said, it appears she took her gun and badge as well as a black iPod Nano music player, a cellular phone with a wireless earpiece, and a gray and orange CamelBak hydration backpack. She is believed to have been wearing white tennis shoes, black capri pants, a burgundy tank top and a black jacket.

Veronica Ruiz was in good physical shape, having played soccer and run marathons. She grew up in Daly City, graduated from UC Berkeley and worked at KPMG, the audit and tax firm, before joining the IRS as an agent.

Her sister said she had no history of running away or trying to harm herself.

"I can't rule it out," Maricris Ruiz said of the chance of suicide. "Obviously, she wanted to get away and clear her mind. But most of us don't believe she could have done that.

"The search is going to go on, as long as people are willing to go out there."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/10/BA8ITR8NB.DTL&tsp=1

[Grande]

MILL VALLEY
Volunteers search coastline for woman
Steve Rubenstein

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Two dozen volunteers are continuing a search in western Marin County for a missing 25-year-old Mill Valley woman, a week after police suspended their search.

The hunt for missing Internal Revenue Service agent Veronica Ruiz is concentrating on the coastline, said her sister, Maricris Ruiz, who is coordinating volunteers.

Veronica Ruiz was last heard from Dec. 3 after saying she was going for a hike on Mount Tamalpais. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend and was apparently carrying her IRS handgun, which tax enforcement agents are issued. The gun has not been found.

Maricris Ruiz said Tuesday that the breakup was "mutual and amiable" and that her sister was in a "normal" frame of mind.

Mill Valley police Sgt. Dean Loutas said the missing woman appeared to be despondent, according to her messages just before disappearing.

Her sister says Ruiz is believed to have been wearing white tennis shoes, black capri pants, a burgundy tank top and a black jacket when she disappeared.

The family is posting search updates at a Web site, www.helpfindveronicaruiz.com.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/12/BAVHTSJC6.DTL

[ferretplay]

Search For Missing Mill Valley Woman Now A Recovery Effort

MILL VALLEY -- The search for missing 25-year-old Mill Valley resident Veronica Ruiz is now a recovery effort, a family spokesperson said Monday.

Ruiz has been missing since leaving on Dec. 3 for a hike on Mt. Tamalpais.

Tough weather and terrain on the mountain and the length of time Ruiz has been gone have led the family to believe she is dead, said Jeff Baker, a psychic who has helped the family and a fleet of volunteers search for her.

An estimated 150 volunteers conducted searches the first weekend after Ruiz went missing, and there were 50 searching Sunday, Baker said.

Monday, only three men including Baker were searching the mountain. Cold weather, rain and the work week have turned away volunteers, Baker said.

The psychic says Ruiz has told him she is dead. Baker said he speaks with Ruiz during meditation and prayer sessions with the family. He said he "has feelings" on how she died, but Ruiz's family has asked him not to reveal the details of his conversations with her.

More at link
http://www.ktvu.com/news/14878250/detail.html

[Grande]

Volunteers Continue Search for Missing Filipina
Malou Aguilar/Asianjournal.com

MILL VALLEY, CA -- The search for Veronica "Nikki" Ruiz, a 25-year-old Filipina from Mill Valley, continued Wednesday with the help of more than 200 volunteers. Friends and family refused to give up hope and organized volunteer search parties to trek the steep Mount Tamalpais trails. Police suspended their search since Dec. 5.

Veronica, an Internal Revenue Service agent, was last in contact with a friend on Dec. 3, saying that she was going for a hike on Mount Tamalpais. There were two reported but unconfirmed sightings of her at Mount Tamalpais locations: one at 11 a.m. at the Blithedale trail entrance not far from her home. The other was an hour later at the West Point Inn, to the west.

In a very brief phone conversation with the Asian Journal, Ruiz’s sister, Maricris, sounded very tired yet remained hopeful. “We will never stop looking until we find her.”

Adding to the difficulty of the Ruiz family was the news that her father, who lives in the Philippines, had suffered a massive stroke when he learned about her daughter’s disappearance. Her mother also had to be hospitalized after going through shock when the official search was suspended.

Earlier reports said that Veronica had recently broken up with her boyfriend of two years and was apparently carrying her IRS handgun when she went on her hike. The weapon has not yet been found.

Veronica is 5’5 in height, 120 pounds, with brown eyes and dark brown hair. She may be possibly wearing white tennis shoes, black capri pants, burgundy tank top, thin long sleeved black jacket, possibly a black fleece vest, a gray and orange camelpack (or hydration backpack), and a black iPod (usually on her left wrist) with black earbuds.

For information or leads about the whereabouts of Veronica, please call the Mill Valley Police Department at (415) 389-4100, or Maricris Ruiz at (650) 222-9578. For updates and donations, please log on to www.helpfindveronicaruiz.com. (AJ)

http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=124&a=24981

[Audie]

Search For Missing Mill Valley Woman Now A Recovery Effort

<Snip for space>

The psychic says Ruiz has told him she is dead. Baker said he speaks with Ruiz during meditation and prayer sessions with the family. He said he "has feelings" on how she died, but Ruiz's family has asked him not to reveal the details of his conversations with her.

More at link
http://www.ktvu.com/news/14878250/detail.htmlI wonder why she won't tell him where she is. :rolleye0001:
JMO

[Grande]

I wonder why she won't tell him where she is. :rolleye0001:
JMO


LOL!

[Texas53]

The psychic has the wrong number? Or his crystal ball is broken?

[Grande]

Search continues for Mill Valley woman
Saturday, January 12, 2008 | 3:28 PM
Bay City News

MILL VALLEY, CA -- Federal agents, volunteers and friends and family of Veronica Ruiz are hoping strength in numbers will help find the Mill Valley woman who has been missing more than a month, her boyfriend said today.

The 25-year-old woman was last seen leaving for a hike on Mt. Tamalpais on Dec. 3. Her boyfriend, Robert Voigt, said the number of volunteers dwindled in the search during the last few weeks but they will now continue on a larger scale.

"You've got to understand, we just got through the holiday season," Voigt said. "These people are volunteering their time for enormous searches, especially this weekend and next weekend."

Ruiz' family describes her as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 120 pounds, with dark brown hair and brown eyes, a light brown complexion and a scar on her right abdomen.

Police are encouraging anyone with information on Ruiz's whereabouts to contact Detective Sgt. Dean Loutas at (415) 389-4100.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=5887469

[nightwatcher]

I wonder why she won't tell him where she is. :rolleye0001:
JMO

If this person is truly psychic, then he would know where to find her. IMO :(

[KittyMom]

WOW! I've learned something new today. I had no idea that IRS agents carry weapons.

Hope this young woman is found safe. This must be in a warmer area of Cali as she didn't seem to be dressed for typically winter weather.

[KittyMom]

http://www.helpfindveronicaruiz.com/

MISSING PERSON ALERT
MISSING FEDERAL AGENT
LATEST UPDATE (Jan. 10, 2008):

This weekend an estimated two to four hundred law enforcement and federal agents will be searching Mount Tamalpais with a "never leave a man behind" attitude. Federal agents, including IRS CI special agents, will be participating in this effort.

[KittyMom]

This is the first time I've ever seen this.

>> IF YOU FIND HER:

* DO NOT move her / DO NOT feed her / Use space bag or light jacket to keep her warm / CALL MILL VALLEY POLICE OR PARK RANGER.


Why can't you feed her? :waitasec:

[KittyMom]

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7961627?nclick_check=1

Bay City News Service
Article Launched: 01/13/2008 11:41:19 AM PST


Federal agents, volunteers and friends and family of Veronica Ruiz are hoping strength in numbers will help find the Mill Valley woman who has been missing more than a month, her boyfriend said Saturday.
The 25-year-old woman was last seen leaving for a hike on Mt. Tamalpais on Dec. 3. Her boyfriend, Robert Voigt, said the number of volunteers dwindled in the search during the last few weeks but they will now continue on a larger scale.

"You've got to understand; we just got through the holiday season," Voigt said. "These people are volunteering their time for enormous searches, especially this weekend and next weekend."

Ruiz's family describes her as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 120 pounds, with dark brown hair and brown eyes, a light brown complexion and a scar on her right abdomen.

Police are encouraging anyone with information on Ruiz's whereabouts to contact Detective Sgt. Dean Loutas at (415) 389-4100.



I thought he was an "ex" boyfriend?

[KittyMom]

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7962681

Search-and-rescue crews on Mount Tamalpais discovered the body of a woman Sunday afternoon, the Marin County Sheriff's Department said.
The discovery comes five weeks after a Mill Valley woman, 25-year-old Veronica Ruiz, disappeared after she told friends she was going for a hike on Mt. Tam.

Officials made no connection between the body found Sunday and Ruiz.

[Grande]

Body Found On Mt. Tam Thought To Be IRS Agent Veronica Ruiz
By Dee Chisamera
14:55, January 14th 2008

Marine County authorities reported the discovery of a female body on Mount Tamalpais Sunday afternoon, which they suspected to be Veronica Ruiz, 25, who has been missing for over a month, since Dec. 3. Further investigations will be made in order to establish who the victim was and the exact cause of death. The body was uncovered by accident, during a training exercise, when a team of 12 people and 9 dogs from the California Rescue Dogs Association found the victim at around 1:30 p.m. in a grove, half a mile of West Blithedale Avenue’s end.

According to police officials, the family of Veronica Ruiz has been notified, but further investigations are to be expected before the victim will be identified. As it appeared, the scene where the body was found rose suspicions of a murder among the investigators, however, they declined to give any exact details. Veronica Ruiz’s family conducted a thorough investigation after her disappearing, and even created a website to gather volunteers for the rescue.

Veronica, who was conducting criminal investigations for the Internal Revenue Service, went missing since December 3, when she last announced a friend she was to go hiking on Mount Tamalpias, as she always did. She has not been seen or heard of ever since, and her family and friends reported her missing. Unfortunately, the search was suspended on December 5, when authorities called it a quit, but her family never stopped hoping and searching.

The location where the victim was found has been covered by the December search, as authorities declared, but because of the dark and difficult conditions, she was nowhere to be found at the time. The investigators still have to figure out the story of the events that led to the woman’s death, but if it is indeed Veronica, her disappearance might be connected to her breaking up with her boyfriend, which she was apparently very upset about.

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Body_Found_On_Mt_Tam_Thought_To_Be_IRS_Agent_ Veronica_Ruiz_12786.html

[PatC]

How very sad.

This board has really opened my eyes to the number of people who go missing.

For example, I am especially surprised at the number of young women who apparently go hiking alone. When I was in my early 20s I loved being alone, it's true, and although I was physically fit and loved the outdoors, I don't ever remember going hiking alone. I'd take long drives alone, I'd drive to a scenic spot and park and read, listen to the radio or just enjoy the solitude, but I don't recall going hiking... and not because I was afraid to do it, I was young and stupid enough not to be afraid of much of anything, it just never occurred to me.

I think this board does a great service by bringing all these missing persons to light. :howdy: Tip of the hat to all the mods.

[Claudia]

How very sad.

This board has really opened my eyes to the number of people who go missing.

For example, I am especially surprised at the number of young women who apparently go hiking alone. When I was in my early 20s I loved being alone, it's true, and although I was physically fit and loved the outdoors, I don't ever remember going hiking alone. I'd take long drives alone, I'd drive to a scenic spot and park and read, listen to the radio or just enjoy the solitude, but I don't recall going hiking... and not because I was afraid to do it, I was young and stupid enough not to be afraid of much of anything, it just never occurred to me.

I think this board does a great service by bringing all these missing persons to light. :howdy: Tip of the hat to all the mods.



I was wondering - is this amount of people missing typical? I mean, are there more this time of year, or just more right now for some reason, or is this the way it always is? I was never aware of how many people go missing until these boards. It's really heartbreaking & scary. I find myself incredibly aware of my surroundings whenever I am anywhere alone. You should have seen me getting stuff out of my storage unit Saturday morning. I kept looking out the large door, up & down the drive to make sure nobody was creeping around! I swear, it's making me positively paranoid! I know being alert is good, but I need to find a happy medium between paranoid & oblivious. I think I am still in shock over the frequency of kidnappings & murders, and maybe I'll calm down after a while. I hope so, anyway.

[Pauli]

Here is a great article on the missing and just how bad it really is

Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains: The Nation’s Silent Mass Disaster


by Nancy Ritter
About the Author
Nancy Ritter is a writer/editor at the National Institute of Justice and Editor of the NIJ Journal.

If you ask most Americans about a mass disaster, they’re likely to think of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Hurricane Katrina, or the Southeast Asian tsunami. Very few people—including law enforcement officials—would think of the number of missing persons and unidentified human remains in our Nation as a crisis. It is, however, what experts call “a mass disaster over time.”

The facts are sobering. On any given day, there are as many as 100,000 active missing persons cases in the United States. Every year, tens of thousands of people vanish under suspicious circumstances. Viewed over a 20-year period, the number of missing persons can be estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

Due in part to sheer volume, missing persons and unidentified human remains cases are a tremendous challenge to State and local law enforcement agencies. The workload for these agencies is staggering: More than 40,000 sets of human remains that cannot be identified through conventional means are held in the evidence rooms of medical examiners throughout the country.[1] (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/journals/256/missing-persons.html#note1) But only 6,000 of these cases—15 percent—have been entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.

Efforts to solve missing persons cases are further hindered because many cities and counties continue to bury unidentified remains without attempting to collect DNA samples. And many labs that are willing to make the effort may not be equipped to perform DNA analysis of human remains, especially when the samples are old or degraded.


Compounding this problem is the fact that many of the Nation’s 17,000 law enforcement agencies don’t know about their State’s missing persons clearinghouse or the four Federal databases—NCIC, National Crime Information Center; CODIS(mp), Combined DNA Index System for Missing Persons; IAFIS, Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System; and ViCAP, Violent Criminal Apprehension Program—which can be invaluable tools in a missing person investigation. (See sidebar, “The Federal Databases and What They Do.” (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/journals/256/missing-persons.html#sidebar_federal)) Even in jurisdictions that are familiar with the State and Federal databases, some officials say they have neither the time nor the resources to enter missing persons and unidentified human remains data into the systems.




rest of article
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/journals/256/missing-persons.html

[Claudia]

That is unbelievable. The statistics given in that article are staggering. I had NO idea. Thank you for posting that, Harlett.

[Grande]

Woman's body found on Mount Tamalpais
By Joe Wolfcale
Bay Area News Group
Article Launched: 01/14/2008 05:23:21 AM PST

A Marin County Search and Rescue team of volunteers conducting a training exercise on Mount Tamalpais uncovered the body of a woman Sunday afternoon, law enforcement authorities said.

The discovery about half a mile northwest of West Blithedale Avenue's end comes five weeks after Veronica Ruiz, a 25-year-old federal tax agent, disappeared after she told friends she was going for a hike. Crews conducted an exhaustive search for Ruiz in the two days following her disappearance, then called it off. Friends and family continued to search long after the authorities suspended their official search Dec. 5. About two dozen searchers were participating Sunday in the mock exercise with nine dogs from the California Rescue Dogs Association who are trained to find cadavers when the clothed body was found at about 1:30 p.m. It was in a grove of redwood trees amid dense underbrush about 30 to 40 yards off Hoo-Koo-E-Koo Road near West Blithedale Ridge in Mt. Tam State Park, Marin County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Doug Pittman said.

Pittman said the Marin County Coroner's Office is investigating the identity of the woman and cause of death. He said it might take a few days. Ruiz's family and friends have been notified of the discovery, Mill Valley police detective Lindsay Haynes said.

Sunday night, the Web site set up by Ruiz's friends and family acknowledged the finding of the body. "A body has been discovered ... coroner is working to match dental records," an entry said on www.helpfindveronicaruiz.com.

Pittman said the body appeared to have been in the same place for some time. Several items were found nearby, but law enforcement declined to identify them. Pittman said the case is being termed a "suspicious death."

Ruiz, who lived in Mill Valley, was last seen Dec. 3 at about 11 a.m. in Mill Valley. About an hour later, she told a friend over the phone she was going for a hike. Ruiz conducted criminal investigations for the Internal Revenue Service and worked out of an office in San Rafael. She was due at work that day but didn't show up.

Ruiz hiked often and knew Mt. Tam well. Search and rescue teams had previously searched the area where the body was found Sunday but because of its steep and dark location and that it appeared "somewhat concealed," searchers had not found it.

Joining in the search exercise Sunday were two Marin Municipal Water District rangers and three Mill Valley police officers. More than 20 search-and-rescue team members were on foot and riding all-terrain vehicles. None of Ruiz's friends or family members were participating in the exercise, Pittman said.

"It's definitely very tragic if this is indeed Veronica," said Mill Valley Fire Department Capt. Mike St. John, unit leader of the Marin County SAR team. "A lot of work and hours have been spent trying to find her."

Family members and other searchers have looked on the mountain for evidence that might explain the disappearance Ruiz, who was apparently distraught over a breakup with her boyfriend and told family members she was going for a hike.

Federal agents searched her Mill Valley apartment and recovered the keys to her IRS vehicle but couldn't find her department-issue weapon.

Authorities searched West Blithedale Ridge on the east side of Mt. Tam after authorities tracked a signal from her cell phone. More than 50 law enforcement personnel searched initially and teams conducted 19 assignments but found no trace of Ruiz.

The family also brought in psychic Jeffrey Baker, a Colorado-based spiritual healer, two weeks after the disappearance to help find Ruiz. Search efforts were unsuccessful after Baker said the search area was too big.

Ruiz's sister, Daly City resident Maricris Ruiz, said on Dec. 9 that she and others would continue their search on Mt. Tam "indefinitely - until we find her."

A multi-agency volunteer group searched the area on Saturday, including personnel from the IRS, said Jose Martinez, assistant special agent in charge.

"As you can imagine, this has been a very difficult period of time for us with what has happened," Martinez said. "We're all hopeful to find out what happened to her."

The search and rescue volunteers who participated in Sunday's search were debriefed at the Mill Valley Town Hall. Several SUVs with all-terrain vehicles on attached trailers were parked outside. The training exercise started at about 11 a.m. Sunday.

When Ruiz was reported missing, she was wearing white tennis shoes, black Capri pants, a burgundy tank top, a black jacket possible made of fleece, a portable hydration system and a black iPod on her left wrist.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_7967101?source=most_emailed&nclick_check=1

[Roamer]

I'm very sorry to see this.

For Veronica's family :1222423:

[Grande]

Body ID'd as missing woman's
A woman found dead last weekend on Mt. Tamalpais has been identified as an IRS agent who disappeared in December.

The Marin County coroner's office said Tuesday that 25-year-old Veronica Ruiz died of a gunshot wound to the head that appears to have been self-inflicted. The coroner says Ruiz apparently died Dec. 3.

The Mill Valley woman's body was found Sunday near a popular hiking area.

The coroner says Ruiz's service weapon was next to her body and her Treasury Department photo ID was found in her purse.

A co-worker says Ruiz had been upset over a breakup with her boyfriend when she went missing.

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080116/NEWS/801160416/1033/NEWS01

:1222423:

[KittyMom]

This is so sad. :1222423: