ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090070
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
NOTE: Above
``THE PERPETRATOR probably does know the area, since she disappeared in Culpeper,'' said a police spokeswoman.
State police have pursued about 2,500 leads since Alicia Showalter Reynolds disappeared March 2, but the most valuable clue so far may be the one they least wanted - the discovery of her body.
State police officers and sheriff's deputies combed a wooded area near Culpeper after a man found the body about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. About 50 of them returned early Wednesday to continue searching for clues.
State police said little about information gleaned from the body, choosing to let an autopsy being conducted in Fairfax County answer those questions. They said the remote location where it was found could be very important.
``The perpetrator probably does know the area, since she disappeared in Culpeper,'' state police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said Wednesday.
Investigators ``don't want to limit the investigation to say the person is definitely from here. He could be from somewhere else,'' she said.
Authorities would not say what the autopsy revealed or what clues were found on Reynolds' body or in the surrounding area.
``We've had dozens of leads today - calls from people who may have seen vehicles in the area and so forth,'' Caldwell said.
The body, found about 15 miles from where Reynolds was last seen, was about 10 feet off a dirt road and partially hidden under branches. ``How she died - that may be very valuable to investigators,'' Caldwell said.
After Reynolds' abandoned 1993 Mercury was found in good working order on U.S. 29 in Culpeper, police received more than 20 calls from other women reporting they had been stalked in the same corridor of the roadway.
Many of the women said a man driving a dark pickup truck had flashed his headlights at them, trying to convince them something was wrong with their cars. Some of the women took rides from the man, always without incident. Later inspections of their cars, however, revealed no mechanical problems.
No women have reported having similar experiences since Reynolds disappeared, Caldwell said.
Police said they may were preparing to release an enhanced version of a sketch of the suspect first circulated about two months ago. The sketch is a composite of descriptions provided by other women who said they had encountered the man.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Virginia State Police on Wednesday search the areaby CNBnear where Alicia Showalter Reynolds' body was found outside
Culpeper. color. KEYWORDS: FATALITY