DATE: Saturday, October 4, 1997             TAG: 9710040579

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

SUSPECT IN CAR THEFT TO FACE QUESTIONS ABOUT MISSING WOMAN

Jack Autery, the man charged with stealing the car of Candace ``Candy'' Arnaud, was scheduled to return to Norfolk late Friday to answer questions about the whereabouts of the missing Norfolk woman.

Autery, 42, waived extradition earlier this week. Jay Cullen, a spokesman for the Titusville, Fla., police, said Norfolk detectives arrived in Florida on Friday to fly Autery back to Virginia.

Autery, the person last seen with the 38-year-old Arnaud, has been charged with stealing Arnaud's 1989 Ford Taurus. He has an address in Portsmouth.

Arnaud, who is married and the mother of two young daughters, was last seen leaving a friend's residence in the 600 block of Ingleside Road about 11 p.m. Sept. 17. Police said she and Autery were on their way to Arnaud's home in the 500 block of Maycox Ave. when they vanished.

Cullen said Florida investigators discovered ``an indication of blood in the car,'' which was hauled to a law enforcement facility in Brevard County.

``Any further determination as to type (of blood) will have to be conducted through a lab,'' he said.

Cullen said the Titusville police joined the investigation when FBI agents told them that someone was using Arnaud's credit cards at a Howard Johnson's hotel. Police staked out the parking lot of the hotel and arrested Autery when he left his room Tuesday.

Based on the investigation so far, Autery hasbeen in Titusville, a small town near Orlando, since Sept. 19, Cullen said. Arnaud has not been seen with him.

``At this point, aside from helping Norfolk personnel . . . we are trying to run down and interview as many people as we can,'' Cullen said.

Arnaud's husband, Chris, said his wife had met Autery several times.

Autery was acquitted of rape, sodomy and abduction charges in Portsmouth this year, and of rape and sodomy charges in Chesapeake in 1995.

Patty Schlosser, an FBI spokeswoman in Norfolk, said this case could lead to federal charges, since state lines were crossed.

Arnaud's mother said Autery had offered to repair the air conditioning in her daughter's car.

Chris Arnaud said the family is continuing to pray and hope for his wife's safe return.

``She is an extremely strong-willed person,'' he said earlier this week. ``She's a fighter, and she's got a ton of tenacity.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Candace ``Candy'' Arnaud, 38, is married and the mother of two young

daughters. She was last seen Sept. 17. KEYWORDS: MURDER MISSING PERSON ARREST

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