Media outlets in Salt Lake City, Utah, reported Friday that police took two people into custody at a hotel near the city's airport following the disappearance of an El Dorado County woman from her home. El Dorado County sheriff's detectives are on their way to Utah to meet with police there about the two detained people, said El Dorado County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Bryan Golmitz said Friday.
A vehicle found at the hotel appears to be the same 2003 Hyundai Tiburon associated with Patricia Presba, he said. He could not confirm the identity of the individuals or whether they are connected to the Presba case.
"I would surmise that (detectives) would be going to meet with individuals surrounding yesterday's events," Golmitz said. "And whatever information they can glean from them in regard to last month's incident."
A Salt Lake City police lieutenant told media outlets a man taken into custody had what appeared to be three gunshot wounds. A woman detained at the scene had a stab wound in her arm. Several phone messages to Salt Lake City authorities by The Bee were not returned.
Presba, 47, is the husband of a man who disappeared one month ago in the rural foothills of El Dorado County. The Presba went missing Thursday, and so far, a blood-stained front door left ajar is among the meager evidence officials have as a starting point for their investigation.
Meanwhile, the disappearance of Presba's husband, Ronald Presba, 54, remains unsolved. His car was found burned out at the base of a ravine along Highway 193 near Kelsey on June 25, and human remains were found in the passenger compartment of the Chevy Suburban.
Sheriff's deputies had found blood markings on the roadway, leading them to believe foul play was involved in the occupant's death.
A forensic autopsy has not determined conclusively if the remains were of Ronald Presba.
Officials have not linked the two disappearances, but they are hitting a nerve, generating significant interest on the Internet and stirring some buzz in the sparely populated area.
"Family and friends are saying nothing appears to be out of the norm," said El Dorado County sheriff's Sgt. Bryan Golmitz. "I hope things will clear up a little bit more for us soon."
A member of the Presba family, who gave her first name as April, 35, but requested her last name be withheld, was tending the garden at the house off Highway 193 between Garden Valley and Georgetown shared by Ronald and Patricia Presba. She said her father, an independent backhoe operator, had recently started gardening again after giving it up for 17 years.
The garden is part of a tidy yard skirting the modest house on about two acres in the dry, hilly area.
Patricia Presba was reported missing to deputies at 10:45 a.m. Thursday. When deputies arrived at her home on Meadow Brook Road, they found the front door ajar and what appeared to be blood on the door, Golmitz stated in a news release. Deputies also reported finding more blood inside the home.
No one was inside the home, and a search of the property by K-9 teams failed to find Presba, he said.
Family and friends say they last saw the woman Tuesday and last talked to her Wednesday. The family had tried to call Presba on her cell phone, but she did not answer, Golmitz said.
Presba is listed as "at risk" because of the circumstances that surrounded the incident, and a missing persons report was filed.
She is described as 5-foot-7, 160 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She is known to drive a blue/green 2003 Hyundai Tiburon and associate with a man named Jaime Ramos.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at (530) 621-6600.
CalL The Bee's Niesha Lofing, (916) 321-1270.
