The tale reads like a "Law & Order" script.

A burned-out sport-utility vehicle is found in a brush-filled ravine off a winding two-lane highway during a wildfire.

Remains are found in the floorboard of the passenger seat.

The wife of the presumed dead man goes missing, blood found on the front door and inside their home.

She's found one day later at a hotel in another state with a younger man.

The pair are charged with the husband's death, the criminal complaint hinting financial gain as a motive.

Patricia Presba, 47, and Jaime Ramos, 21, co-workers at a state agency's residential center, are jailed in Salt Lake City, awaiting extradition back to California, while investigators continue to delve into their lives and the circumstances surrounding the alleged murder of Presba's husband, Ron Presba.

The El Dorado County District Attorney's Office filed charges against Presba and Ramos on Wednesday, alleging they intentionally killed Presba's husband for financial gain and then set fire to forestland and personal property.

The use of a dangerous weapon was added as a special allegation to Ramos' murder charge. He allegedly used a mini car jack or hammer during the crime, the complaint states.

William Clark, chief assistant district attorney, declined to discuss details of the case but said, "I think it'll be found to be pretty interesting."

Investigators, too, remain quiet about the case, releasing scant details about what transpired on June 24, the day that, prosecutors allege, Presba was slain. Results from the forensic autopsy conducted on what is presumed to be Presba's remains have not come back from the lab.

Authorities also await results from blood samples found at the Presba home when Patricia Presba was reported missing exactly one month after her husband's car and remains were found.

The lack of answers hasn't stopped the case from becoming the talk of the bucolic foothills communities that dot Highway 193 in El Dorado County.

"It's a small town," said John Anderson, owner of Rose's Garden Cafe in Garden Valley. "Everyone wants to know what's going on."

Ron Presba's death and Patricia Presba's arrest have devastated the family and driven a wedge between the Presbas' biological children.

Ron Presba, 54, who had been married three times, has two daughters from a previous marriage. Patricia Presba has been married four times and has four children from previous relationships.

Misty Bonanno, 28, Patricia Presba's daughter, said her heart aches for Ron's daughters. She hopes the family will be able to come together at some point, if only for a memorial service for their stepfather.

Patricia Presba worked at the California Conservation Corps residential center in Greenwood but recently had taken a leave, said Jim Camp, the state agency's communications director. Ramos also was employed at the CCC but left in May, Camp said. He declined to discuss their employment further.

Bonanno describes her mother as an outgoing, talkative woman who liked making beaded crystal suncatchers. Presba's alleged involvement in her husband's death came "as a complete shock," she said.

The Presbas married quietly on Aug. 6, 2005, after dating for about eight years, family members said.

Ron Presba worked as an independent contractor doing backhoe work in the Georgetown area. He loved gardening and playing with his grandchildren.

And he adored his wife, Bonanno said. "He loved her with every inch of his soul," she said.

Patricia Presba seemed to return his affection, too. She was bereft over his death, Bonanno said.

"She was the grieving wife," Bonanno said. "But I guess she was just putting on a show.

"Do I think my mom is crazy or has some illness? Yes," Bonanno said. "No one in their right mind would be involved in something like this when you have a man who loves you, your kids and your grandkids the way that (Ron) did."

Bonanno and her sister, Jennifer Jaczola, looked at family photos of Ron Presba on Thursday afternoon, Presba's wide smile beaming in all of them.

Bonanno's eyes filled with tears as she held her sister's quivering hand. Above all, they hope their stepfather's daughters won't hold the alleged deeds of their mother against them.

"Not only did we lose our dad, our mom is dead to us," Bonanno said.

The Bee's Niesha Lofing can be reached at (916) 321-1270. Director of Editorial Research Pete Basofin contributed to this report.