CORBETT -- A Corbett woman was transferred from her hospital bed to a jail bed in Portland Friday and will be arraigned Tuesday on murder charges, the latest chapter in a missing persons case with more twists and turns than the nearby Sandy River. Although officials have yet to positively identify human remains found on a14-acre tree farm here, it's likely, police said, they belong to Hazelynn Stomps' missing husband, Gerald Stomps.

Deputy explains search

While Multnomah County Sheriff's detectives and a state police forensic specialists conducted what amounts to an archaeological dig --laying out grid squares and literally digging for clues -- Explorer Scouts scoured the rolling hills, dense forests, Christmas tree stands and forest clearings around the couple's home and outbuildings looking for clues and evidence.

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Deputy Joe Graziano, a spokesman for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, said the forensic work finished about 7:45 p.m. at the property in the 44500 block of East Haines Road late into the afternoon Friday. The remains will be taken to the state medical examiner's office in Clackamas, where officials will attempt to identify them, he said. Meanwhile, Hazelynn Stomps, 55, was released from Legacy Emanuel Hospital and booked into the Justice Center Jail just after 3 p.m., where she is being held without bail on accusations of murder, abuse of a corpse and filing a false police report. Her arraignment is set for 2 p.m. Tuesday. Hazelynn Stomps told police her husband went missing a week ago when the couple was assaulted by two unidentified men. She was found injured near a bridge over Gordon Creek. Stomps said she had accompanied her 60-year-old husband to the bridge, where he was supposed to meet with one or two men about a boat sale, then go fishing. She said an altercation ensued and a firearm was displayed. She reported being thrown about 19 feet off the bridge and spending two hours crawling back to the road. Then she helped deputies prepare sketches of her alleged assailants, including a mustached man drawn without eyes, nose or mouth, claiming she was traumatized and could not recall his features. Meanwhile, deputies entered Gerald Stomps into a national database of missing persons. But after several days of searching with dogs and dozens of officers tracking along the Sandy River, investigators were unable to find a trace. As her story knotted into a skein of inconsistencies, detectives began searching the property where they found evidence implicating Mrs. Stomps in her husband's disappearance.

Not the first tragedy for Stomps family

Gerald Stomps is a 1967 graduate of Centennial High School and was a member of the school's track team. The death of Gerald Stomps follows by 25 years another family tragedy. Stomps' brother, Mark R. Stomps, was shot and killed during a confrontation with two Gresham Police officers on January 4, 1984. Mark Stomps, who worked as a machinist for Boeing, died after being struck by four of seven shots fired by two officers. Both were cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting. They told a grand jury that Stomps continued to advance on them after a struggle, despite their pleas for him to stop, and that he appeared to reach for a weapon at his side; he was found to be unarmed.

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Kimberly A.C. Wilson

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Stuart Tomlinson

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