Two linked to slaying, missing teen

SALEM – A man released from prison less than five months ago and his girlfriend were named Tuesday as the suspects in the killing of his stepmother in Washington last week and the disappearance of an Oregon teenager last seen heading for a jazz festival.

A third person, the father of the ex-convict, is missing.

The two suspects are David Joseph Pedersen, 31, and Holly Grigsby, 24, according to police in Oregon and Washington.

Leslie Pedersen, 69, was found dead on Sept. 28 with her hands tied with duct tape and a bloody pillow wrapped around her head, police in Everett said. The police said Tuesday they have probable cause to arrest the two suspects on murder charges.

Leslie Pedersen’s husband – David Jones Pedersen – is missing, Everett police said.

Oregon State Police said David Joseph Pedersen and Grigsby were seen Sunday morning in the Plymouth Breeze that Cody Myers, 19, was driving when he left Saturday from his Willamette Valley home for the Oregon coastal town of Newport.

David Joseph Pedersen and Grigsby have extensive criminal records, Pedersen has a martial arts background, and they should be considered armed and dangerous, Lt. Greg Hastings said.

Pedersen’s convictions date to 1997, when he was 16 and convicted of robbery in Marion County, public records show. He spent nearly six years in prison and was released in January 2003.

Less than a month later, he was arrested on charges that included assaulting a police officer in Eastern Oregon’s Umatilla County. He was convicted on one count and spent seven years in prison. He was released May 24.

Grigsby spent time in prison for a variety of minor charges beginning in 2006.

Hastings said a car that matched a description of Myers’ car was reported moving erratically on Interstate 5 south of Salem early Sunday. Officers responded but did not find the car.