Body identified as missing Oregon teen

SALEM – An Oregon teen who crossed paths with a couple sought in the killing of a Washington state woman was found slain in a rural area and the couple – who were arrested on Wednesday – are persons of interest in his death, police said Wednesday night.

State police spokesman Lt. Gregg Hastings said an autopsy determined the body found late Tuesday is that of 19-year-old Cody Myers. Myers disappeared last weekend as police were searching for the killers of 69-year-old Leslie Pedersen, who was found at her Everett home a week ago with her hands bound and a bloody pillow over her head.

The fugitives – Pedersen’s stepson David Pedersen and his girlfriend Holly Ann Grigsby – were arrested Wednesday afternoon on a highway in Northern California as they were driving Myers’ car.

But authorities have not found Leslie Pedersen’s husband, who went missing about the time she was murdered.

Hastings said Myers’ body was found near Marys Peak in western Oregon, not far from his Lafayette home. Myers vanished while driving to a jazz concert on the Oregon coast. Police declined to say how he was killed.