Body of missing Lake Tahoe girl found

Brendan Riley

Tuesday, March 21, 2000 | 9:15 a.m.

STATELINE, Nev. - A part-time worker for a children's club at a Tahoe apartment complex was arrested Monday in connection with the killing a 9-year-old girl kidnapped while playing in the parking lot of the complex.

Authorities arrested Thomas Robert Soria Jr., 19, just a few hours after the girl's nude body was found Monday morning, down a highway embankment about 25 miles from the complex.

Authorities said Krystal Steadman had been seen about 2 p.m. Sunday standing on the running board of Soria's vehicle outside the Lake Park apartments, where her mother, from nearby South Lake Tahoe, Calif., was visiting a friend.

Her body was found about 9:20 a.m. Monday off U.S. 50, which winds over Spooner Summit from the South Lake Tahoe area into Carson City.

Soria faced a Justice Court arraignment on murder and kidnapping charges Tuesday. Douglas County District Attorney Scott Doyle said he could seek the death penalty in the case.

"We're taking the steps necessary to keep that option open," Doyle said.

"It's disturbing, the nature of the crime and the fact that this is a small community," Doyle added. "Crimes of this nature don't happen very often here."

Sonya Klempnerr, 25, the victim's older sister, said the girl had been checking in regularly with her mother, who had told her she could stay outside only a few more minutes because they were going to eat dinner.

When her daughter didn't come back on time, the mother went looking for her, found her jacket on the ground and called police, Klempnerr said.

Krystal Steadman was a popular student involved in many school activities, said Klempnerr, adding, "It's ironic that your biggest fears, the things you do so much to prevent, have happened."

Douglas County Sheriff Ron Pierini said an autopsy was planned Tuesday to determine cause of death. The autopsy also will determine whether the girl had been sexually assaulted.

The sheriff also said Soria had been under surveillance since shortly after the disappearance. Deputies arrested him just before noon Monday at his apartment in the complex, and he offered no resistance.

Pierini described Soria as a part-time worker at a satellite branch of the Lake Tahoe Boys and Girls Club. The club is in the apartment complex, which mainly houses casino workers for the resorts that straddle the nearby California-Nevada line at Lake Tahoe. He has no previous criminal record other than a bad check charge.

Pierini said the girl had been playing in the parking lot with two other girls, but they left. Questioned later, the girls said they last saw Krystal standing on the running board of a Chevrolet Blazer owned by Soria.

About two hours after she disappeared, a motorist driving on U.S. 50 a few miles from Carson City saw a man acting suspiciously near a parked vehicle resembling the Blazer.

Authorities searched the area unsuccessfully late Sunday and early Monday for the girl, and then returned at daylight Monday to find her body.