Remains may be missing woman

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001 | 11:12 a.m.

Bones and a skull found in the desert last week may be the remains of a missing Salvadoran woman who was last seen with her family in a Jean casino in January, Metro Police said.

While the Clark County coroner is still conducting tests to positively identify the remains, police say all the evidence found near the bones Friday about 130 feet from Interstate 15 points to the remains being that of 74-year-old Bernardina Guevara.

"The clothing found at the scene matches exactly to the clothing described from the missing persons report," said Lt. Wayne Petersen of Metro's homicide unit. "The badge from the tour group she was with was still pinned to a piece of the clothing."

Detectives found no evidence of foul play but suspect that because there were only skeletal remains, a cause of death likely will never be determined, Petersen said.

"She likely just wandered away from the hotel," he said. "There were no indications of homicide."

Guevara came from El Salvador to visit her son in Los Angeles. The pair and other members of their family went to the Nevada Landing hotel in Jean. On Jan. 20 family members were gambling when they noticed Guevara was no longer nearby, said Detective Roberto Juarez of the missing persons unit.

The family and hotel security searched the area, but there was no sign of her, he said.

Hotel security went through security video, but were unable to find her leaving the hotel, Petersen said.

Missing persons detectives searched the area around the hotel after Guevara was reported missing, but they were never able to locate her.

A Nevada Department of Transportation worker found a skull Friday about 10 a.m. in a shallow gully.