Missing woman had marriage woes

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2003 | 10:58 a.m.

The 26-year-old Las Vegas woman missing since Thursday had obtained a restraining order against her estranged husband the day before she disappeared, according to court records.

Adam Fender told police his wife, Leslie, a dealer at Bally's, left her apartment near Silverado Ranch Road and Maryland Parkway about 11 a.m. Thursday to buy cigarettes at a nearby Albertson's. He said she left their 7-month-old son, Race, in his care.

Fender called police and reported her missing about 12 hours after his wife left the apartment, said Sgt. Tom Wagner of Metro's missing persons section. Her gray 1998 Ford Ranger pickup truck with Nevada registration 564JFJ is also missing.

Emerging from Metro's missing persons office after his second interview with detectives, a teary-eyed Adam Fender said: "I'd just like the community's help in finding my wife, Leslie."

"She went to the store like she did a thousand times before," he said. "She was a nice, kind person and wouldn't hurt anybody."

He described their relationship as "up and down."

"We had problems in the past, but we were living together again and trying to work things out," he said. "We spent every day together a week before this."

But according to Clark County court records, Leslie Fender filed a restraining order against Adam Fender the day before her disappearance.

The Fenders were married in Las Vegas in June 1996. Leslie Fender filed for divorce in February 2000, and a Clark County judge granted her the divorce 10 months later.

The couple married again in September 2001, however, and Leslie gave birth to their son last July.

On Feb. 7, Leslie Fender filed for divorce again, but withdrew it nine days later, on Feb. 19. She filed the restraining order the following day, and the day after that, she disappeared.

Wagner said he doesn't think Leslie Fender left voluntarily.

"The thing that concerns me is she is a good parent and we think it's unlikely she would have gone on her own free will," he said. "She did love her child."

Police executed a search warrant at her apartment and found evidence there that Adam Fender had violated his restraining order several times. However, Wagner said in most restraining order cases, the person who filed it has a change of heart.

After interviewing Adam Fender, Wagner said he is "being as cooperative as he thinks he can be" but has not been ruled out as a possible suspect.

He said he would confer with other investigators in the case, then determine what angle to take in the investigation.

Wagner said the Fender case has some similarities to the Laci Peterson case in Modesto, Calif. Peterson's husband, Scott, told police his wife never returned from walking their dog on Dec. 24. Police have not named Scott Peterson as a suspect.

"There are a lot of similarities," Wagner said. "What you have is a loving husband, then you start investigating the case and get deeper into it and there are signs that things just don't fit."