ARTICLE # 1  

September 26, 1989 - Warren, PA

Children playing in a heavily-wooded area near Lander on Saturday discovered the remains of a Jamestown, N.Y., woman who had been missing for more than 16 months.

Kathy Wilson, 33, Jamestown, N.Y., was last seen on May 18, 1988, and the search for her stretched as far as Florida when Jamestown area residents vacationing in Orlando were convinced they saw the woman there.

But the search for Wilson ended on Saturday when the remains were found by two children playing in a dried-up stream bed in an area off Lindell Rd., two to three miles south of Lander in Farmington Township.

At a Monday evening press conference, Warren County District Attorney Richard Hernan and Chautauqua Count District Attorney John Ward said the remains had been identified as those of Wilson.

According to Ward, the children told their parents about the discovery on Saturday and the parents went to the site on Sunday at about noon to see just what the children had found in a culvert about 25 yards off Lindell Rd. After examining the remains, the parents contacted authorities.

Hernan said members of a Chautauqua and Warren County task force investigating the case then went to the scene and by late Monday, "It has been concluded positively the remains of Kathy Wilson have been located in Warren County."

Hernan said the positive identification was made through comparison of dental records. Some of the woman's clothing was also found with the skeletal remains, he said.

The wooded area was sealed off Monday while investigators combed the area for evidence, said Hernan. That search for evidence will probably continue for at least two more days. Hernan asked that the public cooperate by staying away from the scene while the investigation continues.

Ward and Hernan said the cause of death remains under investigation and declined comment on what, if any, evidence has been gathered to indicate how the woman died and who may have been responsible for her death. They also declined comment on whether there are any suspects in the case.

Noting that authorities have compiled a 1,100 page file on the woman's disappearance, Ward said, "We are going to presume that the death occurred in Pennsylvania, until that is proved otherwise. We believe the abduction took place in Chautauqua County and the death in Warren County."

Hernan said there was no indication how long the woman had been dead.

Wilson was last seen at 12:30 p.m. on May 18, 1988, at the Quality Market in Falconer, N.Y., where she worked. Her van was later recovered at the Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood, N.Y., and her purse was found along Rt. 62 near the Akeley turnoff. In March, a Jamestown employee found the keys to her vehicle in a downtown alley.

This spring, a Jamestown couple, who attended the same church as Wilson and her family, said they believed they saw Wilson in an Orlando, Fla. restaurant on March 21. Members of the task force investigating the disappearance went to Orlando and tried unsuccessfully to find the woman.

The district attorneys said that if there are any arrests made in connection with the woman's death, prosecution will proceed on the assumption that the abduction took place in Chautauqua County, and the death took place in Warren County, unless they obtain evidence to the contrary.

Hernan said authorities are continuing to ask for the public's help in the investigation. Anyone who may have noticed any activity related to the woman's death is asked to contact either Jamestown City police 1-716-483-7537 or 1-716-483-7531, or Warren-based state police, 723-8880.