SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) The mother of a dreadlocked drifter
from Wisconsin said sheriff's detectives showed up at her house
Wednesday to apologize and say that they were not considering him a
suspect in the murder of two Christian camp counselors.
Karen Scarseth, the mother of 21-year-old Nicholas Edward
Scarseth, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that her
son was allowed to leave Tuesday night after telling Sonoma County
detectives he had never met the couple.
``It was all a big mixup,'' she said, ``a big hullabaloo about
nothing.''
The Sonoma Sheriff's Department didn't immediately respond to a
request for comment.
The department has devoted dozens of detectives to investigating
the murders of Lindsay Cutshall, 23, and her fiance, Jason Allen,
26, who were found Aug. 18 shot to death in their sleeping bags on
a remote beach. No weapon has been found.
Cutshall, of Fresno, Ohio, and Allen, of Zeeland, Mich., were
reported missing Aug. 16 after they failed to show up at a
Christian adventure camp in Coloma, about 40 miles east of
Sacramento. Autopsies indicated they were killed either Aug. 16 or
Aug. 17.
Scarseth's parents said two Sonoma detectives showed up at their
house in Chippewa Falls, Wisc., to apologize for naming their son
in a police alert. As it turned out, the tip that led detectives to
their son came from a person who reported seeing the couple after
their bodies were already in the morgue, they said.
``It turned out to be a complete case of mistaken identity,'
Mark Scarseth said. ``He is not the guy they were looking for.''
They said the detectives told them that Scarseth never met the
couple, but was able to provide some helpful information Tuesday.
They said said they hadn't yet talked to their son themselves,
and didn't know where he is headed. They also said they never
thought he had anything to do with the crimes.
Sonoma County detectives sent out a statewide alert Tuesday
seeking Scarseth as a ``potential witness'' in the killings.
Scarseth contacted police after learning from media reports that he
was being sought. Sheriff's Lt. Dave Edmonds said Tuesday he was
always free to go.
Scarseth had been stopped for violating a skateboarding
ordinance Friday before authorities were seeking him in Fort
Bragg, about 100 miles north of Jenner.
Karen Scarseth said he was last home about a month ago and she
last talked to him on the telephone about a week ago from
California. She said her son has an alcohol problem but is not
violent. Court records show he has had various minor scrapes with
the law.
``He's just roaming around,'' she said. ``If he ran into those
people (who were killed), he would have befriended them.''
Scarseth's mother said her son often relied on Christian charity
to survive, and that he told her last week that he had gotten a
hotel room in a small town through a voucher from a ``church
woman.''
``He called two days in a row, which I thought was odd,'' she
said. ``I thought he was getting lonesome, but he knew he couldn't
come home because he gets in trouble here, too.''
Associated Press writer Robert Imrie in Chippewa Falls, Wis.,
contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)