Man Held in Mother’s 1993 Disappearance

COSTA MESA —  Police have never been able to find Myra King since she vanished on a July evening in 1993, but this week they believe they may have finally located her suspected killer--her 21-year-old son.

Raymond Anthony Frost was arrested in Los Angeles late Thursday night at the wheel of a stolen car, police said. Frost was being held Friday without bail in Los Angeles.

Although the body of Frost’s 44-year-old mother has never been found, the Orange County district attorney had filed murder charges in November.

Detectives investigated King’s disappearance for more than two years and pieced together enough evidence to charge Frost, even without finding a body.

“It has been some time since we’ve had a case like this. There’s not too many,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Debora Lloyd. “But there’s different types of evidence that can be used to prove [a case] beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Lloyd and Costa Mesa police declined to comment on the evidence gathered in the case. The prosecutor conceded the absence of a body might make for more skeptical jurors, should the case reach trial.

“It is one more layer of difficulty,” Lloyd said. “You have that ‘Gee, what if this person is still alive?’ to overcome.”

King was reported missing by her employers when she did not show up for work at Girls Inc., a national education group for girls. Described as a diligent, dedicated worker, she had a field trip scheduled for that day, and missing it was out of character, King’s employers said.

Police and family immediately suspected Frost, according to a Costa Mesa police press release. Frost told police he last saw his mother as she left for work, but his account did not ring true with police. Police would not say what led to a break in the case.

The Orange County murder case will not proceed until authorities decide whether to move forward first with auto theft charges, Lloyd said. Frost was allegedly driving a Honda Accord stolen from a police impound lot in San Diego County when he was arrested, according to Los Angeles police.

Frost was arrested without incident Thursday night after a Newton Division patrol officer ran a computer check on the license plate of the car Frost was allegedly driving. A loaded .38-caliber handgun and a box containing what appeared to be rock cocaine also were found in the car and will be tested by criminalists, Los Angeles police said.

San Diego police spokesman David Cohen had no information Friday about a stolen vehicle from a police lot.