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Body Of Missing Lake Elsinore Woman, 33, Found

RIVERSIDE (CBS)  — The body of a 33-year-old Lake Elsinore woman who went missing on a trip with her convicted sex-offender boyfriend was found Tuesday.

The body was found near Landers, a remote area of San Bernardino County.

Tanya Petro's remains were discovered during a search of Pipe Canyon Wash, according to San Bernardino County sheriff's officials.

A homicide investigation involving detectives from Riverside and San Bernardino counties was under way.

Petro was reported missing Saturday after concerned family members were unable to reach her.

The victim had been last seen leaving her apartment in the 1400 block of Morro Way, getting into a Toyota pickup truck driven by her boyfriend, Ronald Wayne Paoletto, according to Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. Patrick Chavez.

Paoletto is a registered sex offender, Chavez said.

Under state law, anyone convicted of a sex-related crime is required to keep authorities informed about where they are living and when they relocate.

Petro and Paoletto were supposed to travel together to Yucca Valley to visit the latter's children, according to Chavez. He said Paoletto arrived in Victorville on Sunday afternoon -- without the victim.

Petro had allegedly told friends and family that Paoletto physically assaulted her a week before, Chavez said.

Paoletto was arrested in Hesperia Monday afternoon for alleged parole violations.

He is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

 (©2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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