FARMINGTON – A memorial service will be held Friday for a Farmington woman found murdered more than 270 miles from where she was last seen.
The service for Sasha Krause will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at Summit Church, 1200 E. 30th St. in Farmington. The memorial, which will be open to the public, will be hosted by the Farmington Mennonite Church, where Krause was a member. Krause’s funeral was held last week in Texas.
Krause, who was missing for more than a month before her body was found, lived near the Farmington Mennonite Church with a few other women who often traveled together, according to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office. She taught Sunday school, worked at Lamp & Light Publishers and had a good relationship with her parents who live in Texas, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Her body was found Feb. 21 near Sunset Crater National Monument in Arizona, and a few days later, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona confirmed her identity using fingerprints collected at the scene that were matched with her Texas driver’s license record. Krause’s body was found by a camper near Forest Road 545, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The 27-year-old woman was last seen leaving her home about 8 p.m. Jan. 18 near the Farmington Mennonite Church on Road 5577, according to the initial news release from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies were dispatched at 3 a.m. Jan. 19 to Krause’s work, which is connected with the church. Her vehicle was found parked at the church, near her home. The Sheriff’s Office said investigators found objects in her home that Krause would have taken had she left willingly, leading them to say her disappearance was suspicious from the outset.
Shortly after Krause’s disappearance, rumors began to circulate online, leading the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office to urge people to share only information coming from its official social media pages or media releases.
Krause’s disappearance led to a countywide search that drew people from around the state and country. Thousands connected on social media in hopes of finding the New Mexico woman.
As of Thursday morning, there were no new updates available about the investigation, said Jayme Harcrow, spokeswoman for the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office. A cause of death and time of death are pending.
The Sheriff’s Office in Arizona is asking for the public’s assistance, and anyone who saw something suspicious in the area of Sunset Crater and Wupatki national monuments, near where Krause’s body was found, is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at (928) 226-5038 or Silent Witness at (928) 774-6111.
lweber@durangoherald.com
