Fiancee's Family Mourns As Manhunt For California Fire Chief Continues
ELK GROVE (CBS13) — Family and friends gathered to remember a young mother who was brutally murdered, allegedly at the hands of her fire chief fiance.
The manhunt for Orville Fleming is on more than a day after Sarah Douglas' body was found by her sister
Though Fleming's criminal past is clean, Douglas' loved ones are sure the man 30 years her senior was lying in wait.
"Was it premeditated? Yeah, I believe it was -- he moved his truck, he left the house dark he ambushed her," said her aunt, Trina Werly. "We also found out through another neighbor he was cleaning his truck and packing his stuff prior to the homicide."
The battalion chief abandoned his state-issued truck in an Elk Grove neighborhood three miles away.
In a deepening mystery, several neighbors are positive they've seen that same Cal Fire truck parked there at various times this week.
If true, it begs the question, who was Orville Fleming coming to see? Deputies say they haven't found anyone in the neighborhood who admits to knowing him.
"I hope he watches this, and I hope whoever's helping him is watching this because if you're helping him that makes you an accessory," Werly said.
Outside the home the couple shared, where investigators say he stabbed her, a vigil was held with loved ones from all 26 years of her life.
"From when she was in kindergarten all the way through high school, and I see a lot of faces I haven't seen in a lot of years," Wely said.
Family members say Sarah was on the phone with her sister on Wednesday night when she started yelling and screaming, and the phone went dead. Initially, her sister didn't think much of it—the couple fought a lot and Sarah had already told Fleming she was leaving him.
Her sister discovered Sarah's body the next morning.
"Her sister's grieving right now because she didn't turn around and come back that she thought maybe she should've and we would be mourning two beautiful girls by one maniac," Wely said.
CBS13 has also learned that Fleming is in the process of divorcing another woman who lives in the Fresno area. Deputies say they're in constant contact with her, and she is safe.