PORTLAND - Investigators are working through Christmas to trackthe man wanted for the aggravated murder of his pregnant wife andthree young children, Tillamook County Sheriff Todd Anderson saidWednesday.
About 25 more telephone tips came in overnight and police arefollowing up on leads that could point to the whereabouts of 37-year-old Edward Morris, believed to be armed, dangerous and on the run,Anderson said.
The bodies of 31-year-old Renee Morris and her three children - 10-year-old Bryant, 8-year-old Alexis and 4-year-old Jonathan - werefound Saturday in the snowy Tillamook State Forest.
Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant late Monday charging EdwardMorris with seven counts of aggravated murder in the crime.
Autopsies completed Monday showed the four victims died of'homicidal violence,' Anderson said. He said police believe thekillings took place in Tillamook County, but would not elaborate.
The FBI also issued a federal arrest warrant for Morris,indicating officials believe he has fled the state - and possibly thecountry.
'This will be a nationwide search for Mr. Morris,' Anderson said,adding that the hunt will concentrate in the Northwest, where Morrishas family and friends.
Prosecutors charged Morris with three additional counts ofaggravated murder because the children were all younger than 14 yearsand because there were multiple victims, Anderson said.
Police continued to search for Morris' car, a gray 1993 DodgeCaravan which they described as in very good condition, with Oregonplates WSH-171.
The minivan sports bumper stickers honoring the Beaverton-basedChristian evangelist Luis Palau and the Promise Keepers on its backwindshield.
The area where the bodies were found by a hunter and his son is inmountainous forest about 70 miles west of Portland. The ground iscovered with second growth timber and underbrush, and the area ispopular with dirt bikers, all-terrain vehicle riders and hunters.
Relatives and neighbors described the Morrises as extremelyreligious and dedicated to their children.
Edward Morris, however, had trouble holding a job and startedseveral roofing and landscaping businesses over the past years. TheMorrises filed for bankruptcy in 1993 for one of those businesses,Sunrise Roofing, according to court records.
Tillamook County officials are also searching for a missing hikerwhose car was found at a trailhead about five miles from where thefour bodies were discovered. Authorities said the two incidents donot appear to be related.
Anderson said Wednesday that helicopters would be helping tosearch for the hiker, 37-year-old Abhay Thatte of Beaverton.
If Thatte isn't found by the end of the day, officials fromneighboring Washington County have offered to take over the search,to allow Tillamook County authorities to focus on the quadrupledeaths, Anderson said.
