Police believe missing
woman took own life
■ Linda Bovee vanished
without a trace Oct. 11, now
police believe they have
recovered her body
By Brian Goodell
Oregon Daily Emerald
A body believed to be that of
Linda Bovee, a Eugene woman
missing since Oct. 11, was dis
covered Saturday at the Moon
River Reservoir in Harney
County. Eugene Police Detec
tives Jim Michaud and Greg
Reeves announced at a press
conference Monday afternoon
that they believe Bovee took
her own life.
Although the autopsy per
formed Monday was inconclu
sive, detectives on the case
made a tentative identification
based on the clothing found on
the body, the body’s proximity
to Bovee’s car, and the fact that
no one is currently missing in
Harney County.
• “We’re confident that this is
Linda Bovee’s body,” Michaud
said. “But the death certificate
will not be signed out until a
toxicology report can be done.”
Police cannot positively
identify the body as Bovee’s un
til cause of death is determined.
The toxicology report, which
will not be completed for an
other six weeks, will determine
if Bovee used any substances in
her suicide attempt. Police sus
pect the cause of death is as
phyxia due to drowning, but
are reluctant to say for sure.
Detectives believe Bovee
drove herself to Harney County,
placed rocks in her backpack to
weight herself down and
drowned in the Moon River
Reservoir.
“There were no signs of foul
play or trauma to the body,”
Reeves said. “The theory is that
she voluntarily went to one of
the most desolate places in Ore
gon so that nobody would find
her.”
Monday’s autopsy was per
formed in Multnomah County.
Information about the autopsy
remained secret until the detec
tives could notify the Bovee
family about any findings.
“As soon as we knew some
thing we got a hold of Doug
[Bovee’s husband},” Reeves
said.
Dr. Doug Bovee wanted to be
available at the press confer
ence because he had received
many phone calls about his
wife. Doug Bovee admitted his
wife had some problems but
said he did not realize she was
in trouble.
“‘It’s a mystery of life/’ he
said. “For some reason she was
unable to reach out. That’s the
tragedy.”
The Bovee family made plans
for a funeral service this Thurs
day at 1:30 p.m. at the Unity of
the Valley Church in Eugene.
Doug Bovee noted that his
wife’s car, a dark blue Subaru
station wagon, had a bumper
sticker that read: “Let Peace Be
gin With Me.”
“Maybe that’s her way of
looking for peace,” he said.
ANWR
Continued from Page 1
to an elementary school with
many other children of oil em
ployees. In this setting, she grew
up believing that the oil industry
was helping the people, as well
as the economy, of Alaska.
“With the oil industry, people
love it or they hate it. I grew up
loving it, with the idea that com
panies like BP and the Atlantic
Richfield Co. were great compa
nies making our lives better,”
she said.
In high school, her views on
the oil industry and ANWR be
gan to change. She said she now
thinks Alaska’s environment and
economy will suffer if drilling is
allowed in the Coastal Plain.
“Opening up ANWR for
drilling might not hurt the
wildlife, but there’s so much we
don’t know for sure. We don’t
even know for sure how much
oil is in the Coastal Plain, be
cause it’s protected,” Pursell
said.
Cam Toohey is the executive
director of Arctic Power4 a non
profit group that represents the
oil industry's stance on the
ANWR issue. He agreed that
there’s no way to know for cer
tain how much oil is there, but
said that research projects on the
area lead him to believe there is
a sizable amount under the sur
face waiting to be drilled.
“The U.S. Geological Survey
performed estimates on the area
using extremely safe exploratory
3-D technology,” Toohey said.
Toohey said he is also certain
the area could be drilled without
harming the environment based
on positive evidence from the
construction of the pipeline and
from the last major drilling site,
Prudhoe Bay, west of ANWR.
He added that the number of
caribou in Prudhoe Bay has actu
ally increased because they stay
near to the oil wells, which their
predators won’t come near.
Pursell is skeptical that an oil
company could run a clean
drilling site that wouldn’t harm
the wildlife.
“There will be pollution prob
lems. There’s no way around it.
From January 1997 to March
1998, BP reported 104 oil spills,”
she said.
Dan Ritzman, a climate cam
paigner for Greenpeace, said the
organization worries that a
drilling mistake by the oil com
panies could hurt not only ani
mals like the caribou but the na
tives who depend on them.
“The Coastal Plain is the bio
logical heart of ANWR. The na
tive Gwich’in Indians in the area
are called the Caribou People.
They depend on those herds for
hunting, and drilling could up
set that,” Ritzman said.
Even if the area could be
drilled safely, Pursell said she
has mixed feelings whether
ANWR’s oil will solve Alaska’s
deeper economic troubles.
“If there is a huge amount of
oil there, new jobs will be creat
ed and it will be a big boom to
the Alaskan economy, but only
for a short time. As the oil runs
out those jobs will disappear and
a recession will occur. It’s hap
pening right now in Prudhoe
Bay,” she said. “Oil is just not a
stable thing to build our econo
my on.”
Pursell’s stepfather, Tom Hy
att, agreed that ANWR drilling
could potentially damage Alas
ka’s economy, but remains in fa
vor of opening the Coastal Plain.
He said when oil was discovered
in Prudhoe Bay, mistakes were
made and an artificial economy
formed.
“The oil companies offered
high wages to construction
workers to build the site and lo
cal businesses raised wages to
compete. Once construction was
complete, the economy was high
without as much revenue com
ing in,” Hyatt said.
However, he thinks those
problems can be avoided if
everyone learns from past mis
takes and takes a more cautious
economic approach.
“Alaska’s economy has always
been boom or bust. I just hate to
see any resource wasted,” he
said.
Congress nqw has the respon
sibility to decide what will hap
pen to ANWR. In 1995 the
House and Senate passed a bill
to open the Coastal Plain, but the
president vetoed the bill. Frank
Baker, External Affairs officer for
BP, said the company isn’t lob
bying on the issue and probably
won’t until after the 2000 presi
dential election.
“Our stance remains to open
the area, but now it’s up to Con
gress,” he said.
Pursell said she is unsure
what would be a good compro
mise between the environmental
and oil concerns, but remains
certain that unless more infor
mation on the area is collected,
the benefits of the oil don’t out
weigh the long-term benefits of
protecting the Coastal Plain’s
wildlife.
“ANWR is more than just an
acronym of a place fejv people
have ever been to. We as human
beings don’t have a right to open
every single area of the planet for
development.”
Calendar
The Oregon Student Public In
terest Research Group (OSPIRG)
invites University students to vis
it Smokey the Bear on his tour
around the country to promote
the preservation of roadless areas
in our national forests. Smokey
will be in the EMU on the Fish
bowl Terrace from 11 a.m. to 1
p.m. For more information call
Mike Unman at 346-4377.
Students in the Human Rights
Alliance will simulate a workday
in a sweatshop by spending four
teen hours sewing in a produc
tion line to raise awareness about
the inhuman working conditions
in apparel factories. 7 a.m. to 11
p.m. EMU Amphitheater, 1222
E. 13th Ave. For more informa
tion call 346-4356.
Exhibition: Master of Fine Arts
painting group show by Julie
Nuthals, Erik Shearer, Elizabeth
Reagh Chatchawan Nilsikul and
Wesley Hurd, and MFA ceramics
by Justine Pinckard. 10 a.m. to 4
p.m., weekdays. LaVeme Krause
Gallery, Lawrence Hall, 1190
Franklin Blvd. Free. For informa
tion, call (541) 346-2057 or 346
3610.
“Applying for a Master’s De
gree in Social Work” 3:30 p.m.
Century Room E, Erb Memorial
Union, 1222 E. 13th Ave. Free.
For more information call Acade
mic Advising, 346-3211
Christians Uniting in Prayer
for the University Community.
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Century
Room D, Erb Memorial Union,
1222 E. 13th Ave. Free. Spon
sored by the Eugene Christian
Fellowship.
Teleconference: “Buying Recy
cled: The Real Story About Cost,
Availability and Quality” fea
tures national recycling expert
Richard Keller as well as busi
nesses and government agencies
from WasteWise and Buy Recy
cled Business Alliance. 8 to 10
a.m. Media Services Studio A,
Knight Library, 1501 Kincaid St.
Free. For information, call Karyn
Kaplan, (541) 346-1529.
e- ve ^we'
Run your for sale item in the
ODE classifiedsfor five days
(items under $1,000)...
if you don't sell it, we'll run it
5 more days for free!
Your Voice is I
POWER.
Speak out against
sexual uiolence.
Share your story, poetry or thoughts
about sexual violence.
Wednesday, November 10
7-9 p.m.
Espresso Roma
(825 E. 13th)
Refreshments will be provided.
S.A.F.E.
007904
Sexual Assault Free Environment
For more information, e-mail safe@darkwing.uoregon.edu
\ IT S JUST LIKE REALLY BEING HERE, BUT WITHOUT ALL THE RAIN