Death mystery deepens

Nothing suggested a troubled woman lay on the mountainside, a hundred yards below the state trooper searching around her empty sports utility vehicle Friday afternoon.

When troopers logged the license plate into their system, nothing indicated she’d been reported missing earlier that day. In fact, it wasn’t until Sunday, when they returned to Howardsville Turnpike in Augusta County with bloodhounds, that troopers first saw Dannell Carlene Kraus, 32, of Waynesboro.

An autopsy showed no signs of foul play, authorities said. The cause of death is unknown.

As state authorities worked to re-piece the story of her death Tuesday, Waynesboro police said they are investigating to determine what happened to the missing persons report they took after Kraus’ husband, John, filed it Friday morning.

She failed to appear that morning for a court hearing and authorities listed her as a fugitive.

Speaking by phone Monday afternoon, John Kraus said when troopers called him with news they impounded his 2001 Chevrolet Blazer, they told him no information about his missing wife appeared after a license plate check.

That routine check would normally reveal information about a missing person, said Corinne Geller, state police spokeswoman.

“They ran the information on the license plate,” Geller said. “And there was nothing to indicate there was a missing person associated with that vehicle.”

Sgt. Kelly Walker, a spokesman for the Waynesboro Police Department, would not say whether police logged the missing person report into the National Criminal Information Center. He declined to identify the officer who took the report.

Before authorities enter a missing person’s report into the information center database, certain criteria must be met, Walker said. Waynesboro police use the Virginia Criminal Information Network when interpreting whether someone meets the criteria necessary to log information, he said.

Walker, along with Officer Lisa Klein of the Staunton Police Department, said they use caution when someone files a missing persons report in order to respect people’s right to privacy. To file a report, the missing person must be endangered, a victim of abduction, a juvenile, a catastrophe victim, suffer from a disability or present “a reasonable concern,” according to the Virginia Criminal Information Network manual.

Earlier this year, Dannell Kraus entered into several psychological and drug treatment programs, according to court records.

Once logged, missing person information becomes immediately accessible to law enforcement officers, Geller said.

The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office handles missing persons reports differently, said Jean Sepulveda, sheriff’s office manager.

“Once we receive the report from the deputy we usually have it within five minutes,” Sepulveda said. “Even a runaway is a missing person.”

Had Waynesboro police reported his wife missing, John Kraus said, it might have saved her life.

Even before she died, a series of criminal charges snapped at the heels of Dannell Kraus. From the beginning of 2010, Kraus spent much of her time shuffling between courtrooms and treatment facilities.

According to court records:

On Jan. 27, she pleaded guilty in Waynesboro Circuit Court to prescription drug fraud. She received a three-year suspended sentence under the condition she avoid more trouble with the law. She pleaded guilty to the same charge Feb. 8 in Augusta County Circuit Court.

Authorities admitted her Feb. 15 to Crossroads at Augusta Health, an inpatient nursing and psychological care facility that specializes in working with adults who suffer from anxiety, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts and distorted thinking. She was released from the program five days later.

The next day Waynesboro police charged her with petty larceny and providing false identification to police, breaking the grace of her suspended sentence.

She then entered the Courtland Center for a 14-day residential drug treatment program.

“She was in the program for 11 days and was discharged because the center felt as if they were not able to therapeutically treat her,” wrote Megan Roane, Kraus’ Blue Ridge Court Services probation officer. “During her stay she went to the emergency room and was given a shot of morphine. Tashea Moses from the Courtland Center stated that Ms. Kraus wasn’t vested in the program.”

Kraus was scheduled to appear March 10 before the Valley Community Services Board, the last day her family and friends saw her. Community services boards, among other things, determine whether people should be involuntarily committed to mental treatment facilities.

Shortly before her husband reported her missing Friday, she failed to appear in Waynesboro General District Court for an 8:30 a.m. advisement hearing.

Members of Kraus’ family said she enjoyed gardening, painting and serving as a Sunday school teacher at Main Street United Methodist Church in Waynesboro. She worked as a stay-at-home mom for her two daughters, ages 4 and 11, John Kraus said.

Krause, who did not live with his wife, said he and Dannell separated, but still raised their children, ate dinner and spent most of their time together.

Dannell Kraus kept several accounts on social media Web sites including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and Netlog. The Blue Ridge Parkway, animal rescue and the band, the Grateful Dead, appear among her interests on Facebook. On Twitter she described herself as a ‘laid back hippie mom loving life with my two girls and Boston Terrier.’

Waynesboro police said they hope to finish their investigation and confirm the timeline of Kraus’ missing person report sometime today.

Tony Gonzalez contributed to this report.