CHILD'S KILLING FEARED VALLEY WOMAN FOUND WITH DISMEMBERED BODY WANTED IN OREGON.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

A 41-year-old woman arrested in the gruesome dismemberment of a man in Canoga Park is also suspected of killing her daughter, authorities said Saturday.

Karen Lee Huster has been sought by police since last April when an Oregon grand jury handed down a murder indictment in the disappearance four years ago of her then-10-year-old daughter, Elisabeth Anne.

The little girl's body has never been found, and she has not been seen since she failed to show up for the start of classes at her Bethany, Ore., elementary school in fall 1996.

Reached at his Pleasanton, Calif., home Saturday, ex-husband Michael Huster said he hopes Karen Huster's arrest Friday might finally bring clues to where Elisabeth has been.

He said he did not know his ex-wife's roommate.

But he did recall fearing for his own safety while married to Karen Huster, and said he thought she was mentally unstable.

``I think anyone is capable of doing anything if they're sufficiently stressed, and under the right circumstances,'' Michael Huster said. ``She has some borderline personality traits - hostility, quick to anger. . . . She had a basic mistrust of people in general. She thought they were out to get her.''

Michael Huster said he has not had any direct contact with his former wife since spring 1996, as they were dissolving their 17-year union. He said the last time he saw her was at her 1997 trial, when she was jailed for not cooperating with authorities searching for the girl.

He said he was concerned when he heard recently that his ex-wife might have been living in California.

``Knowing that she has a lot of hostility and a lot of it is directed at me, of course the possibility crossed my mind that she could try to get back at me somehow,'' he said.

Karen Huster was arrested Friday morning, after police found a dismembered body in the Canoga Park apartment she shared with an unidentified man who is missing.

Officials with the Washington County, Ore., Sheriff's Department said Elisabeth was last seen at a wedding on Aug. 31, 1996. The girl's father had moved to California as the couple went through the divorce.

He had visitation rights but he said his ex-wife continually refused to let him talk to the girl when he called. Michael Huster reported her missing in December after learning that she had not returned to school in September.

After briefly eluding police, Karen Huster was arrested, tried and convicted of custodial interference when she refused to tell authorities where Elisabeth was. Although she claimed to have sent the girl to relatives in California, family and friends from around the state told police they had not seen her.

Karen Huster served nearly two years in prison for custodial interference and was released in February 1999. On April 13, 2000, a Washington County grand jury indicted her for murder.

When police went to arrest her, they found she had gone and was seen in Los Angeles on or after the day the indictment was handed down.

She had taken her father's Toyota Land Cruiser and later left the car with relatives in Kingman, Ariz. The story was featured twice on the television show, ``America's Most Wanted,'' but it yielded no leads on the girl's whereabouts.

Sgt. Marlene Gaskins, spokeswoman for the Washington County Sheriff's Department, said the department was pleased and relieved that Karen Huster was in custody.

``Obviously we've been looking for her for months and it's always a relief when someone you have been looking for so diligently is in custody,'' she said.

Los Angeles Police officials said Huster was being held at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center jail ward Saturday, recovering from ``superficial'' selnflicted gunshot wounds.

LAPD officers were called to the Parc Place Club Apartment complex in the 8700 block of De Soto Avenue by the niece of the alleged victim, an unidentified 73-year-old man who shared the apartment with Huster.

After entering the second-floor unit at about 11 a.m., police found what appeared to be the cut-up remains of an adult man, including body parts in a large freezer.

Los Angeles County coroner's officials said the remains are expected to be examined on Monday to make a positive identification.

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Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Karen Lee Huster, far left, is suspected of killing her daughter, Elisabeth Anne, in 1996.