NEW EVIDENCE MAY CLOSE 1991 CASE DETECTIVES TAKE DNA FROM CHILDREN, HOPING TO IDENTIFY MISSING WOMAN.

Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer

CITY OF COMMERCE -- Homicide detectives said Friday that they had new information in the 1991 disappearance -- and suspected slaying -- of Valencia homemaker Anne Racz.

``We have uncovered some new evidence that indicates the missing person is deceased and may lead us to where remains will be found,'' said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Capt. Ray Peavy at a news conference at the department's Homicide Bureau headquarters.

DNA samples were taken from two of Racz's children, Glenn and Joann, as well as her sister, Emi Ryan, for analysis and identification purposes, should remains be found.

Peavy said a possible grave site will be excavated in the near future. He declined to indicate where the site was, except to say it was within Los Angeles County and not on public property.

``We will be pursuing a warrant for this private property,'' he said. ``This case has haunted the family and we've been intent on solving it for 15 years. We're hoping someone might have some information that will put this case over the top.''

Joann Racz was 14 and Glenn was 11 when their mother disappeared. They said Friday that they remember very little about the last night they saw her.

``I was expecting her to return that day,'' Joann said. ``I really know my mom deserves closure, but we're looking forward. I feel like we are on the verge of closure.''

Asked whether they hold out any hope that their mother might be alive, both shook their heads.

``I feel, um, we feel that she has passed away,'' Glenn said. ``We have a gut feeling for what might have happened.

``She had a lot of energy for her children and wanted the best for us,'' Joann added. ``Something had to have disrupted her path.''

On the night of April 22, 15 years ago, Anne Racz, a popular community volunteer who worked at her children's school and at Newhall Presbyterian Church, dropped her three children off for a visit at the Fortuna Drive home of her estranged husband, John, promising to come back with some hamburgers for dinner. She was never heard from or seen again.

John Racz, a retired deputy sheriff and schoolteacher, has ``never been eliminated as a suspect,'' according to Peavy, who added that John told detectives that he spoke with Anne two days after she disappeared, information that could not be corroborated. Her car was found April 25, 1991, in a Van Nuys park-and-ride lot for an airport shuttle service.

``Everyone is a suspect in any case we investigate where a loved one has been lost until we eliminate them,'' he said.

Sheriff's officials released a flier with an age progression drawing of how Racz might look if she were alive today. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to her whereabouts.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Delores Scott at the Homicide Bureau, [phone].

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Glen, left, and Joann Racz speak at a news conference Friday at the Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau in Commerce about new leads in the disappearance of their mother, Ann.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer