REMAINS IDENTIFIED AS THOSE OF MISSING SCREENWRITER.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

Skeletal remains recovered from the California Aqueduct were positively identified as those of screenwriter Gary Devore, authorities said Friday.

The remains were ``fairly well skeletonized'' but showed no ``significant trauma outwardly,'' said coroner's spokesman Scott Carrier.

The cause of death still remains unknown, however, pending a toxicology report and examination by an anthropologist - a fairly common procedure, especially for bodies in such advanced stages of decomposition, Carrier said. Although the anthropological exam is expected to be done this weekend, the toxicology reports will take four to six weeks.

Devore publicist Michael Sands said the positive identification of the body puts to rest speculation that the screenwriter had abandoned his wife of 18 months, Wendy Oates-Devore.

It is a sense of relief ``just as far as this is Gary,'' Sands said. ``He never ran out on her. People wanted to believe he flipped out.''

Pathologists used dental charts to identify Devore, clad in cowboy boots, western-style blue jeans, shirt and a belt buckle. He was sitting in the front seat of his Ford Explorer, found in 12 to 15 feet of water below the Antelope Valley Freeway near Avenue S, south of Palmdale.

Authorities recovered Devore's body and vehicle Wednesday after receiving information from an unemployed San Diego attorney with a degree in mechanical engineering who became interested in the case.

Douglas Crawford, 35, found remnants of Ford Explorer parts at the aqueduct site and retraced the route Devore took the day he disappeared June 28, 1997. Devore had been on his way home to Carpinteria from Santa Fe, N.M., where he had been working on a script at actress Marsha Mason's house.

Crawford, who appeared Thursday on the syndicated television show ``Extra,'' said he also discovered a cellophane-wrapped bouquet of dead flowers at the scene, suggesting that someone had witnessed the accident. But authorities said Friday that the flowers were placed there by the family of a motorcyclist who died Feb. 1, 1997, after driving the wrong way on the freeway and crashing into the water.

Crawford suggested that Devore probably fell asleep at the wheel and his vehicle plunged into the aqueduct.

While authorities have not disputed that theory, they plan to reconstruct the accident and examine dents and scratches on the vehicle to determine whether they match possible collision marks left at the scene.

However, Caltrans officials said the southbound guardrail has not needed repairs in the past year and shows no signs of damage. The last work the agency performed in that area was on the northbound guardrail in August 1997. Devore had been traveling south.

In other developments, Crawford alleged in a Los Angeles Times article Thursday that ``Extra'' reneged on a promise to pay for his exclusive interview. A spokesman for the show said ``Extra'' does not pay for interviews but does retain independent producers who find stories and make separate financial agreements with interview subjects.

``We have a few of these producers under retainer to bring these stories to `Extra,' said show spokesman Scott Rowe. ``Any financial agreement would be between the independent producer and individual and not us.''

So far, Rowe said Crawford has not contacted the show's producers requesting money.

It also looks as if Crawford will not collect the $100,000 reward Oates-Devore initially offered for information on her missing husband. She withdrew the money six months ago, fearing it would draw false leads and bounty hunters, Sands said.