VALENCIA FAMILY'S HOPES DASHED AIRLINE CONFIRMS WOMAN'S DEATH.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Fong M. Roberts' family spent the past few days watching the hour-by-hour television coverage of the crash of Singapore Airlines Flight 006.

The Valencia woman's family, including her husband and son, knew she was supposed to be on that flight, returning to Los Angeles from Taipei on Tuesday night.

But it wasn't until Thursday morning that relatives got official word that Roberts, 50, was among the 81 people killed when the 747 jumbo jet burst into flames after apparently heading down the wrong runway and hitting construction equipment on takeoff. Nine of the victims were from the Los Angeles area.

``They were one of the last ones to find out,'' neighbor Maggi Solso said about the family. ``It was excruciating.''

Both relatives and neighbors declined to say much about Roberts on Thursday, saying they were exhausted by events of the past few days and overwhelmed by the media spotlight.

``She was very involved in the community,'' Solso said.

One family member paced outside the Roberts home, talking quietly on a cell phone and working on a pickup truck. He declined to talk about the crash.

Family members were preparing to leave for Taiwan to claim Roberts' body today, Solso said. Families of most victims from the Los Angeles area left on their sorrowful mission on a chartered flight Wednesday night.

``She was such a wonderful lady,'' Solso said. ``I just wish I could say more.''

Roberts was one of two Santa Clarita residents killed in the fiery crash at Chiang Kai-Sheik International Airport.

Jenny Y. Dwan, 44, of Canyon Country was returning from a weeklong trip visiting her parents in Taipei when the plane crashed. Her husband, William, and her 16-year-old son, Simon, left Wednesday for Taipei.