http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1767240.phpVigil seeks return of woman last seen with sex offender
Officials responsible for monitoring John Steven Burgess unflagged his status, documents allege.By KIMBERLY EDDS
The Orange County Register
While the convicted sex offender wanted for questioning in the disappearance of a 19-year-old college student was creating an image of a loving father, devoted son and decorated Desert Storm veteran to meet women over the Internet, his status as a sex offender went unmonitored for months after he told authorities he was moving out of the state and no longer needed to be in the state's sex offender registry.
Officials responsible for keeping tabs on sex registrants unflagged the status of John Steven Burgess and never verified his residence as required by law, even though he continued to live in the state for at least seven more months, according to interviews and court documents.
Dozens of Donna Jou's relatives and friends, worn down by worry, gathered outside Rancho Santa Margarita City Hall on Friday night for a candlelight vigil, some holding photos of a wanted man and the missing girl as they whispered in Farsi that it wouldn't be long before Jou comes home. A $15,000 reward was being offered for information leading to Burgess, who whisked away the honor student he met online from her Rancho Santa Margarita apartment on his motorcycle June 23.
"Someone should have been watching him," said Jou's father, Reza. "If there were, Donna would be here with us."
In 2003, Burgess was convicted of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 14. He was sentenced to 146 days in jail and three years' probation, and was required to register as a sex offender. He did for a while. And when he stopped, no one checked up on why or where he was. And he put up ads on Craigslist.org offering a "kewl girl" free rent in exchange for a few household chores.
State law requires sex offenders to register with local police departments every year, within five days of their birthday and within five days of moving.
The burden to register falls on the sex offender, and with so many living in Los Angeles, offenders can take advantage of loopholes to fly under the radar, said Anita Vigil, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Probation Department.
The Los Angeles Police Department, which is responsible for registering sex offenders living in the city, did not immediately return calls regarding the specifics of Burgess' case.
A murky picture of Burgess, who also called himself Sinjin Stevens, has begun to emerge through dozens of interviews with friends, law enforcement officials and romantic interests.
"You either loved him or you hated him," said Detective Dan Saucedo, the Orange County Sheriff's Department lead investigator on the Jou case. "He definitely has the gift of gab."
Burgess grew up in Jacksonville, Fla. He joined the Army and went to Iraq in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
He headed to California with dreams of making movies. He met a girl. They had a baby a daughter but the relationship didn't work out. He got a dog an Irish setter named Redford.
There was no mention of his three battery convictions in 2002, a 2005 arrest after police say he beat up his ex-girlfriend or that he was charged with trying to force a teenage girl to be a prostitute.
Conversations Baylor Smith had with Sinjin Stevens, who listed his occupation on MySpace.com "I deal in human fulfillment," persuaded her to hop on his motorcycle in Jacksonville last summer.
He told her he made movies. She told him she had thought about being an actress. She could do it, he said and then he offered to put her up in his house.
"He seemed really nice and he was cool to talk to, but he wasn't my type," Smith said. "It's just creepy because that could have been me."
Burgess roared into an L.A. neighborhood in a blue pickup in November with license plates that read SINJIN 1. He noticed the house and the for-rent sign. He struck a deal with landlady Concepcion Mora and put his money down.
He moved in two days after Thanksgiving. The musician and the nine people who crammed inside the house never quite fit in, said neighbor Ron Schultz.
Schultz said Burgess was in a hurry when he packed his pickup with cardboard boxes July 5 and left the house and Redford behind. Burgess made the rounds, collecting thousands of dollars in rent, ignored calls from the landlady and hit the road.
Three days later, his toolbox with the SINJIN 1 license plates, a motorcycle helmet, rubber dishwashing gloves, rope and a scrubbing brush were found dumped under Bougainvillea vines a mile and a half from his house. Redford was set free by Burgess' former housemates.
His Craigslist.org ads promised a spacious three-bedroom home with a smoothie maker but a visit to the house revealed that for a few hundred dollars a month, Burgess provided little more than a dingy mattress on a sticky floor.
The bathroom sink had to be turned on with pliers. Two Russian girls shared a room. Everyone lived out of suitcases.
On June 23, Burgess took Jou to the house and showed off his pride and joy: the back yard with a mishmash of battered couches, a hookah pipe and weights littering the table. It was here that Burgess invited strangers he met on the Internet to stop over some Saturday night play poker, a game of Scrabble or just have a drink. If you wanted to smoke, you had to take it outside, he said, but the house was "420 friendly," referring to the police code for marijuana. Jou seemed happy, partygoers told investigators. But then she disappeared. And a few days later so did Burgess.
News researcher Michael Doss contributed to this report.
June 24 At 6:08 a.m., Nili Jou receives a text message from her daughter's cell phone that reads "Battery's dying. I'm in San Diego. Be home soon. I love you Mommy.""
June 25 Jou's family report her missing to the Orange County Sheriff's Department after she doesn't show up for work or school.
June 28- Burgess turns 35.
July 5 Orange County Sheriff's Department releases the pictures of two persons of interest in Jou's disappearance. Burgess is one of them. Burgess is seen packing his truck full of cardboard boxes. It is the last time Burgess' roommates see him.
July 6 Sheriff's officials narrow their search to Burgess. The license plates and descriptions of his Ford Ranger pickup and motorcycle are publicized.
July 8 A man finds a plastic tool box stuffed under bougainvillea vines about a mile and a half from Burgess' house. Inside the box are the vanity license plates "SINJIN 1" from Burgess' truck, a black motorcycle helmet, rubber dishwashing gloves, rope and a scrub brush.
July 9 Orange County sheriff's investigators and members of LAPD's robbery/homicide division return to Burgess' house and spend hours interviewing his roommates and searching the property. Several knives are found in a backyard cabinet and are being tested for blood residue.
