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A former neighbor of 16-year-old Sofia Silva's is being sought for questioning by police investigating her slaying.
Papers filed in Spotsylvania County Circuit Court show that investigators are looking for Karl Michael Roush, a 43-year-old self-employed painter with a lengthy criminal record of theft and driving convictions.
Roush lived several houses down and across the street from Sofia in Oak Grove Terrace sometime this year, but he has since moved.
Sofia, a Courtland High School student, was found dead Oct. 14 just off State Route 3 in the Sealston area of King George County. Her body had been wrapped in cloth and tied with rope.
She had been missing since Sept. 9, when she disappeared from her home on Bounds Street. Police still have not said how she was killed.
Police have been unable to find Roush since obtaining search warrants last week and believe he has left the area. His last known address was on Mine Road in Spotsylvania.
Police say they have more than one suspect, but the limited information on the search warrants indicates that Roush is one of them.
Among other things, police have obtained permission to draw blood from Roush and to remove hairs from his head and pubic area.
Police would not say what led them to suspect that there is a connection between Roush and the teen-ager. The affidavits outlining the reasons for the search warrants obtained in connection with Roush have been sealed at the request of Commonwealth's Attorney William Neely.
Roush was spotted in the area as recently as last week driving a 1984 Dodge Caravan, police said. Police broadcast a lookout for the vehicle last Friday.
Interest in Roush apparently developed sometime in the past two weeks.
Roush was arrested in Spotsylvania on a shoplifting charge Oct. 21, a week after Sofia's body was found.
He was released on a $3,500 bond from the Rappahannock Regional Jail on Nov. 6, one week before the search warrants were filed.
Maj. Howard Smith of the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office would not comment on investigators' interest in Roush, other than to say, "He is not a suspect. He's a witness that we want to talk to."
A special regional grand jury met last week, the day before the search warrants for Roush were obtained, to begin gathering testimony under oath from witnesses in the case.
This is one of the first area investigations not centered on drugs in which the multijurisdictional grand jury has been used. The proceedings are held in private.
The Spotsylvania and King George sheriff's offices have six investigators working on the case full time. The FBI and state police also are assisting.
Roush's ex-wife, who lives in Spotsylvania, said she didn't know where he is and didn't want to talk about him. Residents at some of the homes where Roush has lived said they hadn't heard from him recently.
Roush was supposed to be in Spotsylvania General District Court on Nov. 14 in connection with the shoplifting charge, but he didn't show up.
Roush was charged with felony shoplifting for allegedly stealing a videocassette recorder from Kmart on Plank Road.
He also is scheduled to be in Fredericksburg Circuit Court Monday to answer a charge that he has violated his probation.
According to court papers, Roush's criminal record is dominated by theft and felony driving convictions.
He has been convicted of theft-related charges in Norfolk, Towson, Md., and Elizabeth City, N.C., since 1978.
Roush also has a number of serious driving offenses, including five felony convictions for driving after having been declared a habitual offender. All of those occurred in the Tidewater area.
He was convicted in Fredericksburg last December for attempted possession of cocaine.
Court records show that Roush moved to the Fredericksburg area in December 1994 from Virginia Beach. He has had at least five different addresses since then.
Roush is a high school graduate and received an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps in 1973. He has an 8-year-old child.
Court records indicate that he has also gone by other names in the past, such as Michael Roush, John Michael Roush and John M. Rossi.
Roush is white, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 150 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. Authorities ask that anyone with information about his whereabouts contact police.
