FORMER TWENTYNINE PALMS MARINE ARRESTED FOR 2004 YUCCA VALLEY MURDER

A former Twentynine Palms Marine has been arrested In Michigan for the 2004 killing of his wife in Yucca Valley. Detectives from Michigan and California arrested 41-year-old Charles Leppan in connection with the disappearance of his ex-wife. On May 12, 2004 a man walking his dog in the desert on the outskirts of Twentynine Palms discovered the skeletal remains of 33-year-old Jean Lizette Leppan buried in the desert. Charles Leppan, at the time a 31-year-old sergeant in the U.S. Marines stationed at the Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, was the last person known to have seen his ex-wife at their shared Yucca Valley home in January of 2004. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies initially arrested Charles Leppan, who never reported Jean Leppan missing and remarried two weeks after her disappearance, but he was released when the District Attorney’s office said they were not prepared to proceed with their case. Authorities say Leppan was taken into custody outside his home in Brandon Township, Michigan, Sunday by San Bernardino County detectives with a homicide warrant for his arrest. He is in jail pending an extradition hearing.