Body of Valley woman missing since 2006 found in N. Arizona

CHANDLER, AZ - An East Valley family has a new reason to be concerned about the possibility a serial killer or killers could be preying on women along Interstate 40 in Northern Arizona.

Tina Preston believes a serial killer took the life of her daughter, Patty Peterson, back in 2006.

"It was just really shocking that was my sister," said Patty's younger sister Shasta.

A box filled with cremated remains is all the family has left of Patty .

A mother of two and just 24 at the time, her body was found last year -- but her remains were just identified.

She had been missing since 2006.

"I've always beat myself up because I didn't think that I looked hard enough for her," Preston said. "But when I thought about looking for her, I didn't know where to start."

A hiker found Patty's body in the small town of Lupton, on the Navajo Indian Reservation just four miles into Arizona, near the New Mexico Border.

"Once you see the body it becomes a reality," Shasta said. "It's really hard to believe that people do it and they do it all the time. It's sad."

Patty vanished from a truck stop along I-40 about 80 miles east of the Arizona border.

After going through some tough times with drug use, Patty's family says she was on her way back to the Valley after spending time with a relative in Indiana.

The last time anyone saw her she was trying to get a ride home with two female truckers.

"My gut says the female truckers know something," Shasta said.

The family has theories on what happened to Patty and they say so does the FBI which is getting ready to take over the investigation.

A spokesperson for the FBI wouldn't comment on the case.

But Preston says they have been following a trail of bodies along I-40 where they've been finding human remains of young women.

"They are either prostitutes or living lifestyles that put them at risk," she said. "The FBI believes there are several active serial killers that are long haul truck drivers. There's a map of over 500 bodies that have been found along I-40."

Preston said the bodies stretch from Arizona to Oklahoma.

As hard as it is not knowing what happened to Patty, Preston says she feels some relief.

"Because I don't have to wonder where she is anymore," she said.