Girl, 14, found dead in Portland back yard

PORTLAND (AP) - A northeast Portland couple found the body of a 14-year-old girl in their backyard Thursday morning.

Melissa Bittler, a student at the Metropolitan Learning Center in Northwest Portland, was found about 8 a.m. when the couple walked out to the garage and saw the girl through the window, said Sgt. Brian Schmautz, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.

"They were just starting their day and looked over and saw the body," he said.

The couple called police and detectives quickly ruled the death a homicide. The girl's parents lived across the street. Police determined she had been sexually assaulted.

Investigators said they did not have a suspect and did not know whether the killer knew Bittler. Police are suggesting that parents of children in the area stay alert.

Dr. Nikolas Hartshorne, a deputy state medical examiner, conducted an autopsy Thursday afternoon but declined to release the cause of death, saying only that Bittler died of "homicidal violence."

Officers cordoned off the house as police photographed the crime scene and detectives from the Police Bureau's homicide division and sexual assault detail knocked on neighbors' doors seeking clues.

Bittler lived with her parents, Thomas J. Bittler, 45, and Mary M. Bittler, 42, and regul arly walked with her sister, a Grant High School student, to catch a bus to school. Neighbor Margaret Cook said she remembered often watching the girls walk to and from an elementary school in the area when the girls were younger.

Neighbors said until now they have generally been most concerned about thefts and car prowls. Bittler's death marked the city's 24th homicide this year.