Suspect in wife's disapperance out of hospital, into Reno jail

RENO -- A Reno man accused of abandoning his stepson at a Utah store and suspected in the disappearance of his wife was released from a psychiatric hospital Thursday and jailed without bail on a previous domestic violence charge.

Lyle Montgomery, 42, was booked into the Washoe County Jail as authorities continued their investigation into the "suspicious disappearance" of Jeannette Corpuz, Reno Police Lt. Ron Holladay said.

Corpuz, who also goes by the name Jeannette Acord, has not been heard from since Jan. 21.

Police fear she has been killed. But there are no immediate plans to charge Montgomery with her death, Holladay said.

"I can't tell you when or if that is going to happen," he said Thursday.

Montgomery, a pharmacy manager at a KMart in Reno, is accused of abandoning Corpuz' 3-year-old son in a Salt Lake City store on Jan. 25. The child, Jonathan Corpuz, is now with his father in California.

Police served a search warrant at the Reno home of Montgomery and Corpuz after a deputy district attorney in Reno recognized Montgomery on a security videotape at the Shopko in Utah.

A police search of Montgomery's home, car and storage shed turned up a stockpile of guns, knives and ammunition, according to new court documents. The search also found blood stains in the home.

Preliminary DNA tests have matched the blood to Corpuz, 28.

Based on their investigation, police believe she "has been injured, killed, restrained, or otherwise harmed," court records show.

Montgomery was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital after police served the warrant and found him unconscious on the floor of his condominium Jan. 29. An examination by a physician determined he was suicidal, according to court records.

Police filed the domestic violence charge against Montgomery Oct. 26 after he allegedly threatened Corpuz at their home. He had been scheduled to appear in Washoe County District Court on that charge the day he was ordered into psychiatric care. He also faces a child abandonment charge in Utah.