Children Find Girl's Remains

COLVILLE, Stevens County - Skeletal remains found in a wooded area outside town are those of a 12-year-old girl who has been missing for more than a year, Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer says.

An investigation was under way in the death of Julie Harris, Thayer said yesterday. There are no suspects.

Children playing along a rural road found the unburied remains Saturday, Thayer said. A check of dental records confirmed the identification.

Harris disappeared March 2, 1996, from her Colville home and was reported as a runaway the following day. The girl, a double-amputee, got around on her own with prosthetic feet.

The feet were found last April near the confluence of the Colville and Columbia rivers.

Sheri Harris said her daughter's bedroom was full of Special Olympics medals and trophies, including a gold medal for downhill

skiing.