Sylvia Likens' missing sister found in California

The older sister of Sylvia Likens, a 16-year-old Indianapolis girl who was tortured and murdered in 1965, was found Sunday after going missing for two weeks, authorities said.

Dianna Bedwell, 67, was found in serious condition in a vehicle stranded along a dirt road, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. The vehicle was discovered Sunday afternoon by "an off-road enthusiast traveling in a very remote area of northeastern San Diego County," according to a news release.

Bedwell was taken to a local hospital for treatment. A male occupant in the car, whose identity has not been confirmed, had died, the news release said.

Bedwell and her husband, Cecil Knutson, 79, Anaheim, Calif., disappeared May 10 after visiting Valley View Casino in Southern California. They were supposed to head to their son's home in Riverside County later that afternoon for Mother's Day but never showed up, police said.

Authorities said a preliminary investigation indicates that the couple got lost trying to find a shortcut.

On a family Facebook page, Bedwell's stepdaughter posted Sunday night, "It is them.... Rest in Peace Dad." She wrote that she was able to speak with her mother on the phone, and they told each other, "I love you."

Bedwell is the older sister of Likens, whose torture and slaying captured the sympathy of the public in the decades after the horrific crime, Bedwell's stepdaughter told The Indianapolis Star.

Likens was killed in October 1965 after repeated abuse at the hands of her caretaker, Gertrude Baniszewski, some of Baniszewski's children and other neighborhood children.

Likens' father, impoverished and traveling to make a meager living for his family, had placed the girl and her sister, Jenny, in the care of Baniszewski.

Bedwell, the older sister, was 18 at the time and married to her first husband. But the pain of what happened to Likens has plagued her all her life, her stepdaughter said.

Star reporter Madeline Buckley contributed to this story.

Call Star reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.