The daughter of a Hemet woman who went missing a week ago and whose traveling companion was found dead on the Soboba Indian Reservation said Monday she fears her mother was a witness to murder and suffered dire consequences.

Kathleen Ann Haney, 56, was last seen on the night of Jan. 22, when she drove her daughter’s friend, 27-year-old Kyle Nathan Cagey of Pala, to the Soboba Casino.

Haney’s van was discovered the following day, burning on the reservation. Cagey’s remains were found a day later in a riverbed east of Castille Canyon. He had been murdered, though Riverside County sheriff’s officials declined to disclose how.

“I think my mother was collateral damage because she was a witness to whatever happened to him,” Michelle Haney told KABC7. “My mother would have never given a ride to someone if she knew they were dangerous.”

Sheriff’s Sgt. Walter Mendez said last week Kathleen Haney was considered a “missing at-risk person,” and that detectives had turned up no clues regarding her whereabouts.

Michelle Haney said Cagey and her mother had gone to the casino so that he could obtain money from a relative, but that person was apparently a no- show.

According to Michelle Haney, investigators have assured her they’re following up leads, but they’re no longer looking for her mother on the reservation.

“I don’t understand why,” she said.

Anyone with information on Kathleen Ann Haney’s whereabouts was asked to contact the sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit at (951) 393-3529.

–City News Service

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