Infant, adult bodies found on California beach

RICHMOND, Calif. -- A woman's badly decomposed body was discovered Monday on a beach in northern California, one day after an infant boy's body was found along a trail about a mile away.

Authorities investigating the disappearance of 28-year-old Laci Peterson were called to the scene, but officials said they had no evidence to believe the body is connected to the missing woman.

"All it is at this point is they had a body wash up," said Modesto Sgt. Ron Cloward, who has headed the search for Peterson. "We have no indication at this point that it has anything to do with Laci."

The woman's body had apparently washed up from San Francisco Bay and was discovered Monday morning. Modesto police arrived by helicopter in the afternoon, and the Contra Costa County medical examiner planned an autopsy Monday night.

Peterson disappeared from her Modesto home Dec. 24. She was eight months pregnant, due to give birth to a baby boy in February.

Her husband, Scott Peterson, has been questioned about her disappearance but never named a suspect.

Scott Peterson has told police he saw his wife the morning she disappeared, as she left their house to walk the dog. He said he went fishing that day at the Berkeley Marina, about three miles south of where the woman's body washed ashore.

Investigators searched the area around the Berkeley Marina in the weeks following Laci's disappearance and last month searched the area near where the woman's body was found.

On Sunday, the infant's body was found along a trail near the Richmond marina by two people walking their dog. Authorities said the baby, with its umbilical cord attached, had been dead for some time and was lying in grass near the water.