An autopsy confirmed that a body found earlier this week in a shallow grave southeast of Sunriver was that of 21-year-old Nicole ”Nikki” Hutchings, authorities said Friday.

The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office in Portland must run more tests to determine the cause of death, Deschutes County Chief Deputy District Attorney Darryl Nakahira said.

Hutchings disappeared from the doorstep of her family’s Bend home Nov. 1, 2004, and Bend police had been investigating the case ever since.

Earlier this week, police arrested Loren Allen Bowers, 37, and Craig Allen Whiting, 26, on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Hutchings.

The men were arraigned Tuesday for murder, aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping. The charges state they used an unspecified weapon.

The aggravated murder count alleges that the men were trying to cover up child neglect and criminal mistreatment crimes by killing Hutchings, but provided no additional information.

Bowers and Whiting provided information that helped lead investigators to the body, buried on public land near a U.S. Forest Service road. Authorities also collected evidence from a motor home where Bowers stayed, on property south of Bend, and impounded a car that police believe the men used to carry out the crime.

The men are being held at the Deschutes County jail without bail.

A grand jury is expected to hand down an indictment before the men’s next court appearance, set for Tuesday.

Prosecutors have not said whether they intend to seek the death penalty. Whiting has no criminal convictions in Oregon, but Bowers’ rap sheet includes convictions for rape, theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Hutchings’ parents, Jim and Robin, and her sister, Amanda, did not return calls for comment Friday.

In earlier interviews, they remembered ”Nikki” as a spunky tomboy who stuck up for herself, with a particular love for animals.

She lived and worked at a wolf sanctuary near Millican as she finished school at Mountain View High School in Bend, graduating in 2001. She was involved in Junior ROTC and planned to follow in her stepfather’s footsteps by joining the U.S. Marine Corps.

Before her disappearance, she had moved back in with her parents.

Police suspected foul play was involved when they found no activity connected to her credit history or Social Security number and when family members told them it was unusual that she had not contacted them.

Her shoes and purse remained behind the night she disappeared, just as she was getting ready for bed, family members said earlier.

Hutchings’ family said that, until they learned of Bowers’ and Whiting’s arrests Monday, they had always held out hope that one day, she would return home.

Memorial

A service for Nicole Hutchings will be held Friday, March 23, at Deschutes Memorial Gardens. The service is open to the public. For more information, call 382-5592. The Nicole Hutchings Memorial Fund, to help the family with burial expenses, has been established at Wells Fargo Bank.