Police Thursday said they would start searching a remote area of Central Oregon for a missing McMinnville couple whose motorhome was abandoned about a year ago.

The abandoned motorhome was yet another baffling twist in the mystery unraveling about the couple and a man they had befriended who police say later shot at an officer and then killed himself.

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Police said that man, Gregory "Groundhog" Cole, was found dead a few days after he fired at and wounded an Arizona officer. But police still do not know the whereabouts of Kenneth Miller, 73, and Betty Lou Japel, 69, of McMinnville.

 Background: More on Gregory "Groundhog" Cole

Police believe Miller and Japel may be the victims of foul play and the search for clues spreads across several states. Some of those clues were inside the couple's motorhome that was found by authorities on BLM land in Redmond, Ore. a year ago but only recently discovered by police.

"OSP [Oregon State Police] detectives searched the motor home and found inforrmation confirming Cole's association with the missing couple," Lt. Gregg Hastings with OSP said Thursday. "A search of a large area to find any sign of the missing couple is anticipated while the investigation continues."

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This motorhome was found on BLM land in Redmond, Ore. between May and July of 2006, police said.

Family members told police that they had not heard from the McMinnville couple for about a year, but it was not unusual for them to go many months without talking to them.

Hastings explained that officials with the Bureau of Land Management tried to contact Japel and Miller after their motorhome turned up, as well as family members. But they could not reach anyone. So they took the motorhome to a secure holding facility to ensure it wouldn't get vandallized.

The trail ended there and the motorhome collected dust for almost a full year until a shooting involving Cole last weekend launched the couple onto police radar.

Cole fired at an Arizona police officer and then fled. Investigators who found and searched Cole's motorhome said its license plates were registered to Japel and Miller. Police later learned the plates had been taken off the couple's pickup truck which was found abandoned in Montana.

Around the same time police reported finding the pickup, they released photos that appeared to show the couple camping or socializing with Cole. However investigators have not said if the photos had a date stamp on them or exactly where they were found.

Cole escaped after the shooting but police found him dead on Wednesday alongside an Arizona highway. Investigators believe Cole killed himself.