Man Booked for Murder in Sobek Case : Crime: Deputies plan to resume search today in Angeles Forest for body of the missing model. She apparently had some previous connection to the suspect, photographer Charles Rathbun, authorities say.

A Hollywood photographer was booked Thursday on suspicion of murder in connection with the disappearance of Hermosa Beach model Linda Sobek, authorities said.

Charles E. Rathbun, 38, was being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Hermosa Beach police station, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Jones, a department spokesman.

Family and friends of the missing woman spent Thanksgiving looking for clues to her whereabouts along a scenic stretch of highway in the Angeles National Forest where items belonging to Sobek had been found earlier.

Authorities, however, conducted no searches Thursday, and planned to resume looking today at 7 a.m., beginning at the Mill Creek summit in Angeles National Forest, about 12 miles north of Big Tujunga Canyon. Deputies had searched for Sobek’s body Wednesday at undisclosed locations.

Sobek, 27, and Rathbun “apparently had some kind of connection in the past,” Jones said. A friend of the missing calendar model said he had been told that Sobek, who disappeared a week ago, had previously worked with the free-lance photographer.

Rathbun was taken into custody Wednesday after an apparent suicide attempt at his Hollywood home. Authorities said a single shot was fired during the incident, and that a woman, whose name was not released, suffered a grazing wound to her arm.

Jones said the woman, a friend of Rathbun, is a reserve deputy sheriff who was not on duty. Rathbun’s attorney was also in the home at the time of the shooting, Jones said.

Sheriff’s investigators assumed control of the case at the request of Hermosa Beach police. Detectives searched Rathbun’s home early Thursday, but authorities would not discuss any evidence that may have been recovered.

Last week, Rathbun had checked out a Lexus from the manufacturer’s fleet to be used on what was considered a routine photo shoot for Auto Week magazine, sources said. The car was checked out the same day that Sobek was reported missing, Lexus spokesman Mike Michels said. The Lexus was impounded and searched by Sheriff’s Department investigators, Michels said.

“The vehicle appears to have generated some leads,” Michels said. “It’s very unfortunate that one of our vehicles was alleged to be involved but it was a very routine request for us.”

Michels added that Rathbun’s photographs were well-known in automobile manufacturers’ circles and his work was carried in various publications. On routine photo shoots such as this, the manufacturer is not informed about where the car will be photographed, Michels said.

Sheriff’s deputies declined to comment on the search of the car.

Neighbors said Thursday that they did not know if Rathbun had a photo studio at the home he has rented for about three years. They said they didn’t see women who looked like models going in and out of the house, although some had noticed Rathbun carrying photography equipment.

“He really did keep to himself in a neighborhood where everyone knows everybody,” said neighbor George Carvajal. “Nobody really knew him. I never saw a window open.”

Dean Simpson, who lives directly across the street, said he had seen Rathbun “in the video store and the market, but he didn’t say 10 words in all the years he’s been here.”

He said he learned that Rathbun was a photographer from news reports. Simpson added that he frequently saw Rathbun carrying rifle and gun cases to his car.

“We’re really freaked about this,” Simpson said.

A new sport utility vehicle with dealer plates sat in the driveway to the home Thursday. A bumper sticker on it read: “Tread Softly on Public and Private Lands.”

On Wednesday, Sobek’s friends searched an area of Angeles Crest Highway and turned up a cosmetics case, hair curlers and a receipt from a Manhattan Beach photocopy shop, which they said belonged to the missing model.

The cosmetics case carried Sobek’s initials and the receipt was dated Nov. 16, the day she vanished after leaving her home for a modeling assignment.

Investigators said the items were found about six miles from a where a road crew worker had found photos of Sobek and her family and a schedule book page for Nov. 16 with a West Hollywood address written on it.

Sobek’s belongings were found in the same general area where the skeletal remains of a 20-year-old model, who disappeared in 1992, were found.

Kimberly Pandelios of Northridge disappeared after telling a baby-sitter that she was on her way to a modeling shoot in the Burbank-Glendale area, investigators said.

Jones said sheriff’s investigators have not “ventured into” possible connections between the two cases. “They want to find [Sobek] first and conclude this case before involving a second case,” he said.

Sobek’s white Nissan sports coupe was also found Wednesday, in the parking lot of a Torrance restaurant.

In addition to posing for glamour calendars, Sobek often modeled for muscle and fitness magazines, said a friend who would only identify herself as Denise. The two women were cheerleaders for the Los Angeles Raiders.

“She’s a fitness buff and works out a lot at Gold’s Gym in Hermosa Beach,” Denise said.

Sobek also was booked for events such as auto and trade shows, friends said. She was a Raiderette from 1989 to 1993, they said.

Sobek’s friend Denise said the model stood out among the Raiderettes. “She was on the cover of their calendar several times, and she was once Raiderette of the Year,” she said.

Rathbun is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Torrance Municipal Court.

Times staff writer Nora Zamichow contributed to this report.