AUBURN, Calif -- A hair found in the car of an Auburn man matched the DNA of a missing woman, prompting authorities to reclassify the disappearance of Christie Wilson as a homicide.

Mario Flavio Garcia, 53, had been referred to as a "person of interest" by Placer County sheriff's investigators but was named a suspect in the case this week.

Wilson, 27, was last seen Oct. 5 when video monitors at the Thunder Valley casino near Roseville showed her leaving with Garcia. Garcia has not been charged in the woman's disappearance but has been in Placer County jail in Auburn since Oct. 14 on unrelated weapons charges. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

At a hearing Monday, a judge refused to lower Garcia's $1 million bail.

Garcia's lawyers said the sheriff's department and district attorney's office have offered no evidence directly tying Garcia to Wilson's disappearance.

"There is nothing justifying a possible abduction or potential murder to driving up the bail in (the weapons) case," attorney David Dratman said.

Deputy District Attorney Garen Horst said Garcia is a potential flight risk if released. He has a history of violence and faces a mandatory prison sentence if found guilty of illegal of the weapons charge, Horst said.

Judge J. Richard Couzens said the bail was appropriate.

"If there was anything I was looking for, it was this -- to keep (Garcia) behind bars," Wilson's mother, Debbie Boyd, said after the hearing.

State forensics experts are analyzing other trace evidence from Garcia's car and home, sheriff's Lt. George Malim said.

Wilson's car sat in the casino parking lot for two days before it was discovered by her boyfriend, who had come to look for her, Malim said. Searches in fields surrounding the casino have not yielded any clues.