In a near-empty courtroom here Monday, Maureen Fitzgerald Fields, New Jersey native who vanished in the desert outside her home here three years ago, was officially declared dead.

Although neither she nor her body has ever been found, a 5th District Judge Robert Lane granted a petition that she be declared dead and named her husband, Paul Fields, executor of her estate.

"It's kind of a surreal experience to answer about 15 questions and have a judge declare someone dead," said Fields' attorney, Harvey Kuehn. "I don't think it's a very often-used statute."

The move came at the request of Fields, the only individual the sheriff's department has identified as a suspect in her death. The Nye County Sheriff's Office in Nevada has recommended he be charged, but District Attorney Bob Beckett has indicated there is insufficient evidence for an arrest.

Fields, also from New Jersey, insists he is blameless in her disappearance.

Under Nevada law, the court simply needs testimony that a missing person has failed to contact those most likely to hear from her -- in this case, her husband. Fields included that in his petition and did not address the court.

In the aftermath of his wife's disappearance, Fields offered several theories as to her fate: that she'd skipped town with a lover, that she'd become despondent over health problems or an addiction to pain medication, or that she was the victim of a random crime.

Countering his ideas were reports that his wife had instructed numerous people that, if she ever disappeared, they were to "tell police Paul did it." She'd also told them she was considering a divorce.

In asking the court to declare her dead, Fields joined his wife's friends and relatives in their assumption that she had died in 2006.

Lane noted that consensus in granting Fields' petition. "No one is here in opposition, so it's perfunctory," he said.

The hearing was held in the town where the couple had moved before her disappearance. It was sparsely attended and over in a matter of minutes.

Jim Fitzgerald, of Randolph, N.J., Maureen's father, recently traveled to Pahrump to get an update on the investigation, but the district attorney declined to meet with him.

"There's always hope that things will change, but I'm not overly optimistic at this point," Fitzgerald said Monday when told of the hearing's outcome. "You'd hope either this district attorney or a new one would wake up and take a closer look and realize something terrible happened to this woman."

The court set the date of her death as Feb. 15, 2006 -- the first day she failed to show up at the local Wells Fargo Bank branch, where she worked as a teller. Her husband told police he talked to his wife briefly that morning before she left for work.

However, authorities say the last time anyone else saw her alive was in the bank's video footage from the previous afternoon.

Her car was found Feb. 16, stuck in a shallow desert wash off the Chicago Valley Road in California. The keys were still in the ignition, and her purse, money, credit cards, slippers, eyeglasses and medication were in the vehicle.

A selection of religious pamphlets was fanned out, seemingly in display, along with an empty bottle of Xanax anti-anxiety pills, which led police to conclude they'd encountered a suicide. But when a search of the surrounding desert failed to turn up a body after several days, they decided to consider foul play.

Those suspicions were deepened when lab reports revealed a blanket found next to the car was stained with a spot of her blood on it, and the pill bottle had no fingerprints on it.

Authorities were skeptical she had run off with someone else because she left behind her credit cards, never made use of her health insurance, never refilled any of her prescriptions and never contacted any friends or family in any manner.

In addition, her beloved pit bull remained at home when she went missing.

Monday's court ruling does not change the status of the police investigation, said Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo, another New Jersey expatriate.

The case remains open, and Fields is the department's only suspect, he said Monday.

Maureen Fields was 41 at the date set by the court for her death. She is survived by her husband; her father; her mother, Barbara Fitzgerald of North Arlington, N.J.; a sister, Kathleen Errico, of North Arlington, N.J.; a brother, James J. Fitzgerald, of North Arlington, N.J.; three nephews and two nieces.