HOLLISTER
– The Santos family’s worst nightmare has come true.
By JED LOGAN and
LINDA LEE KING
Staff Writers
HOLLISTER – The Santos family’s worst nightmare has come true.
Though investigators are waiting for a positive identification from an autopsy scheduled for this morning, police believe the body discovered in Hollister Thursday on a remote patch of farmland is that of Ralph Santos, 73.
Gilroy police were holding three people for questioning in the case, officials said Thursday, but they have since been released.
The body was found by chance along a stretch of an unpaved farming pass about 400 yards north of Buena Vista Road at approximately 10:30 a.m. Thursday by workers using the road on their way to check an agricultural well, police said.
The workers called 911 and notified the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department about the discovery.
Within minutes, Sheriff’s deputies and police officers had the area blocked off and started an investigation of the scene.
“Based on some preliminary work here at the scene, what we’ve determined is that there are a number of similarities between the deceased person here and the missing person’s case that the city of Hollister has,” county Sheriff Curtis Hill said.
Hill also said the police department and his office will work together on the case.
“Prior to this body being located, (Hollister) Police Chief Todd has put together a task force of his office, the Sheriff’s Office and another law enforcement agency in the area to investigate this,” Hill said. “My office will be primarily working the coroner’s side of it.”
Hill declined to discuss the length of time the body may have been at the scene. He also refused to discuss possibilities of foul play.
Investigators said the cause of death has not been determined.
The task force is made up of investigators from the Hollister Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, the Gilroy Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The HPD had called in the FBI on Wednesday as part of the plan to assemble a multi-agency task force. The creation of the task force was the result of the HPD turning up the focus in the search for Santos.
The FBI agents arrived in Hollister at about 8:30 a.m., just two hours before the body was discovered. The FBI had one of its forensic teams handling the scene a short time later.
“We have always pursued this case very aggressively,” said Hollister Police Chief Larry Todd.
The Santos family isn’t so sure.
The family had been frustrated and angry with police, claiming law enforcement officials were not working hard enough to locate Santos.
“Unbelievable,” Ralph Santos Jr. shouted at officers when he heard the news that the body found was probably his father’s. “I cannot believe this. We told you he wasn’t a missing person, that he was abducted.
“The police department gave us no support. They didn’t think we were credible. They said we were exaggerating and we were crazy and disorganized.”
Despite those comments, Todd said the department never stopped searching for Santos.
“This individual has been reported as a high-risk missing partially because it was totally out of character for him to not return home, not go to a graduation for family members and not to participate in the church that he belongs to,” Todd said.
Since Santos’ disappearance was made public, police received many calls, and investigators have been following up on those leads, he said.
“In the meantime, this joint task force is expanding our investigation into a full-scale homicide investigation,” Todd said. “In particular we are interested in locating a 2002 Kia Optima, red in color, with license plate number 5BBT748.”
The Kia reportedly belongs to Santos and was the last place he was seen alive on the evening of June 10 at about 11 p.m. He was reportedly in the company of an unidentified Hispanic male and a heavy-set blonde woman.
“In conjunction with this investigation, we have detained three individuals in the City of Gilroy and we have investigators at the Gilroy Police Department at this time interviewing them in an effort to see if they are involved in this case in any way,” Todd said Thursday afternoon.
Two of the individuals detained by the GPD match the description of the two people last seen with Santos.
“They were detained, not arrested,” Todd said.
The names of the three persons detained for questioning were not released, but they are reportedly in their 40s or 50s. The three voluntarily agreed to be interviewed by members of the task force.
Following the interviews, officials determined no evidence linked them to the Santos case, and they were released, Hollister police said Thursday night.
Todd said even with a task force of investigators, the body believed to be Santos still may have gone undiscovered if not for several fortunate events.
“But for these individuals going out into that field, it could have been months or years that the body would have gone undiscovered,” Todd said. “The body was in a very remote area.”
Now the family must deal with the pain of knowing the man they called “Pops” will not be coming home.
Ron Santos said his father taught the family to trust in God and that family is the center of focus.
“We even pray together,” he said.
Within an hour, more than 20 family members arrived, and one great-grandchildren asked, “Why is everybody crying?”
Santos Jr. held the child as he explained, “Pops is dead and we will never see him anymore,” Santos Jr. said.
