Divers from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office returned to the scene of some shallow percolation ponds in north Morgan Hill as part of their ongoing search for missing teen Sierra LaMar.
The divers and detectives arrived at the ponds, just east of the intersection of Monterey Highway and Ogier Avenue, the day after the sheriff’s office announced the county crime lab had finished processing some evidence found in the case which led to new clues.
Authorities declined to say what that evidence or those clues were. Investigators have acknowledged finding Sierra’s cell phone, as well as her purse with some of her clothing inside. The items were found the weekend following her initial disappearance March 16, within a couple miles northwest of Sierra’s home near Palm and Dougherty avenues.
This afternoon, the dive team returned to the ponds to wade and walk around, and use side-scanning sonar equipment to detect items or evidence on the bottom of the ponds where possible, according to diver Peter Robinson.
Many areas of the ponds are only a couple feet deep, and Robinson said in such areas it is easier for divers or boat operators to see with the naked eye or even just wade out into the water to look for anything unusual or useful.
Divers and residents of the nearby Parkway Lakes RV Park, which abuts the mostly unkempt open space surrounding the ponds and Coyote Creek, said there are about 10 percolation ponds in that area.
In the areas where investigators were able to use sonar equipment, they could view them on computers in a sheriff’s motorhome that was parked near the lakes, Robinson said.
Sgt. Jose Cardoza said Monday that investigators at the county crime lab returned the results of forensic tests conducted on some of the evidence so far. The results provided authorities with “additional leads,” though Cardoza declined to specify what those leads are and what evidence had been processed.
Authorities also announced Monday that they would be returning to some South County reservoirs and small waterways to conduct an “expanded search” of the areas.
The sheriff’s office and assisting agencies have devoted more than 8,900 personnel hours to the investigation of Sierra’s disappearance, and have investigated more than 1,400 tips.
Sierra LaMar is about 5-feet, 2-inches tall with a thin build and dark hair.
For more information on the Sierra LaMar Search Center, call 201-6364.
Anyone with information on the case can contact Santa Clara County Communications at 299-2311, or e-mail ti**@sh*****.org. Callers can call Sheriff’s Investigators at 808-4500 or the anonymous tip line at 808-4431. Information or tips can also be sent via sccgov.org/portal/site/sheriff or by text at 421-6760.
