With more than 7,500 personnel hours devoted to the nearly month-long search for missing Morgan Hill teen Sierra LaMar, authorities are saying they haven’t started thinking about how much the investigation might cost in terms of tax dollars.
Even making an estimate of the cost so far would require complicated number-crunching that Santa Clara County hasn’t devoted resources to yet, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Cardoza.
The scores of detectives and deputies working on the case since March 16, the day Sierra, 15, was reported missing, are not only local personnel, but they are assisting the county from other agencies including San Mateo County and the FBI, Cardoza explained.
When those other agencies help out with the search for Sierra and any other case through “mutual aid agreements,” those other agencies pick up those personnel costs without billing the county, Cardoza said.
But whatever the costs are so far, “It’s not going to prevent anything they’re doing” to investigate the case, said Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who represents the South County district.
“I’ve seen all the organizations and agencies (working on the search) and they’re all working together, and nobody’s talking about dollars,” Wasserman said. “I don’t think in this kind of instance, that things will be curtailed because of cost. People will find a way to do all that’s necessary to find a resolution.”
Morgan Hill police have assisted in the search, by helping to investigate some of the more than 1,200 leads and tips the sheriff’s office has received – “from suspicious people, to probation and parole searches,” according to Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Troy Hoefling.
Complicating any cost assessments is that the law enforcement personnel investigating the case are on “so many different pay grades,” due to seniority, ranks and job titles, Cardoza added. He said the area of the sheriff’s office that is “most impacted” is the detective division, where key responsibilities for missing persons resides.
The hours spent searching for Sierra so far include a combination of “straight time and overtime,” Cardoza said. A regular hour for a Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy costs the taxpayers about $35 to $42, depending on seniority, according to the county’s website. The pay for a sheriff’s sergeant, a higher rank than a deputy, is $40 to $49 per hour and the pay for a lieutenant is about $48 to $58 per hour.
The minimum wage amount spent on 7,500 personnel hours, not including overtime, would be about $262,500, if all those working on the case were newly hired Santa Clara County deputies.
Those numbers don’t include benefits, or additional costs for overhead and supplies which pile up in intensive ongoing investigations. The search for Sierra has included the use of dozens of patrol vehicles, forensic testing supplies, the dive team which includes boats and sonar equipment, search dogs, off-road vehicles and other equipment.
The sheriff’s office employs about 1,430 sworn personnel, and has a total annual budget of about $299 million. The population of its service area, which includes the cities of Cupertino, Los Altos Hills and Saratoga, is about 197,000.
Whatever the cost thus far, Cardoza said the search has not taken away from other tasks the sheriff’s office is responsible for.
“We still maintain our patrol functions. This has not impacted our patrol and enforcement duties. We still respond to 911 calls, and we maintain our service levels we had prior to” Sierra’s disappearance,” Cardoza said.
The founder of the KlaasKids Foundation, a nationwide nonprofit that provides search services to the families of missing children, said the cost to conduct such searches is the last thing he thinks about.
“That’s never been a factor,” said Marc Klaas. The foundation has been in Morgan Hill searching for Sierra LaMar since March 20. Their daily costs are minimal compared to the sheriff’s since they have solicited thousands of volunteers to conduct the searches.
Plus, Klaas noted, efforts rely significantly on donations such as the school district’s donation of the closed Burnett Elementary School for use as a temporary volunteer search headquarters, a $12,000 donation from Intero Realty, plus countless smaller donations of supplies such as food and bottled water from individuals, clubs and businesses.
Klaas said the most immediate financial impact is often felt by the families of the missing persons, who often take time off work to search for their loved ones.
“They suffer in many ways resulting from this kind of thing,” Klaas said. “Sometimes people even lose their jobs because of these things.”
– Sierra’s family has set up a new website devoted to the 15-year-old cheerleader. The website includes information about Sierra, details about how people can help, updates on the investigation efforts, printable flyers and contact information for the Sheriff’s Office and KlaasKids Foundation. The website can be found at findsierralamar.com
– The KlaasKids Foundation has organized two more volunteer search efforts this weekend. Those interested can show up at the foundation’s search center, Burnett Elementary School, 85 Tilton Ave., from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
– Morgan Hill’s faith-based communities have invited the public, as well as any pastors and youth pastors, to a community prayer meeting at Burnett Elementary. The prayer will start at 9 a.m. and last until shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday For more information contact volunteer Dori Prado, at 390-9012.
