Divers returned to South County ponds and reservoirs in the ongoing search for Sierra LaMar this week, this time with sonar technology that can detect items far below the surface without requiring constant or prolonged diving, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office and other agencies have logged more than 10,000 personnel hours so far in the search for Sierra, 15, who police say was kidnapped while walking to her school bus stop in rural north Morgan Hill March 16.
“Our investigation is still focused on locating her alive, because we don’t have any information otherwise,” Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Cardoza said. “We’re still doing a lot of investigative efforts. We continue to follow up on leads, and continue to do searches.”
One area the dive team returned to this week was a remote open space area along Coyote Creek, near Monterey Road and Ogier Avenue, where there are about 10 groundwater percolation ponds.
The dive team’s search of the ponds is unrelated to a suspicious garment that some nearby residents reported via the Sierra tip line a couple weeks ago, Cardoza said.
Helen Robison, a resident of the Parkway Lakes RV Park, which abuts the creek and forests surrounding the ponds, found a size “small” sweatshirt with a Nike logo and what appeared to be blood stains on the front.
She and her son found the sweatshirt in some overgrown grass a few feet from a dirt service road that swerves through the uninhabited open space. The garment was discolored or faded in places, with dark red or burgundy spots across the front.
Robison said she called the sheriff’s tip line as soon as they found the sweatshirt, and a deputy arrived a couple hours later to pick up the possible evidence.
Cardoza could not confirm if the sheriff’s office picked up the sweatshirt, but even if detectives collected the clothing it is probably not related to the investigation.
“There were a number of clothing items that volunteer searches have found that had blood on them” in various areas, Cardoza said. “None of the ones I know of were collected. They might have been looked at by investigators, but were not collected. It’s not something significant, if it was collected.”
Robison added that the same day she found the sweatshirt, in the same rural area she found a pair of discarded girls’ flip-flops. She reported those, but the deputy did not collect them because they had already been seen and examined in previous searches, but were found by investigators to be unrelated to the case, Robison said.
So far the only evidence reportedly found by investigators is Sierra’s cell phone, her purse and some of her clothing. Those items were found in separate spots off the side of the road within two miles of Sierra’s home near Palm and Dougherty avenues.
Detectives also sent a cardboard box marked “stainless steel handcuffs” and two used condoms, found at the west end of Palm Avenue, to the county crime lab for analysis because they were found so close to the teen’s home.
Earlier this week the sheriff’s office reported the crime lab had returned results of forensic examinations of some of the evidence, but they declined to specify which items were analyzed and what the results were.
Diver Peter Robinson, who was among those searching the ponds at Monterey Road and Ogier Avenue Tuesday, said many areas of the ponds are only a couple feet deep, and 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.
On Thursday the dive team was at Calero Reservoir with the sonar equipment, Cardoza said.
As of Thursday there were no plans to return to any other lakes or waterways, or to expand the search to Anderson Reservoir – the largest in the county, he added.
The sheriff’s office will be joined by detectives from San Mateo, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Marin counties for another intensive search-and-rescue effort Saturday, Cardoza said. About 90 personnel, some with “special high-angle rough terrain skills,” plus detection K-9s, will participate in the search, which will cover areas in Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy, Cardoza said. The sheriff’s off-road enforcement unit and California Highway Patrol will also participate.
Authorities were frustrated Wednesday when an apparent hacker posted a “tweet” under Sierra’s name on her Twitter account. The post appeared to be written by Sierra, but detectives were easily able to determine the teen did not post it, and it is unlikely that Sierra’s kidnapper was responsible, Cardoza said.
The sheriff’s office might pursue criminal charges against the impostor, as it is a misdemeanor to access a person’s social media account without their permission and impersonate them, Cardoza said.
He added that investigating such incidents takes away resources from the search for Sierra.
“We don’t want to give free publicity to these people, but with a case like this that’s receiving so much attention, we have to deal with it,” Cardoza said. “Our main objective is to locate Sierra.”
The KlaasKids Foundation continues to organize volunteer search efforts. The next volunteer searches are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. both days. Those interested can show up with photo ID to Burnett Elementary School, 85 Tilton Ave. 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.
