Nearly one year after Sierra LaMar vanished from her north Morgan Hill home at the age of 15, sheriff’s investigators still follow up on occasional leads and flyers depicting the missing cheerleader’s vital information. Desperate pleads for information on her whereabouts remain on display throughout town, and a suspect believed to have killed the young woman remains in jail.
A core group of volunteers – about 40 – continue to report to the Sierra Search Center at Burnett Elementary School every Saturday to search for any sign of what happened to the missing Sobrato High School freshman. A $35,000 reward for information leading to Sierra’s whereabouts – offered by her parents – remains on the table.
Saturday, March 16 marks the one-year anniversary of Sierra’s disappearance, a somber milestone for her parents.
“We were hoping that day wouldn’t happen, but it is,” said Sierra’s father, Steve LaMar, 50 of Fremont. “The thing that got us through so far is the community that’s come out and volunteered, and the friends and family that have supported us.”
This Saturday, Sierra’s parents, family, friends and volunteers are planning a 9 a.m. balloon release and press conference to commemorate the unfortunate milestone Saturday morning at the former elementary school campus, located at 85 Tilton Ave. in Morgan Hill. The volunteers will also conduct a search for Sierra, as they have done at least once a week for almost a year.
Later Saturday in Fremont – Sierra’s former community – volunteers and the KlaasKids Foundation will host a community awareness and fundraising event to support the search efforts and honor the memory of Sierra.
That event will take place 1 to 5 p.m. at Niles Hall in Fremont, 37270 Niles Blvd.
While frustration at the lack of results in the ongoing search efforts overcomes the volunteers at times, the searchers who remain are committed to providing help and support to Sierra’s heartbroken family.
“It takes your breath away,” volunteer Debbie Nunes, 53, said of her reaction sometimes when she is reminded of Sierra’s disappearance, as when she recently saw two large posters of Sierra that remain posted on the walls inside Sobrato High School.
“You do get a little discouraged, and people have stopped searching but there’s still a few that remain strong that will see the family through this effort. It’s been one year too long,” said Nunes, who has been a regular participant in organized search efforts since late March 2012.
Sierra moved to Morgan Hill from Fremont with her mother Marlene LaMar about six months before her disappearance. She attended Washington High School before moving. The missing teen was a cheerleader at the school, and also continued cheering with the San Jose Black Diamond Elite club team after her move to Morgan Hill.
Investigators from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office say Sierra was kidnapped early in the morning of March 16, 2012, just outside her home near the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues while walking to her normal school bus stop about a half-mile away.
For weeks following Sierra’s disappearance, police officers and sheriff’s detectives from area jurisdictions scoured the hills and valley surrounding her home in search of any sign of where she went. Within the first few days, police found some of her belongings – her mobile phone and a bag that belonged to her, containing some of her clothing – on roadsides near her home, but have not reported finding anymore of her possessions.
The only other evidence reportedly found by investigators is DNA linking Sierra to Antolin Garcia Torres, 21 of Morgan Hill, who sits in Santa Clara County Jail on the charge of murder, with the special circumstance of kidnapping, in relation to Sierra’s disappearance. Garcia Torres was arrested for the crime May 21.
Active law enforcement involvement – as well as tips received that used to flow into the sheriff’s office – have dropped off in the last eight months or so. In early May 2012, investigators reportedly received more than 2,000 tips related to the case from concerned citizens.
For the year of her disappearance, the total number of tips received by the sheriff’s office is about 2,700, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Cardoza. Examples of tips include reported sightings and suggested areas where investigators should search. Tips have been received from across the country, from New Jersey to Texas.
Detectives follow up on each tip they receive, Cardoza said.
Volunteers organized by Sierra’s parents and the KlaasKids Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to finding missing children which has been involved in the search for Sierra since the beginning, have continued the search in a sustained effort. But the volunteer searchers’ numbers have dropped off significantly one year later.
Cecilia Ponzini, 61 of Morgan Hill, is another volunteer who has helped with the search for Sierra since it started nearly a year ago. Her devotion to the search and to Sierra’s parents – who she did not know before the teen went missing – stems from her own loss of a son at the age of 29 to a heart attack.
“I thought (Sierra) would be found quickly,” said Ponzini, who has helped register volunteers, organize provisions in the search center’s kitchen and raise money for the efforts. “She should be home already. Or at least (Sierra’s parents) should know where she’s at. It’s different when you watch your child get buried. Not knowing (where Sierra is) is what drives me to go back.”
Marc Klaas, founder of KlaasKids Foundation, didn’t think the search for Sierra would last a year either.
But he added that of the hundreds of searches for missing children Klaas has been involved in, the search for Sierra has been “the largest sustained search on a weekly basis” that the nonprofit foundation has been part of.
Klaas started the foundation shortly after his daughter, Polly Klaas, was kidnapped at the age of 12 from her Petaluma home in 1993 and murdered.
“They wake up every morning, and they don’t know where Sierra is,” Klaas said of Sierra’s parents. “How horrible is that. That’s the worst possible scenario you can imagine: The fear of the unknown, that she’s dead or being tortured.”
Klaas added another unique aspect of the search for Sierra is the continued outpouring of support from the community.
For Saturday’s fundraiser in Fremont, a number of area businesses donated items to be raffled off, including Safeway, Nob Hill, Fortino Winery, Cinnabar Hills golf course, Coyote Creek golf course and Guglielmo Winery, Nunes said.
“It’s amazing the community still comes together to support and hold up this family that’s going through this tragedy,” said Nunes, who has helped in numerous aspects of the search.
Garcia Torres has not yet pleaded to the charge of killing Sierra. His next scheduled court date is April 4 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. Since his arrest, Garcia Torres has also been charged with three unrelated kidnapping attempts that occurred in the parking lots of two Safeway grocery stores in March 2009.
Anyone with information about the disappearance of Sierra LaMar can contact the sheriff’s office at (408) 299-2311, or the anonymous tip line at (408) 808-4431. Tips can also be emailed to ti**@sh*****.org
