Laura Garza, 25, of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Missing 12/3/08 NY (REMAINS FOUND)

[dejasade]

sad...I hope they find her body so the family has closure

[Nut44x4]

San Antonio Express-News
 
December 11, 2008 Thursday
 
Missing woman evidence mounts

BROWNSVILLE - A sex offender who is the prime suspect in last week's disappearance of a McAllen woman in New York City called a man who left a Manhattan nightclub with them saying the woman was missing and asking if police had called.

But Michael Mele's call to the police informant came eight hours before 25-year-old Laura Garza was actually reported missing, court documents show.

Police continue to gather background on Mele, a middle-class sub shop owner from upstate New York known for chasing women and driving fancy cars. As of Wednesday, he had not been charged in Garza's disappearance and his attorneys did not return a call seeking comment.

The informant went to Club Marquee with Mele on Dec. 2 and left the city with Mele and Garza at 4 a.m. on Dec. 3.

He rode in the back seat of Mele's Infiniti sport utility vehicle during the drive north to Orange County, N.Y. When he was dropped off, he saw Garza and Mele kissing and laughing.

Mele called him about 1 p.m. on Dec. 4 with the odd query about whether police had called.

"The informant says, in substance, no, why, to which Mr. Mele responds, in substance, that girl was reported missing," documents say. "Mr. Mele then stated that he had to go, and hangs up."

When the informant called Mele back, Mele said, "I can't talk to you any more about this, there are three lawyers involved, if anyone comes to talk to you about this, just tell them what you know."

Mele told the informant he had nothing to worry about. "You didn't do anything," he said.

Garza left McAllen in July in hopes of becoming a dancer in New York City and had been working at a Fifth Avenue shoe store.

Her family told detectives she usually called daily but had not called since the night she went to the Marquee. Her last cell phone call was made at 1:13 a.m. on Dec. 3.

Surveillance tapes showed she left the club with Mele.

Computer records told police Mele had a record - five misdemeanor convictions for sex crimes - and was a registered sex offender who was on probation.

Police searched Mele's apartment and found that portions of carpet had been cut away. They've also searched dumpsters, sewers and roadsides. A judge ordered photos be taken of Mele unclothed after detectives noticed an apparent bite mark on his finger and scratches on his shoulders and neck.

"We have people out running leads, we're conducting interviews, doing more background work - trying to establish a timeline of where he might have been during the one- or two-day time period in question," state police Capt. Wayne Olson said.

Olson said other women had called to report troubling encounters with Mele and were being interviewed to help police learn more about his personality and habits.

Mele runs a Quiznos sandwich shop, which Olson said had closed since Mele turned himself in, and he lived in a $1,300-a-month apartment. His father is a retired deputy chief of the Metropolitan Transit Authority police.

His SUV, a recent purchase, was in police custody.

Mele turned himself in Dec. 5 for violating probation. He remained jailed on $300,000 bond and has warrants out for him in a neighboring county for forcible touching and public lewdness. 
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:897206793&start=1

[Nut44x4]

Search for missing NYC woman moves upstate
 
Associated Press - December 11, 2008 8:35 PM ET

BLOOMINGBURG, N.Y. (AP) - The search for a missing New York City woman who was last seen with a convicted sex offender has shifted to an upstate New York village.

Teams searched areas around the Sullivan County village of Bloomingburg on Thursday. State police had earlier searched near convicted sex offender Michael Mele's Wallkill apartment in Orange County.

Authorities are concerned that snow expected Friday morning could cover up any potential physical evidence.

Mele is a "person of interest" in the disappearance of Laura Garza. The 25-year-old woman was last seen with Mele leaving a Manhattan club early Dec. 3. She was reported missing on Dec. 4.

Mele has not been charged in GarzaÂ’s disappearance. He is being held at the Orange County Jail on probation violations.
http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=9508343

Information from: The Times Herald-Record, http://www.th-record.com

[San]

Laura Garza's brothers join search for her missing body
BY MIKE JACCARINO and TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Saturday, December 13th 2008, 4:00 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/12/13/2008-12-13_laura_garzas_brothers_join_search_for_he.html


Ivan Garza (l.), his wife, Laura, and brother Nicholas help search for their missing sister.

The brothers of missing Brooklyn woman Laura Garza combed through brush in upstate New York Friday and said they had not given up hope of finding her alive.

"We feel at the bottom of our hearts she's good and she's waiting for us," Nicholas Garza said. "We're coming, we're coming for her."

The Garzas joined police and fire search teams canvassing a wooded area in Bloomingburg, about 20 miles from suspect Michael Mele's home.

Other searchers were busy in Wallkill, where Mele, 23, has a condo, and a police helicopter flew over the Middletown Quiznos shop he owns.

Mele, a serial sex offender, has been named a person of interest in the disappearance of Garza, 25, who has not been seen since she left the Manhattan club Marquee with him on Dec. 3.

He has not cooperated with police searching for the Texas transplant, and her brothers urged him to start talking.

"Tell us where you dropped her," Nicholas Garza said. "Speak up!"

The Garzas enlisted some volunteers to help them with the search, though state police said the extra help wasn't necessary and could contaminate a crime scene.

Maria Ricon, 36, who made the trip from the Bronx, said Garza's plight struck a chord with her. "It could happen to anyone," she said. "I feel their pain and wanted to help."

tconnor@nydailynews.com

[San]

'MISSING GIRL' SUSPECT A 'BRAT'
HISTORY AS HS WEIRDO

By ANGELA MONTEFINISE, MATTHEW NESTEL and BRAD HAMILTON
Last updated: 7:05 pm
December 13, 2008
Posted: 7:01 pm
December 13, 2008



The deviant past of the ex-con suspected in the disappearance of a Manhattan clubgoer dates to his high-school days - when he would make creepy prank phone calls to classmates, former friends told The Post.

Registered sex offender Michael Mele, 23, described by his old classmates as a "womanizer" and a "spoiled brat," remains the prime suspect in the disappearance of Laura Garza, a Texas transplant living in Brooklyn.

She was last seen kissing Mele, of upstate Middletown, at Chelsea hot spot Marquee on Dec. 3.

As the search for Garza continued upstate today, investigators reported finding a section of carpeting and "several other items." They refused to elaborate.

Meanwhile, several former friends said that during his junior year, Mele made a series of prank calls to them in which he would "huff and puff" and make disturbing remarks.

Cops told the victims that they had traced the calls to Mele's phone, but that he told them it had been stolen or lost, the friends said.

Police were unable to confirm the phone calls for The Post. His attorney declined to comment.

When Mele was convicted last year of a series of lewd acts at a Rockland County mall, making him a Level One sex offender, friends said he had a story to explain that away, as well.

"He told us all it was a 17 year old girl, her father was a bigshot lawyer, it was a big misunderstanding," one said. "He said he was in a 21-and-over club and she shouldn't have been there. We all believed him. He said nothing about malls."

Lexi Lawson, a singer now rehearsing for the national tour of "Rent," said she was Mele's date to his junior prom.

"We thought there was this strange stream of bad luck around him. Now, looking back, it doesn't seem that way," she said

Lawson said Mele "never crossed the line" on their date.

Mele hung out with the popular crowd at Newburgh Free Academy HS, competing on the swim team before switching to the golf team senior year.

It was a big change from his days at North Junior High School, also in Newburgh, where his chubbiness landed him the nickname "manatee," friends said.

He had a parade of women because of his nice clothes and flirty personality in high school, but never a steady girlfriend.

"He was into one-night stands," one pal said, adding that his sister was once propositioned by Mele.

After she turned him down, "in front of her, he's talking on the phone to other girls . . . and asking them to come over," the friend said.

Mele, who has not been charged in Garza's disappearance, is being held at the Orange County jail on parole violations for his earlier series of lewd acts. He has also been linked to similar acts in New Jersey.

Additional reporting by Perry Chiaramonte

angela.montefinise@nypost.com

[San]

PERV'S PAL QUIZZED IN VANISHING
WOODS NEAR HOME COMBED FOR CLUBGOER
By MATTHEW NESTEL, PERRY CHIARAMONTE and ANGELA MONTEFINISE

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12142008/news/regionalnews/manhattan/pervs_pal_quizzed_in_vanishing_144069.htm



Investigators searching for missing clubgoer Laura Garza have grilled the perverted prime suspect's girlfriend - and are combing the woods within 100 yards of her house for the body.

Lindsay Campbell, 19, has spoken with police "many times" since her boyfriend of three months, Michael Mele - a registered sex offender - became a focus in Garza's Dec. 3 disappearance, and Campbell has been "very beneficial to us," according to State Police Lt. Brian Shortall.

Campbell, flanked by her mother and her lawyer, were at a state police barracks in Middletown Wednesday - and the next day the search for Garza's body was expanded into woods near her Bloomingburg home.

About 40 investigators fanned out across a two-mile section and the search quickly paid off.

They found a piece of carpet and several other items near the shoulder along Route 17 in the vicinity of Bloomingburg, police said. Shortall wouldn't elaborate on what was found, but said, "We consider it significant."

The carpet swatch matched the one in Mele's Wallkill apartment, sources told Hudson Valley paper The Times Herald-Record.

The search was scheduled to continue at 8 a.m. today.

Campbell, a pretty college student, has refused to comment. Her lawyer, Benjamin Ostrer, could not be reached.

Her mother, Patricia Campbell, told The Post yesterday "it's true" that her daughter is cooperating with cops, and said Mele was good to the family. She declined further comment.

Shortall said Campbell was one of several people whose information led to the shifted search site.

"If he was with her a lot and knows the roads in the area, that's significant," he said.

He insisted Campbell "has not been identified as a suspect."

Campbell, a hostess at an Outback Steakhouse in Middletown, wasn't with Mele, 23, when he drove with a pal to Manhattan on Dec. 3 and hooked up with Garza, 25, at Chelsea hotspot Marquee.

Garza left with Mele in the early hours of Dec. 4. Shortall said Campbell "was with him for a significant period of time" later that day.

Mele has not been charged in Garza's disappearance. He's being held at Orange County jail on parole violations related to a series of lewd acts that involved groping women and public masturbation. His lawyer refused to comment.

Additional reporting by Brad Hamilton

matthew.nestel@nypost.com

[MuffyBee]

Carpet May Be A Clue In Case Of Missing Texas Woman

Carpet found along a suburban highway may be linked to a convicted sex offender who was the last person seen with a missing Brooklyn woman who left her home in Texas to pursue her dreams in New York City, police said.

State Police Lt. Brian Shortall said investigators combing an area near Bloomingburg have found pieces of rug that may be from Michael Mele's apartment.

The carpeting was spotted near State Route 17, about 80 miles northwest of Manhattan.

The rug will be tested to determine whether it is linked to Mele, considered a "person of interest" in the disappearance of Laura Garza, 25, who left a Manhattan nightclub with Mele early on Dec. 3.

She was last seen with him hours later near his Wallkill apartment.

Garza moved to New York from McAllen.

Mele has not been charged in her disappearance, but he is being held on $100,000 bail on a probation violation charge.

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/36133474.html

[Nut44x4]

Police Expand Search for New York City Woman Last Seen With Sex Offender
Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Police further expanded their search for a New York woman last seen in the company of a convicted sex offender and began looking near his girlfriend's apartment.

State police SUVs Tuesday swarmed Bloomingburg, Middletown, Wallkill and Wawayanda, N.Y. — areas familiar to sex offender Michael Mele — in search of clues in Laura Garza’s disappearance, according to The Times Herald-Record.

The search led one investigator to wade into a creek after a civilian reported spotting a woman’s handbag there, the paper reported. But it, along with many other leads, was a false alarm.

Mele's girlfriend lives near Bloomingburg.

Investigators last week found segments of carpet by a Middletown-area highway that is being tested for a possible link to Mele.

Garza and Mele left a Manhattan nightclub early on Dec. 3 and were last seen hours later near his apartment in Wallkill.

Mele has been deemed a “person of interest” in the 25-year-old's disappearance and is being held on a probation violation charge, according to the Herald-Record.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,468869,00.html

[klaasend]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,472145,00.html

Divers Search Icy Lake for Body of Missing New York City Woman
Tuesday , December 23, 2008

 WALLKILL, N.Y. —

Police divers with chain saws have cut holes through the ice of an upstate lake and slipped in to search for the body of a missing Brooklyn woman.

They have found only a shotgun, which state police Lt. Brian Shortall says is not related to the case of Laura Garza. Garza has been missing since leaving a Manhattan club three weeks ago with Michael Mele, now the principal suspect in her disappearance.

The 23-year-old Mele, of Wallkill, is jailed on probation violations and has not been charged in the Garza case.

The dive into frigid Echo Lake, on the border of the towns of Wawayanada and Goshen, was not based on a specific tip but on the lake's proximity to Mele's home, officials said.

Mele's apartment was also searched Tuesday

[2NJSons_Mom]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,472145,00.html

Divers Search Icy Lake for Body of Missing New York City Woman
Tuesday , December 23, 2008

 WALLKILL, N.Y. —

Police divers with chain saws have cut holes through the ice of an upstate lake and slipped in to search for the body of a missing Brooklyn woman.

They have found only a shotgun, which state police Lt. Brian Shortall says is not related to the case of Laura Garza. Garza has been missing since leaving a Manhattan club three weeks ago with Michael Mele, now the principal suspect in her disappearance.

The 23-year-old Mele, of Wallkill, is jailed on probation violations and has not been charged in the Garza case.

The dive into frigid Echo Lake, on the border of the towns of Wawayanada and Goshen, was not based on a specific tip but on the lake's proximity to Mele's home, officials said.

Mele's apartment was also searched Tuesday

Reading this was quite alarming, as there is an Echo Lake nearby here in NJ that we are familiar with.   Waywayanda is also a state park just south of Goshen, NY that is located in both NY & NJ.  It is a horrible time to be searching those types of areas, due to snow at this time of year.  It is encouraging, however, that they are widening the searches.

[Nut44x4]

With snow gone, police press ground search for Garza

December 29, 2008
Special Report: The search for Laura Garza

MIDDLETOWN -- With the disappearance of about a foot of snow, state police have resumed their ground search for clues about missing Brooklynite Laura Garza.

About 30 state troopers, some members of the state police's Special Operations Response Team, and some canine handlers, searched the westbound lanes of I-84 near the Dolson Avenue entrance ramp just outside the City of Middletown.

The search teams were moving westbound and were scouring between exits 2 and 3 earlier in the day.

State police Lt. Pierce Gallagher said the renewed search along I-84 was not "lead-related." He said that, as long as the weather holds, authorities will press on with their ground searches.

Garza was last seen with Michael Mele, a convicted sex offender from the Town of Wallkill. The two were last seen Dec. 3.

Garza's brothers Sunday night organized a candlelight vigil outside of Mele's apartment to call attention to their missing sister. She relocated from Texas about six months ago with dreams of making it big in New York City.

Mele, who's not been charged with her disappearance, remains at the Orange County Jail on probation violation charges.

In the past two weeks, police have scoured Mele's apartment, car, the grassy and woody medians and shoulders of I-84, Route 17 and areas around Bloomingburg. State police divers also explored Echo Lake.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081229/NEWS/81229020
More photos and past reports/summary at link

State police search along the westbound lanes of Interstate 84 between exits 3 and 2 on Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. The search is believed to be connected to the disappearance of Laura Garza .

[Monkey See Monkey Don't Do]

I have a question. WHY, Hasn't he been charged with her disapperance with ALL the evidence they have? 

[klaasend]

K-9 Gamma of Ramapo Search and Rescue assists State police divers search Little Falls Pond in New Windsor Tuesday morning as the search resumes for missing Laura Garza.

Police focus on pond where Mele once fished as a kid
December 30, 2008 11:17 AM
Special Report: The search for Laura Garza

NEW WINDSOR — State police, focusing on an area where Michael Mele once fished with friends as a kid, converged Tuesday morning on a pond in an old industrial area of New Windsor as part of their search for Laura Garza.

About a dozen state police divers and canine handlers, joined by New Windsor town police and the Ramapo Rescue Dog Association, are searching an area known, depending on your age, as either “Clancyville,” “Ducktown” or “Little Falls.”

The area is a mix of residential and old industrial. Ther area is dotted with a quarry, a town-owned park known as Little Falls Park and is not far from a line of warehouses and apartment complexes in the City of Newburgh.

Police believe Mele, the sex offender who last seen Dec. 3 with Garza, had some familiarity with the area since he grew up in the nearby Town of Newburgh and used to fish at the pond.

Divers are in the swampy, shallow waters of Little Falls Pond off Cherry and Bradford avenues. Divers described the waters as “very silty” and filled with sediment.

There is no ice covering the pond.

Police say they continue to get a steady stream of tips from people who think they may have spotted something useful to their investigation as well as leads from psychics volunteering their services.

The convergence at Little Falls Pond is the latest development in the search for Garza, 25, the Brooklyn woman who was last seen Mele, 23. Mele, who has not been charged with her disappearance, remains at the Orange County Jail on probation-violation charges.

On Monday, about 30 state troopers searched beside the westbound lanes of I-84 near the Dolson Avenue entrance ramp just outside Middletown.

In the past two weeks, police have scoured Mele’s apartment and car, the grassy and woody medians and shoulders of I-84, Route 17 and areas around Bloomingburg. State police divers also searched Echo Lake.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081230/NEWS/81230022/-1/NEWS67

[bleachedblack]

With bad weather pending, police press search for Garza at New Windsor pond

December 30, 2008
NEW WINDSOR — State police, focusing on an area familiar to Michael Mele from childhood, have been searching a New Windsor pond since 8:30 Tuesday morning in their efforts to find clues about what happened to Laura Garza.

Early in the afternoon, divers were examining a woman’s shoe they recovered, but investigators believe the footwear, which was practically disintegrated, had been there for some time and is unrelated to Garza’s whereabouts.

Police believe Mele, the Town of Wallkill sex offender who was last seen Dec. 3 with Garza, had some familiarity with the area since he grew up in the nearby Town of Newburgh and may have fished the pond as a boy.

The area is a mix of residential and old industrial. The area is dotted with a quarry, a town-owned park known as Little Falls Park and is not far from a line of warehouses and apartment complexes in the City of Newburgh.

Mele was one of about a dozen people at the park who were shooed away by New Windsor town police responding to a “suspicious vehicle” call at 2 a.m. on Aug. 30, 2003, according to documents obtained by the Times Herald-Record under a public records request.

The dozen people at the park were told “to move along,” according to documents.

New Windsor police recorded a total of five minor contacts with Mele since 2002, four of them for suspicious vehicle calls and one for a traffic stop. The other suspicious vehicle calls were for areas other than Little Falls Park.

Over the course of Tuesday, about a dozen state police divers and canine handlers, joined by New Windsor town police and the Ramapo Rescue Dog Association, searched an area known, depending on your age, as either “Clancyville,” “Ducktown” or “Little Falls.”

Divers searched the swampy, shallow waters of Little Falls Pond off Cherry and Bradford avenues. Police expect to be at the search site the bulk of the day, given a forecast for 1 to 3 inches of snow and blustery conditions that could hamper efforts Wednesday.

Police say they continue to get a steady stream of tips from people who think they may have spotted something useful to their investigation as well as leads from psychics volunteering their services.

The convergence at Little Falls Pond is the latest development in the search for Garza, 25, the Brooklyn woman who was last seen with Mele, 23. Mele, who has not been charged with her disappearance, remains at the Orange County Jail on probation violation charges.

On Monday, about 30 state troopers searched beside the westbound lanes of I-84 near the Dolson Avenue entrance ramp just outside Middletown.

In the past two weeks, police have scoured Mele’s apartment and car, the grassy and woody medians and shoulders of I-84, Route 17 and areas around Bloomingburg. State police divers also searched Echo Lake.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081230/NEWS/81230022

[Deenie]

What happened to this poor girl ... My god. You know I think it all goes back to the initial place that she unfortunately met up with this Slime bag. That club. I found this online on a review of the Marquee.

I think that this place and the regulars who frequent it - prob do not even realize that they may have seen something. Too many people in mass confusion within this Clubs of this size. Jmo.

A young woman wrote her experience of this " Club" 11/2008


http://www.yelp.com/biz/marquee-new-york

DO NOT EVEN THINK OF GOING HERE.

I blacked out and collapsed in the club. Thankfully I was there with a friend. NOT ONE PERSON HELPED ME. I can't even express how messed up and scary that is. NOT ONE PERSON HELPED MY FRIEND PICK ME UP! He supposedly took me outside and while outside, the bouncers didn't help either. One of them apparently flagged down a cab to get me home so my friend didn't have to leave me, but that's it. WHAT JERKS. How can you just ignore the fact that someone collapsed in your club? What if I had a concussion or broke something??

$30 cover and this place sucked inside. Crappy music, pretty crappy people, and even worse service, clearly. $35 for two drinks is really out of hand. I am so angry about this garbage. The photos aren't accurate, either. It's pretty shi**y inside.

I can't believe not ONE person helped my friend carry me or got someone that works there to help us.

I think someone had put something in my drink because two drinks would not do this to me. I woke up in the hospital today. Thanks, Marquee!

If I were you, I wouldn't fund garbage like this.


Makes you wonder doesn't it ..... who is watching you.

[dejasade]

I can not believe they have not found this poor girl's body...so sad.
This guy needs to ROT.

[Monkey See Monkey Don't Do]

What happened to this poor girl ... My god. You know I think it all goes back to the initial place that she unfortunately met up with this Slime bag. That club. I found this online on a review of the Marquee.

I think that this place and the regulars who frequent it - prob do not even realize that they may have seen something. Too many people in mass confusion within this Clubs of this size. Jmo.

A young woman wrote her experience of this " Club" 11/2008


http://www.yelp.com/biz/marquee-new-york

DO NOT EVEN THINK OF GOING HERE.

I blacked out and collapsed in the club. Thankfully I was there with a friend. NOT ONE PERSON HELPED ME. I can't even express how messed up and scary that is. NOT ONE PERSON HELPED MY FRIEND PICK ME UP! He supposedly took me outside and while outside, the bouncers didn't help either. One of them apparently flagged down a cab to get me home so my friend didn't have to leave me, but that's it. WHAT JERKS. How can you just ignore the fact that someone collapsed in your club? What if I had a concussion or broke something??

$30 cover and this place sucked inside. Crappy music, pretty crappy people, and even worse service, clearly. $35 for two drinks is really out of hand. I am so angry about this garbage. The photos aren't accurate, either. It's pretty shi**y inside.

I can't believe not ONE person helped my friend carry me or got someone that works there to help us.

I think someone had put something in my drink because two drinks would not do this to me. I woke up in the hospital today. Thanks, Marquee!

WOW!  I'm VERY sorry this even happened to you. On the other hand I am happy that your safe and your friend was there for you. BUT It is sh!tty that NO ONE did anything  Makes you really wonder, What kind of world do we live in???? I know it's a crappy one and a VERY scary one too.. That club should be shut down! Once again I'm sorry you went through this but happy your alive.

[Pebbles]

This is such a shame. On HLN today they were talking about how her brother lost his job over this.  I sure wish that she could be found so her family can have closure.

[Nut44x4]

Aired January 13, 2009 - 19:00:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

And coming up right here, breaking developments in the disappearance of 25-year-old Laura Garza; her family desperate for answers. I`m going to tell you how they`re being stone walled by the legal system. 1-877-JVM- SAYS, I want to hear from you 1-877-586-7297 talk to my expert panel about this case next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: 25-year-old Laura Garza has been missing for more than a month. I`ll have the latest details on what her distraught family is doing to get answers.

First, "Top of the Block" tonight: breaking developments in another tragic story; this one from Oklahoma. Police in El Reno found 25-year-old Summer Rust and her four children ages three through seven dead inside their home late yesterday. The state medical examiner has declared all five deaths to be homicide.

Cops have teamed up with the Oklahoma state bureau of investigation to hunt down a suspect, Rust`s 25-year-old boyfriend Joshua Durcho; Durcho last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans. He has several tattoos. He`s believed to be driving a white 1989 Ford Thunderbird with front-end damage.

If anyone spots this man or the vehicle please call the hot line appearing on your screen right now. Here on "ISSUES" I will be sure to update you with the very latest on the search for the killer in that shocking case.

Another search to talk about tonight: this one equally gut-wrenching; beautiful Texas native Laura Garza last seen a month ago with a convicted sex offender. She remains missing without a trace.

Earlier today emotions boiled over at an Orange County courthouse where the suspect Michael Mele was a last-minute no-show. He was set to appear in court for other criminal charges not related to Garza`s disappearance, but Laura Garza`s family had hoped to confront the man because they are certain he knows what happened to Laura.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS GARZA, LAURA GARZA`S BROTHER: We`re getting tired already for this person to be -- be in silence. He doesn`t want to speak and one way or another he needs to speak out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Laura Garza, an aspiring dancer was last seen leaving a Manhattan nightclub in the company of Mele. He has a history of sexual offenses that include masturbating in front of them. So far he remains silent, consistently rebuffing the Garza`s pleas for him to talk.

I want your thoughts on this. Call me 1-877-JVM-SAYS; that`s 1-877- 586-7297. Weigh in please.

Joining me now, my panel: Ashleigh Banfield, anchor of "In Session;" on the phone, Larry McShane, reporter for the New York Daily News; and Awilda Cordero, founder of Emergency Rights, a south Bronx victim`s rights group that has been helping the Garza family.

Awilda, you were in court today with the Garzas. The family says they were surprised and very disappointed to the point of tears that they didn`t get to see the suspect. Tell us what happened? What went down today?

AWILDA CORDERO, EMERGENCY RIGHTS: We went into the courtroom. They told us to be there at 9:00. We went upstairs and as soon as we walked in the court officers told us I`m sorry, but if you`re here on the Laura Garza case, they already suspended the case. And we were just told just like that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So you didn`t get any advanced warning and the family was pretty devastated? I understand the mother of Laura Garza was crying?

CORDERO: She was very upset. All of us were very upset. We felt like they were playing games with us. The police department and the state police actually told us to get there at 9:00 in the morning and we were told to be there at 8:00 in the morning and his parents were there and he did appear, but he didn`t come into the courtroom. He decided not to go in. He stood outside.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We have called into New York state police and prosecutors to get their response to this particular complaint and we`ve not gotten a comment on that.

Ashleigh Banfield, you and I have been in court many times. I`ve never had an experience where the proceeding began when exactly it was going to begin with a few exceptions. Is this the typical kind of runaround that families of victims get when they go to court and try to get justice?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, ANCHOR, "IN SESSION": This is not easy being a victim of crime and sadly the crime that Mr. Mele is facing in court right now doesn`t have anything to do with their situation. So reality is that his appearance today was just a pro forma thing and it`s often waived. That`s a sort of a standard thing for those accused to waive their appearances to these kinds of status conferences. So it is not unusual that he might have done that.

If he showed up in the courthouse and decided not to go to the courtroom, it may have been because the family was there, but it doesn`t mean anything to the case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and just to clarify, Mele has been described as a person of interest. But New York state police today when we called them told us that he is now considered a suspect in Laura Garza`s disappearance, however it`s important to point out that he is not facing any criminal charges in connection with the Laura Garza disappearance at this time.

He is, however, facing some other charges. Larry McShane, you`re a reporter for the "Daily News." You`ve been covering this. What else is he facing involving probation violations, credit cards, all sorts of things.

LARRY MCSHANE, REPORTER, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: The charges that you mentioned initially which involved sex offenses in a mall up in suburban New York, and also when his apartment was gone over by the police investigating in this case, stolen credit cards were found there.

So basically they were able to bring him in on those charges for violating his parole on the sex offense charges and that`s allowed them to keep him in custody as they investigate the disappearance of Laura Garza.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to say that authorities are working very, very hard on this case. They`ve had divers searching bodies of water. Police, firefighters, many others have been searching. You`ve seen that, Awilda Cordero. I think your major concern is do you have to be a rich person in this society to have the time and money to wait out the slow wheels of justice?

Your family has come here from Texas. The family that you`re helping and they`re running out of money and they want to find out what happened to their daughter. Is that a correct assessment?

CORDERO: Yes, that is correct. And exactly, that`s what we`re doing. We`re trying to just find Laura. Not only the state police doing the search, but the family is actually out there looking for her, too and myself and a whole bunch of us volunteered. We`re actually going and hitting in the mountains and looking for her. And the volunteers of state firemen department, the state police, everybody is out there searching for her, but that`s not the point.

The point here is also that his father did not tell the truth to the parole.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me jump in here. You went to the home of Mele`s parents today -- and I think we have some video of this -- actually went up and knocked on the door and wanted to get some answers and we`ll show that in a second if we can dig it up. And the thing is that you are trying to pressure the parents into getting the son who is a suspect in this case to talk, is that correct?

CORDERO: Yes, that is correct. We actually went to the house today. The mother wanted to speak to the parents. And tell them that as a mother, she just wants them to help, to convince their son to please talk and let us know where Laura`s at. She didn`t go there to make any problems. She just wanted to speak to them as parents.

We went in, we knocked. We saw somebody move into the house and they didn`t want to open the door to us so we actually left a flyer on the door to let them know this is what we`re here for.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And by the way Mele`s dad is a retired deputy chief of the MTA police and we`ll talk about that in a second. Hang tight. Get on the phone and give me a call: 1-877-JVM-SAYS to talk about this case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH ESQUIVEL, LAURA GARZA`S MOTHER (through translator): Please help your son. Ask him -- and she`s a mother like I am -- to please ask him where`s my Laura.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is the distraught mother of Laura Garza today outside the home of the parents` of suspect Michael Mele pleading for help.

I am back with my panel. Phone lines light up.

Melissa in New York, your question or thought?

MELISSA, CALLER FROM NEW YORK: My question is how are they going to have a sex offender buying into a Quiznos franchise without having a complete background check and hiring young girls?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, Larry McShane, what about the franchise?

MCSHANE: That`s not a police matter.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But he owned a franchise, right?

MCSHANE: Yes, he owned a Quiznos operation, absolutely yes; apparently financed by his parents. But I don`t think that`s a law enforcement issue; that`s probably more a corporate issue for Quiznos.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ashley Banfield, can this guy walk, given that he has not been charged in connection with the Laura Garza disappearance?

BANFIELD: Yes and no. And I hate to be sort of effusive. But the reality is two years ago this guy got probation for six years. So they can hold him because he was in violation of that probation.

And I know that the family of Laura Garza is having tough -- is having a tough time with the slow wheels of justice but the truth is it works to their advantage. The longer they can hold him and gather any evidence, the better they can build a case. So in this -- in this circumstance it might seem painful but it`s probably a really good thing that the police can be meticulous and do as much work as they possibly can before the indict because once you indict, the wheels of justice have to move faster.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely and they have some pretty significant evidence thus far. His car was cleaned with bleach, according to authorities. He had bite and scratch marks on his shoulders and back and carpeting was found near, somewhere in the area, and they`re trying to see if it matches carpeting missing from his apartment. So, Ashleigh, do you think they`re doing the tests right now in terms of building their case?

BANFIELD: Oh, I wouldn`t doubt it for a moment. And here`s something else, the fact that he`s not talk also might be painful to the Garza family. But it kind of gives the police carte blanche to zero in on this person of interest rather than wasting a bunch of time, energy, and resources on all of the other people she was last seen with. The person who was last seen with a missing woman not speaking, that is suspicious. So it really helps police zero in on one person to investigate.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, they might be able to use that in court some time.

Awilda, Ashley, Larry, thanks so much for your insight for joining me tonight.

I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell and you`re watching "ISSUES" on HLN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A probation hearing for suspect Michael Mele has been set for January 26th. It might be the first opportunity the Garza family has to get some answers as they continue to search for their beloved Laura; for more details on this case, check out my column on cnn.com tomorrow.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0901/13/ijvm.01.html

[Nut44x4]

No confrontation in NY missing woman caseJanuary 13, 2009
detail from court session; ADDS background on case.

GOSHEN, N.Y. (AP) _ An anticipated courtroom confrontation between the family of a missing woman and the sex offender last seen with her fizzled Tuesday when the man did not appear.

Defense lawyers waived Michael Mele's right to attend Tuesday's conference in Orange County Court on charges unrelated to the disappearance of Laura Garza.

Garza's mother, Elizabeth Esquivel, and her brothers, Nicolas and Ivan Garza, had expected to get their first look at Mele, 23, since Laura Garza disappeared.

Garza, 25, of Brooklyn, was last seen Dec. 3, leaving a Manhattan club with Mele and heading toward his Wallkill home.

Mele has not been charged in the Garza case, but state police call him a "person of interest" and have been searching his apartment and the lakes, fields and highways around it for more than a month.

Mele, who has been jailed since Dec. 6 for violations of his sex-offender probation, has refused to talk to police about Garza and has turned away the Garza family's attempts to visit him in jail.

"If he's innocent, why is he hiding?" a frustrated Nicolas Garza asked after the court session, which the family did not attend. "He's scared to see us."

Esquivel, in tears, said in Spanish, "I feel destroyed."

At the court session, dealing with charges that Mele possessed stolen credit cards and failed to register an address change, Judge Nicholas De Rosa set April 1 for pretrial hearings.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--missingwoman0113jan13,0,5213272.story