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Author Topic: Laura Garza, 25, of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Missing 12/3/08 NY (REMAINS FOUND)  (Read 93025 times)
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« Reply #60 on: November 16, 2009, 04:09:57 PM »

Boys find suspected skull fragments in Slate Hill cemetery
State police are investigating the possible discovery of human skull fragments and other skeletal remains in the Ridgebury Cemetery on Ridgebury Hill Road in Slate Hill.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091116/NEWS/911159994

Slate Hill is near Goshen in Orange County, which is discussed a lot in this thread.
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« Reply #61 on: November 21, 2009, 02:41:30 PM »

Technicality lands sex offender Michael Mele in jail: Eyed in missing woman Laura Garza's case

Saturday, November 7th 2009, 4:00 AM

A sex sicko who was the last person seen with a missing Brooklyn woman is going to prison for up to three years - for failing to register his new address with the state.

The family of Laura Garza said it is glad Michael Mele will be behind bars for a while, even if it's because of a technicality.

"He deserves it," said Garza's brother, Nicolas.

Mele is a "person of interest" in the disappearance of the 25-year-old beauty, who left the Manhattan club Marquee with him last winter and vanished.

Her body hasn't been found and he hasn't been charged, but the case caused new problems for Mele.

He was forced to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to exposing himself and attacking a woman in the Palisades Center mall parking lot two years ago.

While under scrutiny in the Garza case, it came to light that he had moved without registering his new address. He pleaded guilty to that charge in September.

Orange County Court Judge Nicholas DeRosa called Mele's crimes "depraved and unfathomable" before sentencing him to one to three years Friday.

Garza's aunt, Isela Villalobos, said the family hasn't lost hope that Mele eventually will be be arrested in the disappearance of her niece, an aspiring dancer who grew up in a Texas town and had just moved to New York.

"We are just continuing and continuing to pray that justice will be served sooner or later," she said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/07/2009-11-07_sex_offender_suspected_in_womans_disappearance_get_3_years_in_jail_on_technicali.html
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« Reply #62 on: November 29, 2009, 08:40:00 PM »

Pace forum to honor missing woman Garza
November 29, 2009

PLEASANTVILLE — Pace University will host an event Tuesday to raise awareness for safety in social scenes and to keep the name of Laura Garza fresh in people's minds.

Garza, a 25-year-old aspiring dancer, was living in Brooklyn at the time of her disappearance.

She has been missing since December 2008, when she met Michael Mele, a convicted sex offender, at a Manhattan nightclub.

She later left the club with Mele and was last seen in his company in Orange County, authorities have said.

Mele, who has been the prime suspect in Garza's disappearance, was designated a sex offender in March 2008, when found guilty of exposing himself and masturbating in front of women at the Palisades Center parking lot in West Nyack.

The incidents occurred in December 2006 and April 2007.

Twice in 2008, on Aug. 9 and Nov. 6, the 24-year-old was accused of identifying himself as Jacob Thomas and making appointments for full-body spray tans at a Clarkstown tanning salon.

Mele then requested a female attendant spray him while nude and is accused of masturbating as the attendant sprayed his back.

He was convicted of falsifying business records, two counts of public lewdness, and one count of harassment. He was sentenced to six years of probation.

After Garza's disappearance, a DNA match linked Mele to a 2005 incident at the Paramus Park mall in New Jersey. He was accused of public lewdness and exposure to a child younger than 13.

Mele is now serving one to three years in state prison for not reporting his Orange County address to police, a violation of his probation.

The Pace University event, a one-hour presentation called ”For the Good of Garza,“ will feature a slide show and an open discussion on safety by the university's psychology of civic engagement class.

The event's date was selected to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Garza's disappearance.

The class, which numbers about 20 students, will also discuss safety issues with members of Garza's family, who are traveling to the Westchester campus from Texas at the expense of Rockland County jeweler Barry Fixler.

Fixler has, in the past, made donations in attempts to help find Garza, including donating $1,000 to print missing-person fliers and offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to her recovery.

Thomas Nardi leads the psychology course and said that he and the students overwhelmingly selected Garza as the focus of their class project because they were touched by her story.

”We just don't want her name to be forgotten,“ he said. ”We want to keep it in the public's consciousness.“

The event begins at 12:30 p.m. in the Gottesman Room at the Kessel Student Center.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091129/NEWS03/911290353/-1/newsfront/Pace-forum-to-honor-missing-woman-Garza
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« Reply #63 on: December 04, 2009, 06:27:39 AM »

One year later, relatives wait for answers about Laura Garza's disappearance

Dec. 4, 2009

McALLEN — Laura Garza’s family is still waiting for answers.

A year after the 25-year-old went missing in New York City, relatives have yet to learn the details surrounding her disappearance, which garnered national media attention.

Garza, a former McAllen resident who moved to New York to pursue a dancing career, left a Manhattan nightclub on Dec. 3, 2008, accompanied by 23-year-old Michael Mele, a sex offender who has offered little information about his encounter with the young woman.

“We just want to know where she is,” said Garza’s aunt, Isela Villalobos. “We don’t know if he’s ever going to answer that question. So we’ve got to be patient and let the state police do its job.”

New York state investigators did not return a message left Thursday after office hours, but news media there have reported that police are awaiting the latest round of forensic test results to learn more about the night of Garza’s disappearance.

According to the Times Herald-Record, about 50 potential pieces of evidence are covered in the latest round.

Mele is serving a sentence of up to three years for failing to tell state authorities that he moved last year from his parents’ home in Newburgh, N.Y., to an apartment in Wallkill, N.Y.

Garza has yet to be found, but family members have little hope that she remains alive. Despite that, Villalobos said the family still talks about her as if she were alive.

“She lives in my heart,” the aunt said.

Villalobos’ biggest fear is that Mele will be released from jail before authorities have the chance to charge him in her niece’s apparent homicide. The man could be paroled as early as Christmas — if he is denied parole he could be held until 2011.

“We need to keep him where he’s at,” Villalobos said.

The family gathered Thursday evening at Our Lady of Guadalupe, 620 North Dunlap Ave., for a vigil and Mass to remember Garza’s disappearance.

Friends and family of the young woman embraced moments before the ceremony, some fighting back tears as they shared memories of Garza.

“We’re just trying to hold onto faith,” Villalobos said. “God willing, he’s going to hear our prayers.”
http://www.themonitor.com/articles/mcallen-33174-answers-one.html
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« Reply #64 on: December 09, 2009, 07:13:22 PM »

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091206/NEWS/912060340/-1/news

Sex offender Michael Mele's demons remained hidden for years


By Steve Israel
Times Herald-Record
Posted: December 06, 2009 - 2:00 AM

At first, Michael Mele only revealed tiny glimpses of the monster lurking inside. In the halls of Newburgh Free Academy, kids gossiped about the suggestive phone calls the handsome kid with gelled hair made to certain girls. They whispered about the things "Mike" wanted other girls to do.

But by his senior year, the guy with the pop star good looks and a Mercedes-Benz sedan, who some girls found "charming" and "a perfect gentleman" began to expose even more of his dark side.

According to several former classmates, he left an anonymous note in a girl's car threatening a violent sexual act — a note that, when confronted, he explained away with characteristic look-you-in-the-eye sincerity.


Then, just three years after high school — in 2005 — Michael Mele could no longer control himself. In the next three years, he allegedly assaulted or masturbated in the presence of more than a dozen women and teens. (Examples listed)
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« Reply #65 on: December 21, 2009, 04:28:37 PM »

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091221/NEWS/912210331

Mele up for parole hearing in 3rd week of January

By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record
Posted: December 21, 2009 - 2:00 AM
FISHKILL — Michael Mele won't be home for Christmas or New Year's, but a state parole board could set him free by Groundhog Day.

The 24-year-old sex offender from Orange County is the most scrutinized person in the year-long investigation into the disappearance of 25-year-old Laura Garza of Brooklyn.

A spokeswoman for the state Division of Parole said Wednesday that Mele is scheduled for his first parole interview in the third week in January. He's serving one to three years in prison for failing to register a change of address with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, which maintains New York's registry of sex offenders.

Because he was held in the Orange County Jail for 11 months before he was sentenced, Mele received credit for that time, which made him eligible for parole after about a month in prison.

He was also sentenced last month to two years and three months in the county jail for violating the terms of probation. He was placed on probation last year for accosting women in the Palisades Center Mall in Rockland County, exposing himself and, in two cases, ejaculating on his victims.

But the state Department of Correctional Services concluded that state Penal Law requires the probation-violation sentence to merge with the failure-to-register sentence.

The only way Mele could be forced to serve his county time separately is if his state sentence is stayed or vacated. That's unlikely because as part of his plea bargain, Mele gave up his right to appeal the state prison sentence.

He's being held at Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill, which is where he'll be interviewed by the parole board.

If Mele is denied parole, he'll be eligible again in December 2010.

State police and prosecutors are continuing to analyze lab evidence related to Garza's disappearance, but law-enforcement officials say no decision's been made on whether the case should be presented to a grand jury. Garza was seen leaving the Marquee nightclub in lower Manhattan with Mele on the morning of Dec. 3, 2008, and she hasn't been seen since.

omackson@th-record.com
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« Reply #66 on: April 26, 2010, 01:49:40 PM »

http://www.1010wins.com/PICS--Woman-s-Body-Found-in-Pa--May-Be-Laura-Garza/6895615

Posted: Monday, 26 April 2010 1:15PM

Police Sources: Body Found in Pa. May Be Missing Brooklyn Woman

 
NEW YORK (1010 WINS)  -- The body of a young woman found near Scranton, Pa., may be that of a Brooklyn woman missing for more than a year, according to police sources.

The body was found in early April. Among the items recovered for forensic testing was a watch, according to sources.

Laura Garza, 25, was last seen on Dec. 3, 2008 leaving the Manhattan nightclub Marquee with registered sex offender Michael Mele.

Mele, 24, was the focus of the investigation into Garza's disappearance but was never charged. In the weeks after Garza vanished, police searched Mele's home and car looking for evidence.

He was forced to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to charges of exposing himself and performing lewd acts at the Palisades Center.

He pleaded guilty in September 2009 to failing to report a change of address and is currently in jail.

A news conference is planned for Monday afternoon.
 
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« Reply #67 on: April 26, 2010, 02:21:01 PM »

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100426/NEWS/100429723

State police: Body found near Scranton, Pa. is Laura Garza
By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record
Published: 11:33 AM - 04/26/10
Last updated: 2:13 PM - 04/26/10
Special Report: The search for Laura Garza

The body of a young woman found near Scranton, Pa., is missing Brooklynite Laura Garza, state police confirmed today.

Police said DNA taken from the body matched that of Garza.
WNEP-TV reported that on April 11, some ATV riders discovered bones in a field in Olyphant, Pa., just north of Scranton. Pennsylvania state police confirmed the next day that the remains were of a female, and that they also found a men's chronograph watch near the body.

Garza, 25, disappeared in December 2008, after leaving the Manhattan nightclub Marquee with Michael Mele, a convicted sex offender from the Town of Wallkill. A massive search ensued, but her body was never found.

Mele is now serving a state prison sentence for failing to register an address change when he moved from his parents' home in the Town of Newburgh to an apartment in the Town of Wallkill, about six months before he met Garza. At the time, he was on probation for exposing himself to women and masturbating in public at the Palisades Center Mall in Rockland County.

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« Reply #68 on: April 26, 2010, 02:25:55 PM »

Wow.....she's been found 
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« Reply #69 on: April 26, 2010, 03:21:48 PM »

Body of Laura Garza, NY clubgoer missing since 2008, found in Pa.: police

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/04/26/2010-04-26_body_of_laura_garza_ny_clubgoer_missing_since_2008_found_in_pa_police.html

The body of Laura Garza, the young Brooklyn woman who disappeared after meeting a sex offender a club more than a year ago, has been found.

State Police in Middletown, N.Y., said Monday that DNA analysis confirmed a skeleton found April 11 in Mount Cobb, Pa., belongs to the 25-year-old dancer.

The bones were spotted by all-terrain vehicle riders.

The prime suspect in Garza's disappearance, serial molester Michael Mele, has been in jail for several months on unrelated charges.

He has not been charged in Garza's death and is not cooperating.

Security cameras captured Garza, who had recently moved from Texas to Bay Ridge, leaving Chelsea's Marquee club with Mele the morning of Dec. 3, 2008.

At the time, Mele, 24, the son of a retired MTA cop, was on probation for exposing himself and masturbating on women at a Rockland County mall in 2007 and 2008.
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« Reply #70 on: April 26, 2010, 03:24:09 PM »

I'm so glad they found her body.

I wonder whose watch they found.

If it's not Michael Mele's I'm wondering if he planted it with her when he dumped her body.

I'm convinced he is the murderer.
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« Reply #71 on: April 26, 2010, 03:28:17 PM »

I am convinced too San. 

RIP Laura, you can go home now.
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« Reply #72 on: April 26, 2010, 03:36:35 PM »

Info from Porchlight...that came from WS

Look at her wrist >>>>>>.



now look at the watch found at the site of the remains
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« Reply #73 on: April 26, 2010, 03:40:34 PM »

Glad they found her
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« Reply #74 on: April 26, 2010, 06:10:26 PM »

LE was on the right track when they were searching Rt 84 Middletown/Goshen area.  Too bad they didn't go further, past the northern tip of NJ and into PA....that's where Mt. Cobb & Scranton are. 

I, too, am glad she has been found.
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« Reply #75 on: April 27, 2010, 07:56:21 AM »

RIP Laura...

Such a lovely girl with her whole life ahead of her...
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« Reply #76 on: April 27, 2010, 09:07:42 AM »

http://wcbstv.com/local/laura.garza.missing.2.1658520.html
 Apr 27, 2010 8:07 am US/Eastern
With Body Found, Police Investigate Garza's Death
NEW YORK (CBS)
The search for Laura Garza ended tragically with the discovery of her skeletal remains. Now investigators will try to determine what led to her death.

For Garza's family, it was a bittersweet break in a heartbreaking case. DNA testing confirmed the remains found by teens riding ATVs in a wooded area near Scranton, Pennsylvania belonged to the 25-year-old aspiring dancer from Brooklyn.

"It's a sad day and a happy day for everyone, because at least now they have closure," said Awilda Cordero, Garza family spokeswoman.

The next step in this homicide case: figuring out how and when Garza died, and who's responsible. Police said forensic pathologists will begin that process by analyzing the remains.

"While there may be a sense of relief that we have a recovery, we certainly have a lot of work to do," said Capt. Wayne Olson of the New York State Police.

Investigators initiated the DNA analysis after finding a key clue at the scene in Scranton: a designer chronograph watch. Pennsylvania State Police checked a database of missing women and realized Garza wore the very same watch.
The big question: will any of this evidence connect Garza's death to the main suspect and registered sex offender Michele Mele?

Police said her body was found just 65-miles from Mele's apartment in Middletown.
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« Reply #77 on: April 27, 2010, 01:45:41 PM »

Oh geeeeezeeeeeee    

Mom of slain NYC woman clung to phone for months 
Published: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 11:15 AM CDT

The mother of a long-missing Manhattan nightclub patron clung to her phone for 16 months after her daughter disappeared.

She turned it off for the first time on Friday after learning the skeletal remains found in Pennsylvania were her daughter's.

Relatives of Laura Garza recalled the horrible moment Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show from Mission, Texas. Isela Villalobos, of McAllen, Texas, said it was a "really sad moment" when Elizabeth Ezquivel turned her phone off. Ezquivel did not appear on the show.

Nicolas Garza, Laura's brother, said he was home alone when an investigator called him Friday afternoon with the news. He asked Villalobos and his girlfriend to come over. He didn't want to be alone when he gave his mother the news.

When Ezquivel arrived, they started crying.

"She couldn't believe it at that time," he said. "We all couldn't believe it. But they confirm that it's her."

Garza had moved to Brooklyn five months before she disappeared. The aspiring dancer left the nightclub on Dec. 3, 2008, with a registered sex offender, Michael Mele. He has been investigated but not charged in the case.

Mele is being held at a state prison in Marcy for an unrelated offense. A board denied him parole in March, citing his "history of sexually deviant behavior."

http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2010/04/27/ap-state-tx/ny_nightclub_disappearance.txt
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« Reply #78 on: April 27, 2010, 01:52:25 PM »

 
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« Reply #79 on: April 27, 2010, 05:16:35 PM »

Apr 27, 2010 4:48 pm US/Eastern
Prosecutor Says Missing NY Woman Not Killed In Pa.

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. (AP) ― A prosecutor says the New York woman whose skeletal remains were found in Pennsylvania was apparently killed elsewhere.

Gene Talerico, first assistant district attorney in Lackawanna County, Pa., said Tuesday that means New York will have jurisdiction in the case of 25-year-old Laura Garza.

Garza disappeared in 2008 after leaving a Manhattan nightclub with a sex offender. Her remains were found last week near Scranton, Pa.

The sex offender, Michael Mele (MEE'-lee), has been investigated but not charged in the case. He is imprisoned on a parole violation and was denied release last month.

New York state police Capt. Wayne Olson said New York officials have been working on the assumption that Garza was killed in New York.

http://cbs3.com/wireapnewspa/Pa.prosecutor.says.2.1658797.html
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