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Albany Area News

Arrest made in Sierra LaMar kidnapping and murder

A 21-year-old former Safeway employee, the owner of a vehicle seen near where Morgan Hill’s Sierra LaMar disappeared, has been arrested in the kidnapping and murder of the teenage girl.

Antolin Garcia-Torres was arrested Monday evening at the Safeway store in Morgan Hill where he once worked and transported to Santa Rita Jail, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said.

He lived near the LaMar home, but authorities would not say if the two knew each. A source told KTVU he had been linked to the disappearance not only by his red Jetta, but also by DNA evidence found in LaMar’s abandoned backpack.

The backpack containing LaMar’s clothing carefully folded clothing and other personal items had been found in a field near the missing girl’s within 24 hours of her March 16th disappearance.

"We have evidence that leads us to believe and we have probable cause to believe that he has committed the murder and kidnapping. We are charging him with murder,” Smith said. “It's very, very difficult to come to that position where we believe that she is dead."

A source told KTVU that Garcia-Torres has been under constant surveillance by law enforcement since very early in the case.

Authorities also studied video surveillance video from cameras located in the area and reviewed eyewitness reports to determine that the red Jetta with a distinctive black hood owned by Garcia-Torres was in LaMar’s neighborhood at the time of the disappearance.

Deputies impounded the car earlier this month and a forensic team searched it for clues.

Sierra hasn't been seen or heard from since she left her home in Morgan Hill to go to school on the morning of March 16. Authorities believe she was kidnapped while walking to a school bus stop.

Volunteers and sheriff's officials have continuously searched the fields, open spaces and reservoirs near Morgan Hill since her disappearance. The KlaasKids Foundation, founded by Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter Polly was kidnapped from her Petaluma home and murdered in 1993, has been organizing volunteer searches on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

_{Tue, 22 May 2012 07:45:45 -0700}

Early morning SUV crash knocks out San Mateo Bridge lights

A man was killed and the power knocked out to a portion of the San Mateo Bridge early Tuesday when an SUV slammed into the central divide and careened into a utility building, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash forced the closure of two lanes in the eastbound direction for several hours but they were reopened before the morning commute.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Damian Warren said his agency began receiving 911 calls reporting the crash and the blackout.

“When we arrived we found a solo vehicle crash,” he told KTVU. “The male driver succumbed to his injuries. At this point, alcohol is not suspected in the crash. “

The white SUV hit the center divider on the bridge, and then hit a structure containing high voltage power lines.

Power was shut down between the structure and the eastern toll Plaza and not expected to be fully restored until the Tuesday evening commute, authorities said.

_{Tue, 22 May 2012 06:49:26 -0700}

Teen search-and-rescue volunteer helps find Alzheimer's patient

A high school senior from Marin County is being hailed a hero for finding an Alzheimer's patient who had been missing for three days in Monterey County, but she's not comfortable taking the credit.

17-year-old Nicole Rehder trains in search and rescue techniques every month in preparation for emergency calls like the one she got last Wednesday night to help find a woman with early onset Alzheimer's. 

"I took the day off from school and we left at five in the morning," said Rehder. 

Rehder told KTVU she and her team had finished searching their designated area when they spotted a fire road not on their map.

"We decided 'Why not? Let's go search,'" Rehder remembered. "There was a 15-foot slope and she was lying down on a pile of sticks she had no shoes on." 

She called out the woman's name, fearing the worst.

"'Are you okay?' She said 'Yes,'" said Rehder. "Right when I heard that, I was so thankful she was alive."

The teen refused to take any credit for saving the woman's life, calling it a team effort. Her team leader said he was proud of Reher and her troupe's actions as time was running out.

"If they're not able to figure out how to get them out, an Alzheimer's patient will just stay there. In some cases, they'll die there," said Michael St. John of Marin County Search and Rescue. 

St. John said there are 70 search and rescue volunteers, 25 of them teenagers. All of them willing and ready to put their classes and careers on hold to help others.

The volunteers do about 15 missions a year. Their budget for the year is just $10,000 dollars and is provided by Marin County. Those volunteers donate the equivalent of $1.4 million dollars in their hours.

_{Tue, 22 May 2012 00:20:35 -0700}

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