www.justiceforchandra.com Forum Index www.justiceforchandra.com
Justice for Chandra Levy and missing women
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Laura Garza Missing- Brooklyn NY 12/3/08
Goto page 1, 2  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    www.justiceforchandra.com Forum Index -> Jennifer Kesse and similar disappearances
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:07 pm    Post subject: Laura Garza Missing- Brooklyn NY 12/3/08 Reply with quote

Sadly, Laura left a club with a Sex Offender early in the morning hours. She probably did not know of his past. Police have him in custody on a parole charge as they try to get a warrant to search his home. They feel there is evidence in the hallway on a rug. LE feel she is dead at this time.
The man of course has an atty.

(fair use)
Police Search for Woman Who Disappeared From Manhattan Nightclub
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Associated Press at Fox News

Snip
NEW YORK — Police are searching for a 25-year-old woman who disappeared after leaving a Manhattan nightclub with a male stranger.

Police spokesman Paul J. Browne said Friday that investigators "suspect foul play and are concerned" for Laura Garza's safety.

Police say the Brooklyn woman vanished about 4 a.m. Wednesday after meeting the man at the Marquee nightclub on Tenth Avenue.
Snip

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,463025,00.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Police described Garza as 5-feet-2 and 120 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes, police said.

(fair use)
Brooklyn woman parties with stranger, vanishes after leaving Chelsea club
BY ALISON GENDAR and JOTHAM SEDERSTROM
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Daily News- NY Crime
Saturday, December 6th 2008, 4:40 AM


Snip
A stunning Brooklyn woman disappeared during a late night of partying and is feared dead after a stranger lured her away from an infamous Manhattan nightclub.

Curly-haired beauty Laura Garza, 25, was last seen leaving the Tenth Ave. club Marquee around 4 a.m. on Wednesday with Michael Mele, the 23-year-old registered sex offender she met there, police and law enforcement source said.

Mele, the son of retired MTA Assistant Deputy Police Chief William Mele, turned himself in to state police in Newburgh Friday afternoon, sources said. His father and a lawyer accompanied him.

Police have not found Garza's remains, but have physical evidence that leads them to believe she was murdered.

Snip
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS or text their tips to 274637, then enter TIP577.



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/12/05/2008-12-05_brooklyn_woman_parties_with_stranger_van.html

click link for story
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 4:46 am    Post subject: Update Reply with quote

Sadly, no news on Laura at this time. Maybe they can get this slimebag to talk. LE say the case may be a possible homicide, but still have not given up hope she may be alive. I feel she is dead by now.

(fair news)
Man Seen With Missing NYC Woman Jailed in New York
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Associated Press at Fox News


Snip
NEW YORK — A man who was seen in the company of a Brooklyn woman who is now missing is being held on a probation violation in Rockland County.

The Rockland County Sheriff's Department says 23-year-old Michael Mele, a registered sex offender, is being held on $50,000 bail.
Mele and another man were seen leaving a Manhattan nightclub early Wednesday with 25-year-old Laura Garza.

Snip



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,463025,00.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:20 am    Post subject: Update Reply with quote

No news of Laura after the searches have been done and Mele has been in custody for parole violation.

It's a shame SO's walk in and out of the prison walls each day and are not kept or given harsher sentences as they are repeat offenders.

Let us pray they find Laura soon.


(Fair Use)
No Sign of Missing NYC Woman During Searches
Monday, December 08, 2008
Associated Press at Fox News


Snip
NEW YORK — State police searched the woods, trash bins and a septic system Monday near the home of a convicted sex offender who left a nightclub last week with a woman who hasn't been seen since.

State police Capt. Wayne Olson said several women have come forward with information about the man, 23-year-old Michael Mele, who has a record of sex crimes committed in the northern suburbs of New York City. Olson declined to elaborate on what the women told investigators.

Police had publicly requested that women who knew Mele come forward, given his history of sex offenses.

Snip


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,463986,00.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:12 am    Post subject: Some facts on Mele- Sex Offender Reply with quote

(fair use)
Police scour the region for evidence of missing Brooklyn woman
Dec 8, 2008
Mid-Hudson News Network



http://www.catskillsnews.com/News/December08/08/Garza_Mele-08Dec08.html


Snip
Mele has been identified and arrested for prior lewd behavior in and around the Rockland County area. Investigators from the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation are looking to speak with any women who may have come in contact with Mele during the last year.

Mele has a history of being sexually aggressive towards women and confronting women in secluded areas to perform lewd acts. Mele frequents locations in and around New York City and the tri-state area and it is believed that some of the women he has approached have not come forward to police at this time.

Mele would have been driving a 2005 Infiniti FX 35 four door SUV with a temporary license plate in the rear window and no permanent plates attached. Previously he has been known to drive other high end vehicles such as a Jaguar, Bentley, Lamborghini and Range Rover.


Snip
The New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation is asking that anyone with information regarding Mele in general, or his whereabouts during the previous four days, contact (845) 344 5300. All calls will be treated as confidential.
Snip
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:46 pm    Post subject: More on Mele and evidence Reply with quote

I feel so bad for laura and her family. This story is not going to have a happy ending. Let us hope they find her soon.

Goz

(fair use)
Sex-con suspect Michael Mele has bites and scratches; machete, woman's shoe pulled from trash
BY JOE GOULD, JOHN LAUINGER, ALISON GENDAR and LARRY McSHANE
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Sunday, December 7th 2008, 9:10 AM


Snip
State Police found a machete and a woman's shoe Saturday as they scoured the upstate home of a registered sex offender suspected in the disappearance - and murder - of a naive New York newcomer.

Police sources revealed that Michael Mele had bite marks on his hands and scratch marks on his neck - and thoroughly cleaned his Wallkill apartment after the young beauty he allegedly brought home from a Manhattan nightclub went missing.

Besides scrubbing his condo with bleach, Mele, 23, cut out patches of hallway carpeting, vacuumed obsessively and frantically tossed pieces of evidence in Dumpsters, sources said. "He had three days to clean up his apartment," a police source said.

Snip

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 5:30 pm    Post subject: update link Reply with quote

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,464804,00.html

From fox news (source)

The second male that was out with Laura and Mele states he was dropped off that night and the two were left together talking and kissing. So far, I don't think he has been ID'd to the public.

Poor Laura, it's sad she had to leave with this guy. I'm sure she had no clue of who he was. I had a picture of the guy but the link would not click after posting it. He, of course, looked like an average young guy.

Sadly, I have to report, in my opinion, I think she is no longer with us.

Goz
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:10 am    Post subject: Picture link of prime suspect Mele Reply with quote

I guess police have named him the prime suspect at this time.

This link has his picture on it. I hope it continues to work.

Click on link for story and picture

The charming & handsome pervert could even fool cops.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/12/06/2008-12-06_the_charming__handsome_pervert_could_eve.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 4:26 am    Post subject: Who can a Woman Trust: The Disappearance of Laura Garza Reply with quote

Good Article by Clint Van Zandt. Very interesting and should be read by all esp. those following this case. All women should always be alert.
This Mele' is a very dangerous person. With all the women coming forward and his history, it is sad to say, Laura is probably not alive anymore.

Goz

(Fair Use)
CLINT VAN ZANDT MSNBC TV Crime Analyst and Former FBI Profiler and Hostage Negotiator
Newsvine Com.
Update - Who can a Woman Trust: The Disappearance of Laura Garza
Sun. Dec. 7, 2008

Snip
Although at 25 years of age Laura Garza was no stranger to life, she was new to New York City, a place that appeared to hold out the promise of fun and adventure for the young woman who moved to the Big Apple from McAllen, Texas just five months ago. A local New York neighbor, when asked about the missing woman, indicated she just didn’t seem to have her guard up like most New Yorkers do, suggesting she might have been too trusting and too naďve for what one club goer called "the predatory spirit found in New York City night clubs." Letting your guard down can prove to be fatal, and that is what police fear for the beautiful woman that left an upscale Manhattan club, one usually populated by the rich, the famous, and the want-to-be’s, at 4 AM this past Wednesday with two men, really strangers she had just met. (See The Today Show for 12/8/08.)
Snip


Snip
Quote:
And Garza likely never suspected that the man she left the bar with that early morning had plead down his sex offenses charges to forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child (one of his victims was a 16-year-old girl) for which this son of a cop got six years probation, but not one second in prison. Where was the one strike law when we needed it for this offender that displayed such sexually aggressive behavior toward his victims, some of which may have yet to be identified?

Snip

Snip
Reports suggests that at least a dozen women, in addition to the four who recently identified Mele as their sexual assailant, have come forward to say that they too were victims of sexual assault by him.
Snip
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 9:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe they will arrest Mele soon and he will deal on where the body is..

(fair use)
Police Reportedly Find Potential Carpet Clue During Search for Missing NYC Woman
Sunday, December 14, 2008


Snip
Investigators reportedly found a bleached piece of carpet near a highway that they believe matches carpet in the apartment of a convicted sex offender who was last seen with a missing Brooklyn woman.

New York State Police said they found "several items" on Friday off the shoulder of Route 17 in Bloomingburg that are potentially related to the investigation of the Dec. 3 disappearance of Laura Garza, 25. Included in those items was a piece of carpet made from the same fiber as carpet in Michael Mele's apartment in Wallkill, N.Y., home, sources close to the investigation told the Times Herald-Record.

Snip

click link for story
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,466836,00.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 3:43 am    Post subject: update on Laura Reply with quote

(Fair Use)
UPDATE: State police dive into Echo Lake, recover new evidence; Meanwhile, new probe of Mele's apartment, this time with his girlfriend
Dec 23, 2008
By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record


Snip
ECHO LAKE — Armed with a new search warrant and accompanied by his girlfriend, state police investigators conducted a renewed search of Michael Mele’s Town of Wallkill apartment Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, state police divers plumbed the icy depths of Echo Lake in the nearby Town of Wawayanda, as part of their continuing investigation into the whereabouts of missing Brooklynite Laura Garza.

Three investigators, one of them a crime-scene specialist, spent about an hour inside Mele’s apartment at The Regency Club on Schutt Road. They departed with new, unspecified evidence.
Mele’s girlfriend, who lives in Bloomingburg, entered the apartment at about the same time as state police, accompanied by one of her lawyers. She and the lawyer departed a few minutes later.
“Bottom line, we’re cooperating,” said the lawyer, David Hoovler.
Police have previously described the woman as a witness, not a suspect or accessory.

Snip

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081223/NEWS/81223022/-1/news
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:42 am    Post subject: Update Reply with quote

I'm happy to report LE didn't forget about Laura. We have not had an update on this case for awhile. It has always looked like the SO has taken and killed her, sadly to say. Let us hope they find some evidence.


Fair Use
Search for NYC Woman Missing Since December Resumes
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Associated Press at Fox News



Snip
WALKILL, N.Y. — The search for a Brooklyn woman missing since December is back on, with scores of police and firefighters combing upstate roadways and wooded areas.

Volunteers spent Saturday searching for Laura Garza. The 25-year-old was last seen Dec. 3 with convicted sex offender Michael Mele in Newburgh, about 60 miles north of New York City. Police say Mele is a person of interest. He hasn't been charged in Garza's disappearance.


Saturday's search focused on areas about 20 miles west of Newburgh, near where police in December found a piece of carpet they believe may be from Mele's apartment.


click link for story
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,502689,00.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:22 pm    Post subject: no updates lately Reply with quote

I have heard nothing on this case...I guess it is just another cold case. Let us see if we can find out anything about this woman and what may have taken place.


Goz


Latest link I could find. Nothing new, no arrests, search goes on.

http://www.valleycentral.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=340579
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cold case no longer, goz. Laura was identified today from remains found April 11 off interstate 84 in NE Pensylvania. Looks like Mele just drove down the interstate about 60 miles and dumped her body in a remote location. Real remote, riders on ATV's stumbled across the remains.

DNA match confirms Laura Garza's body found in field outside Scranton, Pa.
By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record
April 26, 2010
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100426/NEWS/100429723

He didn't know her long enough to be an ex, but he's silent.

May Laura rest in peace.

rd

click to read the online true crime mystery novel Murder on a Horse Trail: The Disappearance of Chandra Levy

www.justiceforchandra.com home page
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 2:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How very sad RD but now at least the family knows and can move on.

May she rest in peace. Maybe we will be able to nail Mele soon.

Geez, hard to believe he didn't cooperate with LE.


Goz


Quote:
Michael Mele remains the one and only suspect in Garza's disappearance, state police said.

"Michael Mele has never been cooperative in this investigation," Olson said Monday.

Craig Brown, the attorney for Michael Mele, responded to Olson's comment:

"It became very clear very early on that the NYPD had made Mr. Mele a suspect in this case to the exclusion of all others. Given the tenor of the investigation, any person would have been foolish to subject themselves to that level of scrutiny."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    www.justiceforchandra.com Forum Index -> Jennifer Kesse and similar disappearances All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group