Garza family expands search
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By Gordon Dritschilo Herald Staff - Published: April 25, 2008
MIDDLEBURY — Natalie Garza is asking for people to come help her look for her son on Saturday.
"I am a desperate mother," she said Thursday. "Nothing is happening as fast as I need it to happen."
Garza put out a call for volunteers to join in a search Saturday starting at 9 a.m. She said many volunteers, including people from the local community as well as family and friends, have already come forward.
"We had 100 before the press release went out," she said. "That was just from posting it on Nick's Web site."
Meanwhile, Middlebury police will launch a search of their own with the local Community Emergency Response Team and dogs from Lower Adirondack Search and Rescue.
"We're going to do a two-mile area north of campus," Police Chief Thomas Hanley said. "This is one of the last targeted search areas we haven't gotten to."
Hanley said the search will also follow the riverbanks from downtown to the Weybridge dam area. He said police have searched the riverbank every day since Friday, both on land and using a boat borrowed from the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Since Nicholas Garza, a 19-year-old Middlebury College freshman from Albuquerque, N.M., disappeared in early February, several large-scale searches have been held, focusing on campus and areas nearby.
"We have cleared an area 2-1/2 miles north to south, straddling the campus, and about one mile in width," he said.
Searches to date have involved eight major organizations, two helicopters, one fixed-wing aircraft, 13 dogs, digital imaging and analysis, thermal imaging and ground-penetrating radar, Hanley said.
"Our confidence is pretty high he's not in the area we searched," he said.
Natalie Garza said she was getting "unofficial guidance" from the state police on the most productive search areas, but the plan of where to search was not yet finalized.
"The campus is pretty much cleared," she said. "He's not on campus."
Volunteers must be at least 18 years old, have no health concerns and be able to hike distances over uneven terrain. They are asked to dress for the weather, wear appropriate footwear, and bring a GPS or compass if available, but not bring any household pets or weapons.
A lunch, provided by the college, will be served, according to Garza.
"The response has been overwhelming," she said. "I've been out every day searching for my son. … It's encouraging that people care and people want to help me find my son. … People have offered to bring up food, bring up water. We've had a lot of generosity from the community at large as well as the college."
Overseeing the volunteer search, Garza said, is Gary Peterson, an investigator for the Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner's Office who previously consulted on the case as part of Texas EquuSearch, a private search-and-rescue organization.
Hanley said one concern in bringing in untrained volunteers is potential crime scene contamination should Garza's disappearance turn out to be the result of foul play.
"I'm just hoping the person controlling the scene can brief people for that," he said. "Anyone who comes across a body or a piece of clothing or anything becomes a witness in the case and needs to understand that."
Hanley said he has discussed the concern with Peterson, who is familiar with crime scene procedures, and believe Peterson will brief everyone properly before the search. He said putting more eyes on the search should be beneficial, pointing out how often missing persons are frequently found by hikers, fishermen and hunters.
The police search is expected to begin today, with more support arriving Saturday. The missing persons investigation also continues.
"We are still collecting information, but we are running into a lot of nothingness out there," he said.
Hanley said he has also been in contact with police in Claremont, N.H., about an unidentified body pulled out of a river there Thursday.
"It does not appear to fit the description, but we're keeping an eye on that case," he said.
Natalie Garza, who has been staying in Middlebury since the search began, said she struggles to hold up each day.
"My younger son is out here with me," she said. "He's enrolled in school here and has been very welcomed by the children in the community. I can only go in the moment."
Volunteers can sign up by calling Garza at (505) 235-2961 or going to www.nicholasgarza.org.
Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.
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