The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office dive team will conduct follow-up of Chesbro Reservoir on Monday and Tuesday in an effort to locate evidence tied to the disappearance of 15-year-old Morgan Hill resident Sierra LaMar. Divers plan on returning to the reservoir to verify areas of interest identified with new, high-resolution sonar equipment last week, Sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza said.
The reservoir had been scanned during previous searches with outdated equipment, . The new sonar scanners, , provide better quality images, allowing divers to distinguish areas and objects more clearly than before.
Cardoza said divers scanned San Felipe Lake for the first time on June 22, which he described as a "small body of water located on State Route 152, just east of Bloomfield," but divers didn't locate anything related to Sierra's disappearance.
Cardoza said more water searches are expected throughout the week, but didn't know how many divers would be participating. The dive team is comprised of 12 members, but the number of divers that actually jump in the water varies daily.
"This is not a full-time unit, so not everyone is able to go out everyday," he said. "They might be called on patrol or may have other duties. It could be as little as three or four divers one day and more than 10 the next."
Detectives have turned their attention to Chesbro and Uvas reservoirs as of late, re-scanning the latter with the new sonar equipment a few weeks ago. Focus has shifted to these two sites because of the after her March 16 disappearance.
Although nothing of evidentiary value related to the LaMar case has been found at any of the searched reservoirs, detectives hope subsequent water searches will reveal new clues about Sierra's location.
Cardoza mentioned that a bone was found by a volunteer during a search several weeks ago at Anderson Reservoir. The bone was sent to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner/Coroner's Office, where forensic testing determined it belonged to a deer.
Investigators believe Sierra was linking him to the teen’s disappearance.
For previous coverage of the Sierra LaMar case, refer to the Sierra LaMar Disappearance: Comprehensive Updates and Information page on Gilroy Patch.
