Crime & Safety
Sierra LaMar Murder Arrest 'Extremely Rare'
The founder of the KlaasKids Foundation says that solving a stranger abduction is the hardest thing to do, yet investigators in the Sierra LaMar case appear to have pulled it off.
Investigators involved in , the 21-year-old Morgan Hill man Sierra LaMar, have pulled off something quite remarkable, according to Marc Klaas, founder of the KlaasKids Foundation.
"They nailed a guy in a stranger abduction," he said. "That is one of the hardest things to do. I may quibble here and there with the way they released information publically, but you cannot fault a successful investigation on a stranger abduction."
Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter, Polly, was the victim of abduction, rape and murder, said that there have been many stranger abductions in the Bay Area over the years.
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"Hardly any of them have ever been solved," he said. "The fact that they solved this case is a huge achievement."
Although authorities said that they believed Sierra , Klaas said he doesn't think investigators were providing the public with false hope.
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"They knew that people needed to be looking for Sierra alive," he said. "If you say that you are looking for someone's remains, that deflates the family, deflates any volunteer force you have and probably drives the media away. What they did was exactly right."
Klaas said that volunteer searches will resume at his foundation's command center at Burnett Elementary School at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.
"We have every intention of helping authorities locate Sierra," he said. "We have every intention of continuing to look for her until she's located. To that end, we intend to keep looking for her until her remains are found."
Besides bringing Sierra home to her family, Klaas said that finding her will be an integral part of prosecuting Garcia-Torres.
"Currently, the killer has a bargaining chip, and we want to remove that from him," he said. "We need to be able to fast track this SOB straight to hell. No passing 'Go.' No collecting $200."
Those interested in volunteering for searches tomorrow, May 23, can register at Burnett Elementary School, located at 85 Tilton Avenue in Morgan Hill. Registration will be open from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.
For previous coverage of the Sierra LaMar case, refer to the Sierra LaMar Disappearance: Comprehensive Updates and Information page on Gilroy Patch.
