Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Praying for Jeanine: An altar for Jeanine Sanchez-Harms was
set up during a prayer service Aug. 26 at St. Thomas of Canterbury
Church, 1522 McCoy Ave., on the outskirts of Campbell. The service
was held almost a month after her disappearance.
Missing woman's family and friends searching for
clues
Los Gatos woman last seen July 27 having dinner with
friends in Campbell's Pruneyard
By Erin Mayes
Almost
a month to the day after her disappearance, Jeanine Sanchez Harms'
friends and family held a prayer service at St. Thomas of
Canterbury Church, 1522 McCoy Ave., on the outskirts of Campbell.
Those
in attendance wore purple ribbons and prayed that God would help
them find their friend. Harms' photo sat on an altar at the front
of the church next to a purple candle. Some cried and some sang
hymns, but everyone hoped for a miracle.
A Los
Gatos resident, Harms was born Jeanine Sanchez in San Jose and
grew up in Campbell, graduating from Prospect High School and San
Jose State University with a degree in liberal arts.
Since
Harms' disappearance, her family and friends have been out en
force, passing out fliers, holding get-togethers at restaurants to
get media attention for the case and even buying space on two
giant billboards, with enormous photos alongside a description of
where Harms was on the night of her disappearance.
On July
27, Harms, 42, had dinner with Janice Burnham, her close friend of
27 years, and another friend at Bucca di Beppo's in the Pruneyard.
Harms told them she had a date at 7 p.m. at the Rock Bottom
Brewery, also in the Pruneyard, with a man she'd met the week
prior. That man, later identified by police as William Alex Wilson
III of Santa Clara, is not considered a suspect in the case. Harms
indicated to Burnham that she planned to stop by another bar in
Campbell later.
Police
reports indicate that Harms and Wilson went to Court's Lounge in a
group and returned to Rock Bottom, where Harms left with another
man, 42-year-old Maurice Xavier Nasmeh, who has been interviewed
by police. The two stopped at Jiffy Mart in Los Gatos and then
went to Harms' house at around 10 p.m. Nasmeh told police he left
at 1 a.m., after Harms fell asleep on her couch.
Early
on in the investigation, police were not releasing Nasmeh's name
but said they recently decided to post his name and picture on
fliers around the county because he has stopped cooperating with
officers and hired an attorney. Nasmeh, a San Jose architect,
alleged that police became aggressive in dealing with him, at
which time he hired a lawyer, who advised him not to talk to
investigators.
Both
Nasmeh's and Wilson's homes and cars have been searched, and DNA
samples have been obtained from each.
After
the evening of July 27, Burnham said she tried to call Harms
several times during the weekend and left several messages on an
answering machine. She also tried calling Harms' cell phone, which
was turned off.
When
Burnham called Amdahl in Sunnyvale, where Harms worked as a
purchasing manager, she was told Harms had not shown up for work.
Burnham, Harms' parents, her brother Wayne and a friend who owns
Harms' duplex went over that Monday morning and found that Harms
was not there, although her car was. They then called the police.
Los
Gatos-Monte Sereno police found that some of the items in the
house had been moved or removed in a manner that could be
consistent with foul play, although they are not releasing
detailed information about those items.
In a
radio broadcast on KKUP 91.5, Harms' friends, Burnham and Chigiy
Binell, said they saw the home, and Binell said it was "chillingly
orderly," but couldn't comment on the items that were missing
other than to say they were not items of value.
The two
friends said police used Luminall in the home, a chemical that
detects blood not visible to the naked eye, but said they were not
at liberty to reveal the results of that test.
"We
just hope that somebody will come forward with something," Burnham
said.
Added
Binell, "Whoever did this is still out there. He's probably
wearing a suit, maybe he's getting ready for lunch right now. He
could do this to your sister, your mother, your daughter."
Since
Harms' disappearance, police have put out a missing person
teletype all over the county and state and made use of K-9 units
and the county crime lab.
The TV
show America's Most Wanted showed a clip of the
disappearance and Amdahl donated a sizable chunk of money to the
$10,000 reward for Harms' safe return.
Harms'
friends say they're planning on putting up bus shelter billboards
as well.
Josh
Golden, Harms' cousin, set up a website, http://www.findjeanine.com/.
Harms
was in the midst of divorce proceedings with Randy Harms, whom she
married six years ago. Friends have described the separation as an
"amicable divorce," and the two have been apart for more than a
year, with a court appearance scheduled for some time in August.
For more
information about this case, visit http://www.findjeanine.com/. To donate money to
the Friends of Jeanine fund, either call Bank of the West at
408.354.6161 or send donations to The Jeanine Sanchez Harms Fund,
c/o Bank of the West, 308 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, 95030.
The Los Gatos Police Department can be reached at 408.354.8600.
Anonymous tips can be left for the police as well. The number for
that line is available on the website.
Campbell, California
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