Foundation to announce contribution to help find missing
Los Gatos woman
By Gloria I. Wang
A
Northern California missing persons group has joined forces with
the family and friends of missing Los Gatos woman Jeanine Sanchez
Harms.
On
Sept. 6, the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation is
expected to make an announcement that the organization will give
$5,000 to Harms' reward fund.
Members
of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department and
representatives from the Sanchez family will be at the news
conference, set for 11 a.m. in the town council chambers at 110 E.
Main St.
Harms'
parents, Jesus and Georgette Sanchez, will most likely not attend
the press conference, said family spokeswoman Lucy Sanchez
Crumpton, Harms' aunt. Crumpton said that her brother and
sister-in-law are avoiding most public appearances, a recent radio
interview being one exception. "They are very devastated, and they
just feel like they don't want to be in front of cameras," said
Crumpton, who lives in Los Gatos.
Crumpton said that the family has received phone calls from
representatives from the California State Assembly and United
States Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who expressed their support.
Crumpton has also spoken with Susan Levy, mother of missing intern
Chandra Levy. "We've been trying to keep it out in the open so
people don't forget about her," Crumpton said.
Two
billboards with Harms' picture and a contact number were
installed, one in San Francisco and the other in San Jose. The San
Francisco billboard is scheduled to stay up until the beginning of
September, with the San Jose billboard expected to stay up for
several more weeks.
The
Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation, based in Modesto, was founded
to help families of missing persons establish reward funds for
helpful information. The foundation is named after the woman who
was reported missing in February 1999, along with her daughter
Juli and friend Silvina Pelosso. After their bodies were found in
Yosemite, a local man, Cary Stayner, was arrested and eventually
confessed to killing the three women.
"We
very much appreciate the participation of this group that
understands the plight and the anguish of the Sanchez family,"
said Sgt. Kerry Harris of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police
Department.
Harms,
42, has been missing since July 27. Police recently released the
name of the man who is believed to be the last person to see her:
42-year-old Maurice Nasmeh, who reportedly went back to Harms'
Chirco Drive home with her after they met at a bar in Campbell.
Nasmeh told police that when he left Harms' home at 12:30 or 1
a.m., she was sleeping on her couch.
Nasmeh
was cooperative in initial interviews with police but reportedly
refused to talk to them later on the advice of his lawyer. Police
released his name and photograph to the public on Aug. 24,
evidently to pressure Nasmeh into speaking with them. It is within
Nasmeh's rights to refuse interviews, however, Harris said. "He
could always take the fifth," Harris said. "[But] that's a bit of
a bummer."
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Los
Gatos, California Since 1881
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