Photograph by Paul Myers
Still Searching: Lucy Sanchez Crumpton and Georgette
Sanchez distribute flyers about Jeanine Sanchez-Harms, Georgette's
daughter--who has been missing since July 27, 2001--to customers,
including Pattie Monteverde at Hannegan's in Los Gatos.
Police scrutinize two men seen with missing LG woman
Family, friends express frustration with case
By Sheila Sanchez
The
parents of Jeanine Sanchez-Harms, who disappeared July 27 after an
evening at the Pruneyard Shopping Center, are still hoping their
daughter will be found or that solid leads about the case will
materialize.
The
Campbell couple, Jesus and Georgette Sanchez, are the parents of
the 42-year-old Los Gatos woman, who's been missing for six
months.
"Naturally we're down a little bit," Georgette Sanchez
said, adding that she has called America's Most Wanted
producer Steven Katz to feature the case again. She's also called
ABC requesting a follow-up story about the case.
"We
just can't get closure until we find her, until we get some
answers. I'm not going to let it go," she said.
After
six months of investigations, police are now scrutinizing the last
two men thought to have seen Harms before her disappearance.
Los
Gatos-Monte Sereno police are hoping to gain more information on
Santa Clara resident William Alex Wilson III, known simply as
"Alex," 38, and Maurice Nasmeh, 42, of San Jose, who both have
since stopped cooperating with police.
The
evening of July 27, Harms met Wilson at the Rock Bottom Brewery in
Campbell for drinks. Later on in the evening, Harms met up with
Nasmeh, and Wilson left the brewery. Nasmeh told police that he
followed Harms to her Chirco Drive home; he left at around 12:30
a.m., leaving Harms sleeping on her couch.
Detective Steve Walpole is looking for information from the
public that may help in the investigation. Specifically, police
want to find out about Wilson and Nasmeh's whereabouts and
activities immediately after Harms' disappearance, any suspicious
behavior from either of the men and any of their acquaintances who
may have information about Harms' case.
New
fliers about Harms have been distributed throughout Bay Area
communities, said Georgette Sanchez. The fliers will have a
picture of the two men who last saw Harms and will include a
write-up about the case.
Harms'
brother, Craig Sanchez, who lives in Olney, Md., told The Campbell
Reporter in a telephone interview that he was disappointed with
the police investigation. "As a family we were getting frustrated
with the progress of the investigation and over the past two or
three weeks, we have been expressing that frustration to the
police department and council members. They have been fairly
responsive to us."
He
added, "One of the key areas of our frustration is that the two
people who were the last ones to see Jeanine have not been
cooperating with the investigation. We aren't accusing anybody of
anything but we are a little upset that the ones who last saw her
are not cooperating. We had asked the police department if there
was anything it could do to force these people to cooperate. Just
recently the police distributed a new flier which has both their
pictures in it."
"It's
just common sense that the people who were last seen with Jeanine
would have the most valuable information to help us find her," he
said.
Loretta
Meyer, one of Harms' closest friends from Campbell's Prospect High
School, echoed similar sentiments. "Personally I'm disappointed in
the lack of evidence that the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police
Department has found. I'm also disappointed at the lack of police
officers that have been assigned to Jeanine's case."
About
three weeks ago, Georgette Sanchez wrote a letter to Santa Clara
District Attorney George Kennedy expressing her concern and
disappointment. Since then, the police department has reassigned
Detective Kerri Wahl to the case, Meyer said.
The
Campbell woman also said it's getting more difficult for Jeanine's
parents, family and friends to hope the case will be solved soon.
"We went through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's with no
Jeanine. We still don't know what happened to her or where she
is," Meyer said.
New
fliers of Jeanine will be circulated in the community with the
help of the San Jose-based Childquest organization, which helps
locate missing children in the area, Meyer added.
Jeanine's parents contacted Childquest to help them
distribute the fliers. Businesses in downtown Campbell will be
targeted as well as businesses in downtown Los Gatos, Meyer said.
"We're
all disappointed," she said. "When this first happened, Chandra
Levy was missing for three months and I couldn't fathom what her
friends and family were going through, and here we are six months
later and we still haven't found Jeanine."
To contact
Detective Walpole, call 408.354.8600 or 408.395.1101 for the
24-hour anonymous tip line. The police department can also be
reached via email at police@town.los-gatos.ca.us.
The reporter is not related to the Sanchez family. Gloria Wang
contributed to this story.
Campbell, California
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