Dec 11, 2008 12:48 pm US/Eastern
Missing Woman's Friend Sets The Record Straight
CBS 2 Speaks To Woman Who Was With Laura Garza At Nightclub The Night She Disappeared
NEW YORK (CBS) ― More family members are arriving from Texas to help in the search for their missing loved one, 25-year-old Brooklyn woman Laura Garza.
Now, CBS 2 speaks to a friend who may be one of the last people to see Laura before she disappeared.
The woman, who was with Laura the night she left a Chelsea club with registered sex offender Michael Mele, sent CBS 2 an e-mail saying that she wants to set the record straight about the aspiring dancer who's been at the center of a week-long search.
"Laura was one of the nicest people I have met in New York City. I was with her that night and she had only two drinks by the time I left," the woman said. "She was not drunk nor was she under the influence of any drug,"
The friend, who does not want her name revealed, said her friend wasn't a "flirty type."
"She was a sweetheart," the friend said. "I don't know how anyone could ever hurt someone like her."
"[There are] a lot of people, lot of people that love her," Nick Garza, Laura's brother, said.
Nick and brother Ivan Garza traveled from Texas to New York to search for their sister and put up missing person posters:
"We're asking all the community that can help to give a little bit of clues," Nick said.
State police widened their search for Garza beyond the spot where she was last seen near Mele's apartment complex in Wallkill. Police are searching the woods in two new locations based on new information:
Many of the people who live at the Regency Club complex have been upset by the news and worried about the fate of Laura Garza.
"I hope that she's alive, but if she's not, I hope that the family has some kind of closure," Rick Martinez said. "It's a tough situation and our prayers are with her."
Mele is still refusing to speak with police. He is in an Orange County jail this morning on a probation violation following his arrest last Friday.
Mele has not been charged in the Garza case.
Investigators say they found torn sections of carpet in Mele's newly-cleaned apartment and believe he may have been trying to destroy evidence.
From: BeCCa
Date: Dec 17, 2008 12:54 PM
Family of Laura opened a trust fund for Laura & her family. Laura’s family has been in New York helping in the search for her and has been unable to work. The account name is called The Laura Garza Benefit Fund. If anyone would like to donate to this account you can do so at any Inter National Bank Account # is 0670391. The bank web page is www. inbweb. com. We will also be giving out that information with different News stations& newspapers. Deposits can also be made in any Banorte Bank in Mexico because they are affiliated with INB. Please keep Laura and her family in your prayers. Thanks to everyone who has been showing their support....Lets keep this going and lets have faith that we will have her back home soon. Te queremos mucho AMIGA!
MySpace Dividers State police impounded the car Mele was driving on the night of Garza's disappearance. Sources said the Infiniti SUV, found parked at his father's Newburgh home, had been thoroughly cleaned.
The building super said Mele - who owns a Quiznos franchise near his home - claimed that he needed to cut up the carpeting after accidentally kicking over a bottle of bleach. Mele's girlfriend came to his apartment around 5 p.m. Wednesday and, buying the story, helped Mele remove the carpet from the apartment, unaware it might contain evidence linking her boyfriend to murder, sources said.
The rug covered a 12-foot-long hallway leading to the back bedroom. "Enough to wrap a body in," a police source said.
Mele's girlfriend later told state cops where they put the carpet section and led them to the vacuum they tossed beside a Dumpster near his restaurant.
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