Lead prompts new search in Garza case

Author: Anthony Adragna

New aerial photography taken as part of the Nick Garza disappearance investigation revealed an 'object of interest' in Otter Creek, according to officials. The discovery provided investigators with the first new clue in recent memory and prompted a second search of the creek.

Members of the Middlebury Police Department (MPD) received the help of an outside group from Maine that took aerial photographs of Otter Creek. Late last week the pictures yielded a lead.

"On the evening of April 17, these images were transmitted to Visual Imagery Analysts for Search and Rescue (VIASAR) image analysis in Ohio," Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley wrote in an e-mail. "At 11:30 p.m. on April 17, the department was notified that a VIASAR analyst had found an 'object of interest' in Otter Creek behind the high school. This image was recorded at about noon on April 17."

Upon learning of the clue, police officers rushed to the creek but early search efforts were hampered by the time of day.

"By midnight on April 17, a team of Middlebury and State Police began searching the river," Hanley said. "At about 2:40 a.m., the search was called off."

Rescuers began to search at daylight on April 18. Search efforts revealed nothing but police received another photographic clue.

"Analysts later reported on April 21 that in an image taken on April 17, the object had drifted some 10-12 feet and was moving in the current," Hanley said. "Shoreline searches have been conducted daily along the creek since April 18."

The area of the creek in question is immediately behind Middlebury High School and lies less than a quarter of a mile from campus. That area is only a couple hundred yards from a suspension bridge commonly used by joggers.

Police officials believe Garza could have wandered off that direction the night he disappeared.

The new clue in the case followed several days of unsuccessful searching in the creek.

"Saranac Technical Rescue offered to attempt a river search on April 9 and 10," Hanley said. "Due to high water and swift current, they could not complete the search in their allotted time, limiting their search to an area below the waterfall in downtown Middlebury. That search was inconclusive."

Hanley emphasized the vast number of resources that have been used in the search efforts.

"Seven ground searches were done by over 200 searchers, 13 canines and four aircraft," he said. "To date, 16 organizations have participated in ground search operations, and another five organizations participated in the water search. Technology deployed during these searches included ground penetrating radar, digital imagery and thermal imaging."

In all, over 50 organizations have assisted the MPD by providing logistical, technical, staffing, or financial aid during the search effort, Hanley said.

In addition to large on-campus searches, several small groups of two to six rescue workers embarked on their own efforts since late February.

"Since Feb. 23, over two-dozen small-scale searches were conducted continually at smaller areas," Hanley said. "The ground efforts covered the area south of the College snow-removal dump off South Street Extension north to the Weybridge Town line and beyond. [They searched] east to the Otter Creek and west to Cider Mill Road."

Hanley also stressed that all areas of investigation remain open in the Garza search efforts.

"The searches are only one small part of the overall investigation. Investigators are continuing to conduct interviews, collect data and information, all in an effort to develop any investigative leads into the manner and cause of Mr. Garza's disappearance," he said. "The searches, of course, are the most visible and dramatic efforts made in this case, but several investigators and a number of different organizations are still working on the development of leads."

The investigation into Garza's disappearance has taken a toll on MPD's resources. Hanley told WCAX-TV that the search had used up almost all of the MPD's overtime budget - about $27,000 - for the fiscal year which ends in June.

Natalie Garza, the mother of Nicholas Garza, said that she remains hopeful that the clues will yield some new information.

"I'm out there everyday," she said to WCAX. "I don't want to come across something. I don't want to find him anywhere, but I want to clear an area and make sure he's not there."