Search spreads to creek

Author: Scott Greene

The search for missing Middlebury student Nicholas Garza '11 continued last week as crews explored Otter Creek for the first time since the first-year went missing more than two months ago, though the search yielded no new leads or evidence as to his whereabouts.

The Saranac, N.Y. Technical Rescue Team joined Middlebury Police Department (MPD) and local law enforcement agencies on April 9 and 10 in methodically looking through a quarter-mile section of the creek below the falls at the Marble Works in town. Some searched from pontoon boats and others waded through debris-filled areas of the creek's banks in search of Garza with the aid of submerged infrared cameras.

The team from Saranac volunteered to aid the search after seeing news reports about the situation. Officials confirmed after the two day search that they now have no reason to believe Garza is in the creek, leaving the mystery surrounding Garza's disappearance no closer to a resolution.

"There's just no way to describe it," Natalie Garza, Garza's mother, told local Vermont television station WCAX-TV. "It's painful that I haven't talked to Nick in 60 days. It's overwhelming that they haven't found his body."

Despite previous uncertainty, police have now confirmed that Garza consumed alcohol the night he went missing, though they say that does not explain his disappearance.

"So we know alcohol was involved - the extent, we don't know, we weren't there. We don't have a BAC. Right now it's irrelevant," said MPD Chief Tom Hanley to WCAX-TV.