Jan 13, 2009 7:38 pm US/Eastern
Suspect In Laura Garza Case Dodges Family Again
Woman, 25, Has Not Been Seen Since Leaving Chelsea Nightclub With Sex Offender Mele On Dec. 3
Suspect In Court Tuesday Facing Unrelated Criminal Charges
NEWBURGH, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Laura Garza, 25, was last seen leaving Marquee nightclub in Manhattan with two men on Dec. 3, 2008.
NYPD
Six weeks after her daughter vanished, Elisabeth Esquivel left a reminder at the home of the man suspected in the case -- a "missing" poster featuring a smiling Laura Garza.
"I feel destroyed," Esquivel said. "This person is hiding the truth too long."
Esquivel's daughter vanished in early December after leaving a Manhattan nightclub and traveling to Orange County with 23-year-old Michael Mele.
Mele is a sex offender now held on probation violation and theft charges, but he won't talk to cops about Garza. On Tuesday his court appearance was cancelled at the last minute, frustrating the family of the missing woman.
"He is scared to see us," brother Nick Garza said. "He wouldn't see us at the jail either."
It would have been the family's first chance to see Mele face to face.
Outside court Meredith Oliveri felt so badly for the family she approached Garza's mother and offered her a hug.
"I just feel for them, as a mother, and how I would feel if it was my child, or my grandchild," Oliveri said.
Denied the chance to see Mele at the Orange County Courthouse, Garza's family decided to confront Mele's family at their house in Newburgh.
Someone appeared to be home but no one answered the door.
Mele's father is a retired cop who can count on more visits from the Garza family.
"We're not giving up," Hispanic rights activist Awilda Cordero said. "We're gonna continue frustrating them. We're gonna make their life miserable like they're making Laura's mother's life miserable!"
Frustrated at both stops Tuesday the family fanned out through Mele's neighborhood, seeking help in their search for Laura Garza.
Garza's family has also written to Gov. David Paterson, asking for a meeting to discuss the case.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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