I never expected that we would hit this milestone: Sierra LaMar has been missing for a year! That means that her family has endured four seasons of not knowing where their beautiful daughter/sister is. Their Saturday morning ritual has become routine. Get up very early, put on your best face, grab a mug of coffee, drive to Morgan Hill and hope that when you turn into the Sierra Search Center yours isn’t the only car in the parking lot. To date those specific fears have not been realized, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not plenty left to be fearful of. Marlene LaMar recently told me that, “It has been a long journey, and the most difficult thing is not having the answers which makes waiting feel infinite. The loss and pain has been indescribable.”
Last year hundreds of strangers came together to look for a teenaged girl who disappeared while walking to the school bus early on a foggy, wet and windy Friday morning. Last Saturday, a community of about fifty friends gathered for Morning Prayer as they have been doing virtually every week for a year. They stood in a circle, heads bowed and hands held as the Lord’s name was invoked and his guidance was sought. It was a touching sight, profound in its determination and its loyalty.
Marlene & Midsi
Two-hundred-ninety-eight days ago Antolin Garcia-Torres was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering Sierra. His DNA was discovered on items that Sierra had with her when she disappeared, and her DNA was found inside his car, but he told the authorities that he had never met the young girl. One-hundred-twenty-one days ago Torres-Garcia was further charged with three separate charges of kidnapping women during the commission of a carjacking. He has yet to enter a plea on any of the charges.
Torres-Garcia holds the truth that so many desperately want to know, and he turns his back on common decency. Since he invoked his right to be represented by a lawyer, the authorities don’t question him. Because he is so despised by the other inmates at the Santa Clara County Jail, he is held in protective custody. There is nothing like staring your own mortality in the face, so I believe that the prospect of the death penalty might finally bring the truth forward. Nothing else has worked.
Steve LaMar facing the press
Tomorrow morning the public and media will join Sierra’s family and the search volunteers at the Search Center which is located at 85 Tilton Ave., Morgan Hill. There will be a press conference at 9:00 a.m., followed by a balloon release. Then searchers will be dispatched to look for signs of Sierra. I expect the mood to be as hopeful as the day is beautiful. The trouble is that with this case storm clouds are never far off the horizon.
My thoughts and prayers are always with Sierra’s family. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about Sierra (although I did not know her). I live in the same town and drive by her house several times a week. My daughter went to school with her. I just keep thinking she has got to be here, close by, somewhere, and we are just missing her. Prayers are that tomorrow will bring some results so the family can have the answers they seek and be able to move forward. The pink ribbons still line the main street in town. Even though they are tattered and torn, they still symbolize hope. Hope that Sierra will be brought home, hope that her killer gets the punishment he deserves, and hope for a world to be a safer place for all our children.
My heart goes out to Sierra’s family. I well know the grief they are suffering. My own 17 yr old daughter, Terri Lynn Winchell, came up missing, and I know the terror, fright and pain a parent suffers when her child is missing. Her killer confessed two days later, and they were able to then recover her murdered body. The grief is worse than having a sword piercing your heart with no let up. I pray that Sierra will be found soon. A parent wants her child back at whatever cost. If they find that she has been murdered, the one consolation is that she is no longer suffering, and is now dancing on streets of gold, all pain gone forever. If she is found to have been abducted, love can heal all wounds. I pray for Sierra’s family to have their answer soon. Not knowing is so heartbreaking. Lord, we pray that you will reveal Sierra’s location so that her family can have a sense of closure and either have her back or lay her to rest. You know where she is, Lord. Please bring her home, in Jesus’ name! Amen and amen!!
Please give the strength to the folks that need it today.