Posted on 03/17/2003 5:26:21 AM PST by TexKat
Peterson Searchers Return To Bay Waters
POSTED: 3:36 p.m. PST March 16, 2003
UPDATED: 8:54 p.m. PST March 16, 2003
Weather permitting divers will return to the San Francisco Bay waters off Richmond on Monday looking for any clue to as what happened to pregnant Modesto schoolteacher Laci Peterson, who vanished from her home without a trace on Christmas Eve.
Modesto investigators returned to the Bay Area last week, but a series of winter storms kicked up waves and winds that forced them to call off their operations on Thursday afternoon. It is the third time searchers have been in area waters -- the last two operations were just south of Richmond in the Berkeley Marina.
"We have to clear every possibility and every possible area," said Modesto Sgt. Ron Cloward. "That's something we have to do and we are going to keep doing it."
"We've cleared the entire city of Modesto, the county and the counties outside of Modesto. We are continuing to do these kinds of searches, but we also got to know deep down inside that we've cleared this area."
Cloward admitted there are times when the nearly three months of relentless searching has worn on he and others.
"At times, it's been frustrating," he said. "I think a better term is overwhelming."
Working in the murky waters of the Bay has presented searchers with several challenges, but Cloward was confident that they were making progress.
"Most of the experts over here tell us that once you clear an area, you are pretty confident and pretty sure that the area is clear," he said. "Some of the places we have gone back to look the same as it was the last time we were there. Anything we have located (is still where we found it). The currents don't seem to making any difference."
But still the job is immense.
"There is still a needle and it's a very big haystack," he said. "You get up there with a camera and look at the Bay, it's a bit overwhelming."
Although Cloward would not talk about the search plans, he did say they were working their way north of the Berkeley Marina -- the place where Scott Peterson said he was fishing when his wife disappeared.
"We are doing a methodical, meticulous search that started in Berkeley," he said. "We are working our way north from that point. We are just eliminating an area and then moving to the next."
Asked if searching ever gets old, Cloward answered that the Peterson case has crossed the line for most investigators from professional to personal.
"It's professional, but I'll have to say it's personal as well," Cloward said. "Everybody who has gotten involved from whatever agency have all said they want to keep working at it now. And they want to keep helping. They want to see it come to a close and help out."
Laci Peterson -- whose due date was in mid-February -- has been missing for more than 80 days. During that time span, the case has gone from a missing person search to a homicide case. Her husband, Scott, has not been named a suspect in the case nor as he been cleared as a suspect.
Do me a favor and do your ping thing on this one, I don't think it was posted, it is news article from yesterday, thanks in advance.
Have a good and safe day.
Just walked outside and it's a beautiful day in Richmond. Search should go on as planned.
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