Posted on 01/07/2003 8:30:40 AM PST by alexandria
As the widespread search for Laci Peterson continued Monday, nine divers spent a second consecutive day focusing on a small section of Lake Tulloch.
Sheriff's divers from Stanislaus and Calaveras counties concentrated in the area under O'Byrnes Ferry Bridge at the border of Tuolumne and Calaveras counties.
Patrick Kelly, a member of the Stanislaus dive team, said he didn't know whether a tip or evidence might have pointed investigators to Tulloch, but nothing had been found there so far.
Police did not return calls seeking comment about the Lake Tulloch search effort Monday.
At an afternoon news conference, police said there were no significant developments in the case, now in its second week.
Laci Peterson was reported missing on Christmas Eve. Her husband, Scott Peterson, told police he last saw her that morning as he left for a fishing trip at the Berkeley Marina.
The last time Laci Peterson is known to have spoken with anyone other than her husband was Dec. 23 about 8:30 p.m. when she had a phone conversation with her mother, police said.
Searchers Monday concluded their work in and around the Berkeley Marina, said Modesto police Sgt. Ron Cloward, who is supervising the search effort.
"They're confident they have searched it thoroughly," Clow-ard said. "They're confident they're done there unless something comes up that sends us back there."
The blue tarp searchers pulled from San Francisco Bay waters on Saturday afternoon will be brought to Modesto and evaluated by detectives, police Detective Doug Ridenour said.
"(The searchers) felt it was suspicious enough to take and have a look at it," Ridenour said. "But, at this point, investigators don't think it will turn out to be anything significant."
Burglary suspects helpful
When police arrested two men Friday in connection with a burglary across the street from Laci Peterson's home, they said they found the two to be especially cooperative. The men told police everything -- eager to distance themselves from the high-profile missing-person case.
The same was true with the people who ended up with the stolen property, Cloward said.
Late one night over the weekend, a man walked into the Police Department and placed a duffel bag on the counter. He told an officer the bag was full of stolen property.
When the officer offered to get someone to take a report, the man ran outside.
Cloward said he had visited many people in southeast Modesto whom he knew had ended up with the stolen loot. He told each of them they could avoid prosecution if they returned the goods, leaving his card with everyone he contacted.
By Monday, police had recovered nearly everything taken during the burglary.
"When you've got guys running into the Police Department, throwing stolen property on the counter and then running away, that's pretty rewarding," Clow-ard said. "Really, that just doesn't happen."
In other developments:
* Students at many Modesto-area schools pinned on yellow and blue ribbons for Laci Peterson, who is a substitute teacher. * A fund-raiser at Salon Salon in Modesto generated about $6,000 for the Laci Peterson search fund, said Amy Rocha, the missing woman's sister.
"We just want to say thank you to everyone," Rocha said.
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