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Modesto reties yellow ribbons
Pregnant wife's vanishing recalls Levy, Yosemite cases
Janine DeFao,
San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Sunday, January 5, 2003

Modesto -- Once again, posters of a missing dark-haired young woman
with a winning smile and bright future are papering the streets of
this Central Valley city.

When Chandra Levy disappeared less than two years ago in Washington,
D.C., residents of her hometown posted flyers and tied yellow ribbons
to trees and mailboxes. Today, they are wearing ribbons pinned to
their shirts with a second strand in pale blue, for Laci Peterson and
the baby boy she is supposed to deliver around Valentine's Day.

Peterson, 27, vanished on Christmas Eve. While police have few clues,
they believe she met with foul play. On Saturday, investigators
broadened their search efforts from Stanislaus County to six other
counties -- including a return trip to the Berkeley Marina -- but
found no new evidence.

While each passing day diminishes the possibility she will be found
safe, time has not dimmed the efforts of the hundreds of volunteers
who have the search for her, from friends and family to total
strangers touched by the tragedy.

They are holding out hope, they say, because it is too hard to
consider the alternative.

"With Chandra Levy, there was not much we could do here to solve the
case. All we could do was worry and wait and support the family," said
Modesto Mayor Carmen Sabatino. But with Peterson, "the response of the
community has just been overwhelming. They're out searching fields and
ranches and empty warehouses. It's uppermost in their minds."

It is the third time in four years that Modesto residents have found
themselves thrust into a high-profile missing persons case and the
ensuing media glare.

The fast-growing city of nearly 200,000, struggling to retain its
small- town atmosphere as it becomes home to more Bay Area commuters,
also was the command post for the search for three missing Yosemite
tourists in 1999. The volunteer center was based in the same hotel
that now houses the one for Peterson.

'TOO MUCH FOR OUR TOWN'
"This hits our community for the third time, and it's just too much
for our town to go through this tragic a thing," said Susan Levy,
Chandra's mother. "I feel so sad. It's like flashing back to the very
beginning of our case."

The remains of the 24-year-old intern were found a year after her
disappearance, and her reported relationship with Rep. Gary Condit,
D-Ceres, cost him his political career. The case of the Yosemite
tourists -- Carole Sund, her daughter, Juli, and their family friend
Silvina Pelosso -- also ended with the discovery of their bodies.

Peterson's searchers know that, but say they won't give up.

"Things look bleak out there. It's hard to keep up your hope, but you
have to," said Modesto resident Lisa Braden, among the 80 or so
volunteers who show up daily at the volunteer center to distribute
flyers, make ribbons and help with other tasks.

While Modesto police have been guarded about many details of the
investigation, they increased public scrutiny of Peterson's husband,
Scott Peterson, when they announced last week that they needed help to
corroborate his story that he found his wife missing Dec. 24 upon
returning from a solo fishing trip at the Berkeley Marina.

Saturday's search at the shallow marina -- involving seven dogs and
eight divers -- wasn't because of a specific tip, authorities say, but
because the clear weather finally let them conduct the search.

PLANNED TO WALK DOG
Scott Peterson has told police that he left home around 9:30 a.m.,
when his wife was planning to walk their golden retriever in a nearby
park and shop for Christmas brunch. A neighbor found the dog outside
an hour later, trailing a muddy leash. But searches of the park and
beyond have come up empty, and bloodhounds led investigators to
believe Peterson may have left home by car, not on foot.

Police released photos of Scott Peterson's pickup truck and boat,
which have been impounded, and said he is only cooperating "to some
degree," which his family disputed. Investigators would not say
whether he has taken a polygraph test.

On Friday, police said they do not think a burglary at a home across
the street from the Petersons on Covena Avenue was related to the
disappearance, as family members and volunteers had suspected.
Investigators said the break- in happened two days after Laci Peterson
was reported missing.

While both his parents and Laci Peterson's family have done extensive
media interviews in a case that is garnering national attention, Scott
Peterson has declined to do so. He does not attend the police
department's daily press conferences and sat apart from the family at
a New Year's Eve candlelight vigil, leading some of the 1,200
attendees to believe he was not there.

"Being the parent of a child who's missing, I don't understand why
anyone would not stand up and say, 'Here I am. Do with me what you
please,' " said Donna Raley, whose 36-year-old daughter Dena
Raley-McCluskey disappeared in Modesto in 1999 and has never been
found. "If you were innocent, wouldn't you want to clear your name?"

Still, friends and family are adamant that he could not have been
involved, describing the couple as "perfect" and "like honeymooners"
even after five years of marriage. Scott Peterson, 30, has gone to the
search center daily and left notes posted for the volunteers.

"As I see every person come through this door, or out searching, I
tell Laci about them, looking for her," one reads. "Early this
morning, I felt she could hear me. She thanks you." It is signed,
"Laci's husband."

COUPLE MET AS STUDENTS
The couple married five years ago after meeting as students at
California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where both
majored in agriculture fields. Laci Peterson grew up with her mother,
stepfather and brother in Modesto, where she was a high school
cheerleader. Her father and half- sister lived in nearby Escalon,
where he raised dairy cows.

Scott Peterson grew up in San Diego, the youngest of seven children.

After graduating from college, the couple opened a restaurant in their
college town. They closed it more than two years ago to move back to
Modesto and start a family, closer to Laci Peterson's relatives.

Laci Peterson began working as a substitute teacher, and Scott
Peterson took a job as a salesman for Tradecorp, a Spanish firm that
manufactures specialty fertilizers.

While Scott Peterson traveled often for work, neighbors said they
often saw the couple gardening together, hosting pool parties and
grilling on the backyard barbecue that Scott Peterson built.

"I never heard them argue or look upset," said Terra Venable, who
lives across the street. "They're what you would classify as a totally
normal family. "

Family and friends said the couple were excited about the anticipated
arrival of the baby. While Laci decorated the nursery in nautical
theme, Scott built a table for it.

Rene Tomlinson, a friend of Laci Peterson since high school, said she
last talked to her a few days before Christmas. She was heading out to
buy fabric for the nursery, and there was no indication anything was
wrong.

Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, said she talked to her daughter on Dec.
23, the night before she was reported missing. Aside from Scott
Peterson, she was the last known person to speak to her daughter.

'LOOKING FORWARD'
"She said they would be over for Christmas Eve and were looking
forward to it," Rocha said.

Tomlinson said it was not unusual for Scott Peterson to go fishing
alone, and his parents said he fished often from the time he was a
child.

"The boat was new, so he was anxious to go," said his mother, Jackie
Peterson. "He had an agreeable wife, so he got to do what he wanted."

Another relative said Scott Peterson had not fished before at the
Berkeley Marina, but had wanted to go after reading an article about
sturgeon.

Tomlinson, who had been organizing Peterson's baby shower, shows up
daily at the volunteer center with her 5-month-old daughter, Emma, for
whom Laci had thrown a shower.

"It's wearing on my family life, but I don't think anyone is going to
give up," she said.

Family and friends have been buoyed by the support of volunteers,
estimated at nearly 800. That many people turned out at the Red Lion
Hotel for a New Year's Day brunch and fund-raiser for the search. The
hotel has donated space for the volunteer center.

"When you just look at her picture and see her smile, you feel the
warmth and want to do something. Add to that the holidays and the fact
that she's eight months' pregnant," said hotel general manager Brad
Saltzman. "Since Modesto has been through this twice before, they
really just come together."

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (209) 342-6166. A
$500, 000 reward is being offered for Laci Peterson's safe return.