Family calls off search for missing Calif. teen Sierra LaMar

MORGAN HILL, Calif. -- After nearly three years, the family of missing California teen Sierra LaMar has called off weekly searches after combing all viable areas where her body might be located, reports CBS San Francisco.

LaMar, 15, vanished March 16, 2012 while walking to a bus stop on her way to school in a rural farming area near Morgan Hill, southeast of San Jose.

Volunteers from the Sierra LaMar search center have been searching the area weekly since her disappearance, but they will meet for the last time March 14, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

"It's hard for us to do this," said Sierra's father, Steve LaMar, reports the paper. "We've kind of become a big family. It's sad, but we have so much thanks to all the people who have been helping us for the past three years."

Though her body has never been found, police arrested Antolin Garcia Torres several months later and charged him with her murder. Authorities have said they believe she was abducted on her way to school that day.

Garcia-Torres' DNA was found on items of the teen's clothing found two days after she disappeared, folded in her handbag that had been tossed in a field, reports the San Jose Mercury News. Her DNA was also found in Garcia-Torres' car, reports the paper.

Torres is set to appear in court April 8 for a pre-trial hearing. The Santa Clara District Attorney is seeking the death penalty, reports the station.