Possible Clues Uncovered In Search For Sierra LaMar
MORGAN HILL (CBS 5) – The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department confirmed Thursday night that clues possibly linked to the Sierra LaMar case have been found.
According to authorities, a box labeled "handcuffs" and used condoms were found near Palm Drive in a rural area of Morgan Hill on Thursday.
The site is within a mile and a half of where detectives previously found the missing teenager's cellphone and a bag of her clothes. It is also near the site where police believe LaMar was likely abducted.
The items were discovered by a volunteer from The KlassKids Foundation, which has launched an effort to search for LaMar.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
A crime lab will determine if the items are related to the teen's disappearance.
Related Coverage:
Sierra LaMar's Disappearance Raises Questions About School Absentee Notifications
Hundreds of volunteers have been scouring the area surrounding LaMar's home this week after sheriff's officials re-classified the case as an abduction and announced that authorities had all but ruled out the possibility that the Ann Sobrato High School sophomore had run away.
Sheriff's dive teams with specially trained rescue K-9s took to the area's waterways to search for human remains and hundreds of volunteers have been participating in search efforts organized by The KlaasKids Foundation.
Founded by Mark Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter Polly Klaas was kidnapped from her Petaluma home in 1993, the organization is managing the volunteers and deploying its own search and rescue resources to help find Sierra.
Personnel from the sheriff's office, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and other agencies have dedicated more than 3,000 hours to the case, according to Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza.
Detectives continue to investigate more than 500 tips related to the case sent to the sheriff's office via phone or email, he said.
LaMar, 15, was last seen on the morning of March 16th leaving for school from her Morgan Hill home. She did not attend school that day.
Investigators later found Sierra's cellphone off of a roadway near her home around Dougherty and Palm avenues as well as her black, Juicy brand purse, which contained a folded pair of pants and a T-shirt belonging to the teen.
The teen's classmates at Ann Sobrato High School have established a reward fund for Sierra's safe return and placed a donation box in the school's front office.
Checks can be made payable to Ann Sobrato High School ASB and mailed or dropped off at the school, located at 401 Burnett Avenue.
The KlaasKids Foundation has also established a fund to help in the search. To contribute to the fund a link is available at Facebook.com/find.sierra.lamar or contributions can be made directly to the Sierra LaMar Fund at any Chase bank.
Donations of food, water bottles, office supplies or money are also welcome, according to KlaasKids.
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