Missing Woman Laura Garza Was Last Seen With Convicted Sex Offender Michael Mele, Search Continues
8 December 2008, 12:00 PM. By Alex Alvarez
A case revolving around the disappearance of a young woman has her family and community praying for her safety as authorities close in on the man they believe is responsible. Laura Garza, 25, was last seen leaving a Manhattan nightclub on Wednesday with 23-year-old Michael Mele, a convicted sex offender.
Mele had previously been put on probation after forcibly touching four women at a New York mall. He violated his probation by drinking and failing to report to his probation officer. Last Friday, Mele turned himself in at a Newburgh, NY police station on an unrelated charge and was subsequently charged with violating his probation. In a statement issued by police, Mele is described as having a history of “being sexually aggressive toward women and confronting women in secluded areas to perform lewd acts.”
Mele [pictured below] and Garza were seen twice in the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 3rd, leaving Marquee nightclub in Chelsea and then getting into Mele’s Infiniti SUV. Police have have searched Mele Wallkill (Oh God), NY apartment and noticed that a small portion of carpet seems to have recently been removed from its interior.
Laura Garza moved from her hometown of McAllen, Texas to New York City following the death of her father, moving in with cousins in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. A neighbor described her as being sweet, if slightly out of place:
“She was a very nice, sweet, Southern girl,” said Adam Akesson, 25, who lived upstairs from Garza in Bay Ridge.
“It was obvious she was from out of town. She seemed very trusting and naive.”
Back in Texas, Garza’s family have been begging for the safe return of their loved one:
“Please return my sister,” cried Ivan Garza [pictured above], the heartsick brother of Laura Garza, outside the family’s Texas home.
“I only need my sister here,” he said. “That’s it.”
“[My mother] is in bad shape. She’s taking medicine and is in bed,” said Ivan Garza. “My sister never hurt anyone. She’s a beautiful person.”
Search for Missing Woman Focuses on a Sex Offender [NY Times]
Laura Garza: Small town girl who dreamed of big city life [NY Daily News]
Missing woman’s family pleads for her safety as cops zero in on perv [NY Daily News]
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oy! Gosh how sad. I wish her and her family a safe return.
That is very sad. Hopefully she makes it back home safely and the family doesn’t have to endure a tragedy.
Have you noticed how guys, like this, have a past with these types of crimes and repeat them again and again. Almost like they are hardwired for it, as if it’s part of how they are built. That’s creepy/crazy/interesting.
May God have mercy on his soul….the truth will come out sooner or later.
The family still holds out hope. Wouldn’t we all.
Our entire community here in South Texas where Laura is from, is praying for them.
-Miriam Ramirez
McAllen, Tx.
LAURA IS A CLOSE FRIEND TO ONE OF MY FRIENDS…… I JUST HOPE SHE COMES BACK SAVE TO HER FAMILY…….
I was assaulted and almost murdered when I was eighteen- years-old by two men. I was five months pregnant and begged for the safety of my unborn child. I literally ran unclothed in the middle of a busy night traffic ( I was assaulted in the back of a church in an abandoned field was grabbed from behind while i exited a car after almost jumping from the vehicle because the driver would not stop. I was assaulted twice and was told that they would cut my baby from my stomach!one of the men received six years and the other man NOTHING , as I could never positively identify his picture from the six or nine mug shots I saw. He got away! These kind of people only get worse and more violent until they kill and then it becomes even more of an obsession. This poor girl reminds me of myself, naive and trusting- wanted to believe the very best in people when we know the contrary. People like Casey Anthony and the guy in Vermont that kidnapped his 12- year- old niece , the world is full of rotten people that have no business around decent society. Now that they have this creep behind bars they have to make sure that he never gets out so he can’t destroy other people’s lives any more. My prayers and sympathy to the family.