NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) -- The main suspect in the disappearance of a Brooklyn woman has been transferred to a jail closer to where she vanished, and his bail has been tripled.
Al Jones Reports
Sheriff's deputies on Tuesday brought 23-year-old Michael Mele from the Rockland County jail to Town Court in Newburgh, near where 25-year-old Laura Garza was last seen.
There his probation violation case was transferred to Orange County and he was ordered to the county jail in Goshen on $150,000 bail.
Steve Sandberg Reports
Meanwhile, state troopers conducted a ground and air search along Interstate 84 between Middletown and Newburgh, where Garza was reportedly last seen with Mele. Mele has not been charged in Garza's disappearance.
Investigators also confirmed Tuesday that they removed items from Mele's apartment in Wallkill.
The missing woman, Garza, was a newly transplanted New Yorker who had left a Texas border town with dreams of becoming a dancer. The suspect, Mele, had a record of creepy sex crimes in the northern suburbs.
They met last week at the Marquee nightclub in Manhattan. They left together early Wednesday and were last seen a couple of hours later in his fancy SUV, 70 miles north of Manhattan and not far from his Wallkill apartment.
She hasn't been seen since.
On Monday, state police searched Mele's apartment and his Infiniti, as well as nearby fields, woods, trash bins and a septic system, but there was no sign of Garza, dead or alive, said state police Capt. Wayne Olson.
Mele, who owns a local Quiznos franchise, has not been charged. Given that, his lawyer, Craig Brown, declined to comment on his guilt or innocence on Monday.
``We need to find this young woman,'' Olson said. ``We haven't determined that this is a homicide but certainly we strongly suspect she is a victim of foul play.''
The captain said there has been no major development in the search, but some evidence was sent to labs for DNA and other tests. He would not confirm published reports that a swatch of carpet was missing, that the apartment was suspiciously clean or that blood had been found in the car.
He also said a number of women had offered helpful information about Mele, which he would not detail. Police had publicly requested that women who knew Mele come forward, given his history of sex offenses.
Olson said police had also spoken with several of Garza's friends and relatives, and with some of Mele's associates, but Mele and his parents were not talking on their lawyer's advice.
Another man who left the club with Mele and Garza told New York City police that they had dropped him off on their way to Mele's apartment.
Mele pleaded guilty on Saturday to a Manhattan traffic infraction, parking on the pavement, and he was jailed afterward in Rockland County for violating his six-year probation sentence for the sex offenses, Brown said Monday.
For one thing, he shouldn't have been drinking at the bar on Wednesday, said Sgt. Harry Baumann of the Clarkstown police. He had also failed to report to his probation officer and had missed sex-offender treatment sessions, said Baumann, who explained that Mele's convictions involve several episodes of public lewdness, including masturbating near women at a shopping mall.
Mele was being held on $50,000 bail pending a Dec. 22 court appearance. His parents visited him Monday but he had not made bail by late afternoon, said Detective Lt. William Barbera of the Rockland County sheriff's office.
Garza's cousin, Isela Villalobos, said Monday from Mission, Texas, that Garza loved New York after moving there from McAllen.
``She went there for a vacation this year and she came back and told her mother she was moving,'' Villalobos said.
``She loved fashion and she loved the dance, and where else but New York do you go for that?''
Garza had worked in a clothing store in McAllen, Texas, and worked in a shoe store in Manhattan. Villalobos said Garza wanted to pay off some debts before applying to three dance schools in the city.
She also said Garza would never have left the club willingly with Mele.
``She was a good girl, she came home every night,'' she said.
The New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation is asking that anyone with information regarding Mele in general, or his whereabouts during the previous four days, contact (845) 344 5300. All calls will be treated as confidential.
Inset photos: Mele's SUV (police handout), Laura Garza (Facebook)
TM & Copyright 2008 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO & EYE Logo TM & Copyright 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. TheAssociated Press contributed to this report.
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The missing woman, Garza, was a newly transplanted New Yorker who had left a Texas border town with dreams of becoming a dancer. The suspect, Mele, had a record of creepy sex crimes in the northern suburbs.
He also said a number of women had offered helpful information about Mele, which he would not detail. Police had publicly requested that women who knew Mele come forward, given his history of sex offenses.
