Over two years ago, a 25-year-old Brooklyn woman disappeared and was believed to have been murdered after a night of clubbing; this past April, the remains of Laura Garza were finally found in Pennsylvania. And today, the prime suspect in the case who has long been suspected of having killed Garza will be indicted in connection with the murder. The only surprising thing is how long it's taken prosecutors to be able to charge him. more ›

News that remains found in a Pennsylvania field were positively identified as those of Laura Garza, a 25-year-old aspiring dancer from Brooklyn who vanished in December 2008, brought a new measure of grief to her family. A cousin, Isela Villalobos, told the Journal News, "We've been in mourning since Friday, when the police told us. Laura's mother was expecting for her daughter to come in the door until that dream was shattered Friday afternoon... All we do is think of Laura. We have moments when we cry. We have moments when we laugh." more ›

State police have found remains belonging to Laura Garza, last seen at Chelsea nightclub Marquee in December 2008, in a Pennsylvania field. Garza left the club with registered sex offender Michael Mele; WCBS 2 reports, "This past April 11, more than a year later, kids on ATVs found skeletal remains in a field near Olyphant, Pennsylvania. That's one hour west from Mele's apartment." Mele has been in jail for violating his probation related to other sex crimes, but he was never charged for Garza's disappearance, though he was the police's main suspect. more ›

The exhaustive search for the body of Laura Garza, the Brooklyn woman who went missing after leaving a Chelsea nightclub with a sex offender, has officially been called off. A fire coordinator told the Times Herald-Record, "This is the last day. We've pretty much exhausted the search crews." Many volunteer firefighters had been involved with the latest chapter of the search—in December, when Garza first disappeared, local state troopers saw their overtime go up 30%. Many of Garza's family members had come up from Texas and sworn that they will stay here until she is found. Recently, two of her brothers crossed paths with the parents of the man their sister was last seen with, Michael Mele, outside the jail where he is being held for probation violations. While no charges have been filed against him in the disappearance, police have said they still hope to go to trial, even if only with circumstantial evidence. One of he Garza brothers recently said of local authorities, “They’re not stopping and we don’t have words enough to say thank you to them." more ›

Today in Orange County, police have resumed the search for Laura Garza, the Brooklyn woman who left a nightclub with a registered sex offender three months ago, never to be seen again. State police will focus once again on trails off of Route 17, including the area where they discovered a piece of carpet that they believe came from the apartment of the man Garza left with, Michael Mele, who police have only named as a "person of interest." Garza's family and friends recently camped outside of Mele's apartment, demanding he provide more answers since being labeled by authorities as "uncooperative." As for the search that will take place today and tomorrow, police say that they have declined offers of assistance from the public due to fears of tainting any evidence and said that they can't make headway into Sullivan County because there is too much snow on the ground. Captain Wayne Olson said the previous searches have turned up evidence but told reporters, "We have submitted a number of items for analysis and we've had some results, and I can't go into specific." more ›

The State Police are still working hard to find Laura Garza, a Brooklyn woman who has been missing since early this month. Investigators suspect that a convicted sex offender, Michael Mele, she met at Marquee may have killed her, after they found blood in his car and noticed a piece of carpet in his apartment was missing (it was later found, bleached, off a highway). Divers broke through 4 inches of ice on Lake Echo in upstate Orange County (it's close to Mele's Wallkill apartment) and took turns searching its depths. The police also searched his apartment again. Mele is in jail, held on parole violations. more ›

As the search continues for missing Brooklyn woman Laura Garza, police say they have found a bleached section of carpet along Route 17 in Bloomingburg that appears to be the same one that was missing from Michael Mele’s apartment in nearby Wallkill. While police wait for it to be tested, a spokesman said, “It is anticipated that it will be significant.” The discovery came a few days after police questioned Mele’s girlfriend, who had allegedly helped him remove the carpet the day after Garza disappeared. more ›

In case there has been any ambiguity up until this point, Michael Mele is not a nice person. One of his employees at the Quizno's he manages in Orange County recounted to the Post today about how her boss berated her, screaming into the phone at her for revealing to police where he lived when they came by investigating the disappearance of Laura Garza. more ›

Bail for Michael Mele, a convicted sex offender, was raised to $150,000, as he remains the sole suspect in the disappearance of Laura Garza. Garza, a Brooklyn resident who had recently moved from Texas, was last seen in a SUV with Mele, who she apparently met at Marquee nightclub last Wednesday. Mele's friend told state police he last saw the Mele and Garza in a McDonald's parking lot in Newburgh. The Daily News reports that the state police are also trying to use Mele's cellphone records to "trace his steps...When a cell phone is on, it frequently 'pings' off the closest tower, and that information can be used to create a road map of the user's movements." Mele's lawyer points out that his client hasn't been charged in Garza's disappearance, in spite of the police searching his apartment and finding blood in his car (Mele is being held on a probation violation). more ›

After the State Police asked women to come forward with any information about a man suspected in the disappearance of missing Brooklyn woman Laura Garza, "stories of creepy run-ins" with Michael Mele are emerging. According the Daily News, the 23-year-old, "in most of the attacks...followed women to their cars and then masturbated in front of them." He was convicted of doing that in NY State and may face charges in NJ and Connecticut. Garza was last seen with Mele, apparently meeting him at nightclub Marquee. Investigators found blood in Mele's car and there's a large piece of carpet missing from his apartment in Wallkill. Mele has not been charged yet—he's being held on a probation violation. more ›

Police are looking for witnesses who may have seen the silver Infiniti SUV "any time after early Wednesday morning," because that's the vehicle a missing Brooklyn woman was last seen in. Laura Garza left the Manhattan nightclub Marquee early Wednesday morning with Michael Mele (pictured), a convicted sex offender, and hasn't been heard from since. State police investigated Mele's upstate apartment, finding a woman's shoe near a dumpster and a large piece of his home's carpet missing. more ›

As the investigation continues for the missing body of Laura Garza, the 25-year-old last seen leaving the nightclub Marquee early Wednesday morning, the details that have come in are not very pretty. Police are still searching around the Wallkill home of Michael Mele, the Quizno's franchise owner and convicted sex offender Garza was last spotted leaving the club with. Yesterday they found a woman's shoe near Mele's apartment in the dumpster he was seen scouring through in recent days, a piece of cloth resembling women's undergarments in a nearby shrub and bite marks and scratches on Mele himself. more ›

Police are investigating the disappearance of a 25-year-old Brooklyn woman who was out clubbing well into Wednesday morning and they suspect was murdered by a man she was seen leaving with. Laura Garza, who had just recently moved to Bay Ridge, spent the night dancing at Chelsea hot spot Marquee before taking off at 4 a.m. with the man she had been hanging around, 23 year-old registered sex offender Michael Mele. Mele turned himself into state police in yesterday in Newburgh, not far from his Wallkill apartment where they believe he may have committed a violent assault on Garza. more ›