Angelica Sandoval, Mother of an 11 mo old, Has Been Missing Since Feb. 23,2011/5 Months Later, Search Continues/One Year Later Still Missing/8.10.13 Alamosa LE still investigating Angelica's disappearance

Sandoval task force set up by APD

ALAMOSA — “It’s like a nightmare and I just want to wake up.”

Michele Sandoval was talking about her daughter, Angelica Sandoval, who has been missing since Feb. 23.

Michelle said she didn’t know if someone grabbed Angelica because they had something against her or if it was a random occurrence. Either way it doesn’t really matter, she said.

“She’s my baby, my firstborn, and I love her,” she said. “I want her home.”

Police have a set procedure when a person is reported missing, and they are following that procedure with the search for Sandoval.

“Every case is different, but there are procedures in place that fit all cases,” said Acting Alamosa Police Chief Robert Jackson, discussing the disappearance of Angelica Sandoval.

She has not been seen since the night of Feb. 23. That night she returned home from a local laundromat and carried one load of laundry, her cell phone, and her one-year-old daughter into the house. Leaving her daughter with a relative she went back to her car to get more laundry and her purse.

Her brother became worried after she did not immediately return to the house, and went outside to check on her. Her purse was lying on the floorboard of her car and her car door was open.

Sandoval was gone and has not been seen by friends and family since.

Jackson said one of the first acts undertaken in a missing person’s case is to interview friends and family and follow up on all leads. The Alamosa Police Department has done this with such vigor that even members of the missing woman’s family are praising them.

Unfortunately, all of their leads have turned up negative.

Before Sandoval had been missing 24 hours the APD had formed a task force of four of their most experienced officers. This task force is led by Lt. Duane Oakes.

They have been joined by two members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI officers were in Alamosa Friday and will be returning today.

Jackson said there have been lots of tips called in to CrimeStoppers, and all leads are still being followed.

“So far none of the tips have been helpful, but you never know,” he said. “The next one could be the one.”

Police do not know if there is a connection, but Sandoval had been subpoenaed to testify Wed., Mar. 2, against Jose Luiz Meraz, who allegedly broke into her home last year. Meraz is currently in the Alamosa County Detention Center.

“It’s just one other thing we are looking at,” Jackson said.

Sandoval’s family is hoping she will be returned to them unharmed, but they are also being proactive. They have organized themselves into groups of three to five and have been systematically searching the valley, from chico fields to dumpsters.

“She is either kidnapped, injured or dead,” Fares Jacquez, Sandoval’s uncle, said in an earlier interview. “We are afraid she is lying somewhere alone and injured, and we have to do something.”

Because Sandoval disappeared without her cell phone and purse, and left behind her sick baby, things Jacquez said she would never under any circumstances have done willingly, her family is convinced she was kidnapped.

The family is hoping that somebody saw something and will come forward with information. Any information could help with the investigation and could help searchers find Sandoval, Jacquez said.

The family is still searching for Sandoval, covering parts of Del Norte, Monte Vista, and Mount Blanca on Monday.

“I do want to say ‘Thank you’ to everybody who has helped out,” Michelle said. “The biggest things needed by the searchers are gas, water and food. They are out all day and by the afternoon they are tired, hungry and cold.”

The strain is beginning to tell on the family, and a victim’s advocate is scheduled to meet with them soon.

In the meantime friends and family are holding prayer vigils in front of Angelica’s apartment every night at 6:30 p.m.

“We don’t know anything,” Michelle said. “Is the hungry? Is she cold? Is she even alive? We just don’t know.”

Anyone with information about Sandoval should call the Alamosa Police Department at 719-589-2548, Colorado State Patrol at 719-589-5807 or Crimestoppers at 719-589-4111.

A reward is available to anyone providing information that leads to the location of Angelica or to the arrest of the person responsible for her disappearance.

http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=19735

Missing Alamosa Woman Was To Testify In Trial
Angelica Sandoval Was Witness To Crime


ALAMOSA, Colo. -- A woman who went missing last week was the main witness in a criminal trial in Alamosa County.
Angelica Sandoval went missing Feb. 23 after returning home from doing laundry. She was the main witness in a case against Jose Luis Meraz. Meraz, 30, was accused of breaking into Sandoval's apartment, threatening and attacking her in November.
Deputy Chief Robert Jackson of the Alamosa Police Department said family told them that Sandoval came home from a laundromat the night of her disappearance. She gave her 1-year-old son to her brother before returning to the car to get the laundry. She hasn't been seen since.
Jackson said it doesn't appear that Sandoval left on her own accord. Her car door was left open, her purse remained in the car and her cell phone was in the house.
"This is very disturbing," Jackson said. "It looks like there weren't signs of a struggle. We just don't know."
Jackson said the investigation is a joint effort between Alamosa police and the FBI. The two units hold daily briefings and are exhausting every lead that comes in, Jackson said.
Alamosa police are looking at the connection between Meraz and Sandoval's disappearance "very carefully," Jackson said. Meraz is a Mexican national with an extensive criminal background.
According to a background check by 7NEWS, Meraz has several felony convictions dating to 1997. He has been arrested for burglary, driving under the influence, trespassing, attempting to escape from custody, assault and had several instances of distributing dangerous drugs.
He is still being held in custody for an unrelated assault on a peace officer charge from October. The 12th Judicial District Attorney David Mahonee told The Courier Journal that he dismissed the charges against Meraz because he can re-file them at a later date after Sandoval has been located.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27069659/detail.html

Young woman missing

ALAMOSA - Police are looking for a young woman who they say arrived home from a laundromat, was unloading her clean clothes, and disappeared.

Twenty-one-year-old Angelica Sandoval was last seen at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday at her home on 13th Street near San Juan Avenue in Alamosa. Police say they do consider her disappearance suspicious.

If you have any information, you're asked to call Alamosa Police.

http://www.9news.com/news/article/183775/188/Young-woman-missing

Preliminary hearing scheduled for Jose Meraz


A preliminary hearing will be held in District Court today for Jose Luis Meraz, 20, the man who allegedly broke into Angelica Sandoval’s apartment three months ago.

The incident occurred early in the morning of Nov. 19, 2010.

According to court records, Sandoval was awakened early that morning by a man pushing her face into a pillow and putting another pillow on top of her head.

She felt a gun pressing into the back of her head and she heard a man say “Don’t f___ing move or I will kill you.”

The intruder taped the two pillows around her head and demanded money.

According to the court information, he pulled her by her hair into the living room where her purse was. Sandoval gave him $200 that was in her purse.

The man then allegedly pushed her on her bed and told her not to move for five minutes or he would kill her.

As he left he allegedly yelled “This is eastside gang, I’ll catch your ass on the 104!”

After checking on her 11-month old baby, who was asleep, Sandoval called 9-1-1. The call came in at 1:30 a.m. and Alamosa police responded.

According to the court affidavit, she told police that she could see through a crack between the pillows and she thought the gun was a Glock with a blue laser light. The man’s face was covered, but she could see the tattoos on his neck. She said she recognized the man from the tattoos, his voice and his build.

She knew him only by his street name, “Demon.”

The officers searched their records and identified Meraz as using the street name of Demon.

Sandoval picked Meraz from a photo lineup.

Michelle Sandoval, Angelica’s mother, remembers the night of Nov. 19 well.

“We spent the night in a hotel,” Michelle said. “She was terrified, and wouldn’t go anywhere without me.”

Michelle said she will be in court today when Meraz goes before the court. Even without Angelica’s testimony there will be her statements to the police to be taken into consideration, she said.

“But I’m going to ask the judge to continue the case,” Michelle said. “Under the circumstances that seems a reasonable thing to do.”

Meraz is scheduled to appear in District Court at 1 p.m. today.
http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=19749

Meraz case dismissed; victim still missing


The case against Jose Luis Meraz, 20, the man charged with breaking into Angelica Sandoval’s apartment Nov. 19, 2010, was dismissed Wednesday.

“We dismissed the charges involving the Sandoval girl because she is not available,” District Attorney David Mahonee said. “We might have been able to get through a preliminary hearing (without her) but in District Court the six months speedy trial starts.”

Sandoval, 21, the young mother of a 1-year-old, was last seen a week ago Wednesday, Feb. 23, after returning home from a laundromat. After bringing her baby and a load of laundry into her house, she went back to her vehicle but never returned to the house. Her purse was found lying on the ground.

A week after her disappearance, Sandoval was still missing on Wednesday, and her family and authorities were following leads and conducting ground searches.

If Sandoval was not found within the six months speedy trial period in the Meraz case, the case would have been dismissed then and there would be no opportunity to re-file the case, he said. By dismissing the case now the matter can be re-filed when Sandoval is found. The case was dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning it can be re-filed later.

“He (Meraz) has a parole hold and another case, a second degree assault on an officer,” Mahonee said. “He’s still in custody. He’s not getting out.”

Mahonee said Michelle Sandoval, mother of Angelica, was in total agreement with the dismissal of the case against Meraz.

“This wasn’t done lightly,” Mahonee said. “We had officers from the APD [Alamosa Police Department] and the family in a group meeting, and the lawyers thought this was the right thing to do.”

Mahonee said the most important thing is for Angelica to be found.

“Her safety is paramount to us at this point,” Mahonee said. “We are very hopeful (she will be found safely).”

He said dismissing the charges against Meraz was a difficult decision, but the right one.

“It wasn’t done easily, it wasn’t done lightly,” he said. “But with a dismissal without prejudice there is the option of re-filing ... At least this way, we still have a case.”

Anyone with information about Angelica Sandoval should call the Alamosa Police Department at 589-2548, Colorado State Patrol at 589-5807 or Crimestoppers at 719-589-4111.
http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=19794

A woman who went missing last week was the main witness in a criminal trial in Alamosa County.

A woman who went missing last week was the main witness in a criminal trial in Alamosa County.

more at: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27069659/detail.html



I bet he's responsible for this young Mother's disappearance, if she's never heard from again he gets off on the charges. All she was doing was the right thing, testifying against him for his criminal behavior!!

Search for missing girl continues


ALAMOSA — Every morning when she wakes up and every night before she goes to sleep there is only one thought in Michelle Sandoval’s mind: “Where is my daughter? Where is my Angelica?”

Angelica Sandoval, 21, disappeared on the night of Feb. 23, 2011, after doing her laundry at a local Laundromat.

Arriving home she brought her baby and one basket of laundry into her apartment, then went back to her car to get her purse and the rest of the laundry. She did not return to the apartment.

After 15 or 20 minutes a family member went out to check on her. He said he thought maybe she had stopped to talk with a neighbor, but it was unusual for her to stay out so long without checking on her baby.

He found her car door open and her purse on the floorboard, but Angelica was not there.

The Sandoval family went through all channels, both official and unofficial, trying to find out what happened to Angelica. Interviews were given to both print and broadcast media, flyers were distributed all over the San Luis Valley, and pictures of Angelica were attached to thousands of balloons released on a cold, windy morning.

The family organized groups to check trash cans, walk through isolated fields and hike into the trails of nearby mountains, all to no avail.

“I can’t just wait,” Sandoval said at the time. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing. My baby, my Angelica may be out there injured, cold, hungry. I don’t know if she is alive or dead, I just don’t know. But I do know I will never give up looking for her.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) became involved, working with the Alamosa Police Department (APD) on the case.

Cpt. Robert Jackson of the APD said his department has followed up on thousands of leads, all of which dead-ended. Now he is trying to work through the inevitable rumors by administering polygraphs to people of interest.

Michelle Sandoval is one of the people they want to polygraph because of a recurring rumor that she knows where Angelica is.

“It’s devastating,” Sandoval said. “What happened is one night about midnight I caught a ride to WalMart with one of Angelica’s friends. Someone saw us, and thought it was Angelica, and notified the APD.”

Sandoval said she wished it had been Angelica, because then her personal nightmare would be over.

“All they have to do is pull the tape at WalMart and they will see it was not Angelica,” Sandoval said. “That could be done very easily and would prove to them who I was with.”

Sandoval said a candlelight vigil is still being held at Angelica’s apartment every month on the 23rd. She is also sponsoring a truck in Monday’s Fourth of July parade.

“It’s an ice cream truck, and we will have Angelica’s picture on it,” she said. “My biggest fear is that people will forget about her. I don’t want anyone to ever forget about her.”

Sandoval said the most frustrating thing is knowing that nothing she has done has helped bring her daughter back.

“It’s going on five months,” she said. “I thought with time it would be easier, but is just gets harder, harder and harder. No matter what I do it is just not enough. Where do we go from here?”

http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=21221

Trail grows cold in search for missing Alamosa mom
By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post
POSTED: 06/03/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT
UPDATED: 06/03/2011 08:52:33 AM MDT

Searches have been ongoing in southern Colorado since she disappeared Feb. 23. (Courtesy of Sandoval family)
The cryptic messages were drawn in snow near Zapata Falls, just south of Great Sand Dunes National Park.

"Help. Danger. Call Cops. Angel loves Lariah."

Along with the words, there were arrows pointing to where Angelica Sandoval may have been taken while held captive. The discovery gave her family momentary hope they soon would find the mother of 1-year-old Lariah.

But the 21-year-old Alamosa woman remains missing since she vanished Feb. 23, just days before she was to testify in a burglary case. She had put her daughter in the house and returned to her car to grab her laundry. The back door of her car was left open and her purse was on the ground in front of the car.

Like all the evidence in the suspicious missing-person case, the messages in snow did not lead to Angelica.

"We're not sure if she did it, if someone did it as a joke or to throw us off," said Sandoval's mother, Michelle.

So far there have only been a series of agonizing disappointments and grueling days of fruitless searches.

Authorities have investigated whether Jose Luis Meraz, 20, was involved indirectly while in jail, said acting Alamosa Police Chief Robert Jackson. He said Meraz denies he was involved.

Angelica Sandoval was supposed to testify against Meraz on March 3.

A man sneaked into her house while she was asleep in November, pressed a pillow over her head and threatened to shoot her and Lariah in the head, she told police. He pulled her by the hair into the living room and demanded money.

Sandoval gave the man $200 from her purse before he tied her up. When the man began sexually assaulting her, she begged him not to rape her in front of her daughter. The man then fled while boasting gang ties.

Angelica Sandoval later identified Meraz through tattoos on his neck. She also recognized his voice as belonging to an acquaintance nicknamed "Demon."

She disappeared 10 days before she was to testify against Meraz. Prosecutors later dropped a burglary case against him, though it can be refiled if Sandoval is found alive to testify. He remains jailed on an unrelated charge of assaulting a law enforcement officer.

Besides the suspicious circumstances, there is no physical evidence Sandoval was kidnapped the night she disappeared. There are no witnesses, Jackson said.

Angelica Sandoval's uncle, Fares Jacquez, said she would never leave without her daughter, cellphone and cigarettes. Before her disappearance, she called her mother two or three times a day and suddenly stopped calling.

Friends and family have crisscrossed trails and dirt roads in remote parts of southern Colorado on ATVs and on horseback. They've trudged on foot through mountain snow up to their thighs.

"We've pretty much looked in all the deserted places. In abandoned buildings. Next to rivers," Sandoval said. "Coming home without her is the hardest part."

One tip has kept Robert Ruybol, Sandoval's father, busy. Someone called Michelle Sandoval and said: "If you want to find your daughter, look on the La Manga Pass, but you probably won't find her until spring."

Jackson said a tipster said she was in a green bag.

On many nights Ruybol has camped on the pass, searching until he was on the verge of exhaustion.

An FBI profiler has written his analysis. Every Friday, Michelle Sandoval talks to police investigators.

She believes her daughter may have been kidnapped and taken to human traffickers, possibly in Mexico.

"Not knowing is the worst part. I wonder, are they beating her? Are they raping her?" Michelle Sandoval said.

Meantime, Lariah, who is now 15 months old and lives with her grandmother, cries out "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy."

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18196208#ixzz1XW7LzPWU

t's been a year since Angelica Sandoval was reported missing from her home in Alamosa. The 21-year-old was supposed to testify against a man accused of kidnapping her.
t's been a year since a Southern Colorado mother was last seen. Police in Alamosa told KKTV 11 News they are growing more concerned about 21-year-old Angelica Sandoval.

"Right now it's suspicious,” Lt. Duane Oakes told 11 News after her disappearance.


At that time, police have told 11 News that they will continue investigating Sandoval's disappearance until she is found. Oakes said that tips continue to come in, and officers are investigating all of them.

Sandoval reportedly disappeared from outside of her home around 11 p.m. on February 23. Police say they do not believe she would have willingly left her one-year-old daughter behind.

"She was just gone, no trace, no nothing," said her mother, Michelle Sandoval.

Michelle says the last time family members saw Angelica, she had just gotten home from doing laundry.

"She brought the baby in, she brought in her clothes and her phone and then she went back out to grab her purse and about 10 to 15 minutes later she hadn't come back in," said Michelle.

Angelica was gone. Her car door left wide open and her purse was found laying in the street.

"We don't have any proof that she didn't leave on her own. We don't have any proof that she was kidnapped," Oakes said.

Angelica was due to testify against a man accused of kidnapping her back in November. Acting Police Chief Robert Jackson says Jose Luis Meraz broke into Sandoval's home looking for money, and bound her with duct tape while her baby daughter was there. He could not comment on why Angelica was the target of that crime.

Without their key witness, the district attorney prosecuting Meraz has dropped the charges against him for now, with an option to refile at any time. If prosecutors filed a continuance in the case instead, they would have only been able to wait six months.

Meraz is still in jail, however, on charges he assaulted his parole officer. According to investigators, Meraz is in the United States illegally.

Meanwhile, Sandoval's family is growing more and more desperate for any leads.

"We've been searching dumpsters, alleys. There is so much field out here in Alamosa, it’s all country. It’s been really hard," Michelle said. "I'm not ever going to stop looking for her. She was my first born. My angel of hope, I just want her to come home."

On her Facebook page just one day before she went missing Angelica wrote, “I am in love with the most beautiful little girl in the world. Mommy luvs u Lariah.”

The FBI has helped police with the case. The police chief says in they find out the case has crossed state lines, it will be turned over to federal investigators.

Angelica is about 5-foot-2, 110 lbs, with brown hair and brown eyes.

If you know where she is, call Crime Stoppers in Alamosa at 719-589-4111.
http://www.townvox.com/article15265515/one_year_later__angelica_sandoval_still_missing___kktv.htm

ALAMOSA — Fruitless leads are motivating the Alamosa Police Department (APD) investigation team to call on outside resources to intensify the search for Angelica Sandoval.

Last Wednesday, August 22 APD Capt. Robert Jackson, APD Detective Yvonne Gonzales and APD Lt. Duane Oakes took the case of the missing Alamosa woman to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Cold Case Review Unit at a meeting in Lakewood. After explaining the ins and outs of the investigation that has been ongoing since the night of February 23, 2011, the unit offered the investigators some advice and praised their efforts.

“We spoke with senior investigators that have the experience,” Jackson said in an interview on Monday. “They felt we had done most of what we could and were impressed with the quality of the investigation so far.”

The unit comprises former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), CBI and other agency investigators, and active investigators and law enforcement officers.

Although he would not disclose the unit’s recommendations, Jackson said the case remains open, it is the primary interest of the department and there are no substantial leads.

He added that Sandoval’s family has continued to be active in the search.

Sandoval, who was 21-years-old at the time, disappeared after a night of washing clothes at a local laundry mat with her 1-year-old daughter. She returned to her home on Thirteenth Street, placed her daughter, a load of laundry and her cell phone inside the house and allegedly returned to her car to gather her things. When she did not come back into the house, family went to find her. All they discovered was her car door open and her purse lying on the floorboard.

Shortly after Sandoval’s disappearance, the APD followed up on several leads. On Tuesday, March 1, 2011, authorities and family members conducted an extensive search at Zapata Falls after clues were found in the snow. In handwriting that might have been Sandoval’s, the words “Help” “Danger” “Call cops” and “Angel over here” were discovered, but they did not bring the investigation closer to finding the missing woman’s whereabouts.

Anyone with information about Sandoval’s disappearance is encouraged to contact San Luis Valley Crimestoppers at 589-4111. Crimestoppers pays for information that leads to the arrest of criminal offenders. Citizens may report crimes anonymously and remain eligible for rewards.

http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=26164&page=72

She's such a pretty girl. How sad.

Posted: Tuesday, Jul 23rd, 2013

ALAMOSA — Alamosa police are still investigating the February 2011 disappearance of then-21-year-old Alamosa mom Angelica Sandoval.

“We are following leads as they come in,” Alamosa Police Department Lieutenant Duane Oakes said on Monday.

For example, Oakes and agents from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, checked out a lead last week that ultimately was unfounded.

Angelica’s family had received a phone call that a gravesite had been found in Costilla County. The Alamosa Police Department, CBI and FBI agents looked into the site, which was in a remote area of Costilla County just north of the state line.

They received the information on Wednesday, secured the site and on Thursday dug at the site but found no human remains. Oakes reported that the team collected the bones at the site, which they believe to be solely from animals.

“Nothing made us believe we found anything related to Angelica,” Oakes said.

Sandoval went missing on February 23, 2011, after returning home from doing laundry. She had taken her daughter, who was 1 at that time, into her residence and then returned to her car for her purse and the rest of the laundry. She never returned. Her purse was found lying on the floorboard of her car and her car door was open.

Angelica’s 24th birthday will be October 19.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is working with the Alamosa Police Department on the case. Anyone with information about this case may call Crimestoppers anonymously at 719-589-4111.
http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=30673&page=72