Middlebury, Vt., police say they will resume a ground search today for 19-year-old college freshman Nicholas Garza of Albuquerque, who was last seen at a Middlebury College dorm on Feb. 5, accordind to the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press.

A technical rescue team from Saranac Lake, N.Y., will begin searching nearby Otter Creek on Wednesday using underwater video cameras, the Free Press reported.

Meanwhile, Middlebury Police Chief Thomas Hanley told a Vermont newspaper that no investigation has ever taxed the resources of the police department as much as the search for Garza.

"The train fell off the track -- that was wrapped up in four days," Hanley told the Barre Montpelier Times Argus. "We had a multiple homicide here 12 years ago ... We've had some shootings. Nothing has come close to this."

In the first seven weeks of the investigation, a total of 3,043 staff-hours were spent, including 581 overtime hours, taking a "significant chunk" of the department's $27,000 overtime budget, Hanley told the paper. 

5:30am 4/4/08 -- Medium To Join Garza Search: Vermont woman says she thinks she knows where missing ABQ student ended up.

Nan O'Brien, a Vermont woman who describes herself as a medium and intuitive counselor, says she believes she knows where 19-year-old Nicholas Garza of Albuquerque, the freshman who went missing from Middlebury College two months ago, ended up but says she doesn't know how he got there, according to Vermont television station WPTZ.

O'Brien, who got an e-mail from Garza's mother after the student went missing on Feb. 5, has helped in other missing persons cases before, traveling to northern Iowa to help in the search for television news anchor Jodi Huisentruit, who disappeared in 1995, WPTZ reported.

O'Brien told the station she doesn't want to reveal publicly where she thinks Garza went, but she said she doesn't believe he is far away and she doesn't believe foul play was involved.

Meanwhile, Middlebury police said they are planning new searches that, depending on the weather, could begin in four to five days, WPTZ reported.

4:50am 3/28/08 -- Still No Sign of Nick Garza: As snow melts on Middlebury College campus, the more the mystery deepens.

The first large-scale search of the Middlebury College campus in Vermont in more than a month for missing 19-year-old freshman Nicholas Garza of Albuquerque turned up no new clues on Thursday, The Associated Press on Fox News is reporting.

Dozens of Vermont State Police personnel and search experts combed the campus once again, and authorities found no trace of Garza, missing since he walked out of a dormitory on Feb. 5, no suggestion he left campus and no sign of foul play, AP reported.

It was hoped that the gradual disappearance of a heavy snow pack would end the uncertainty, the station reported.

Tom Scanlon, a spokesman for the Middlebury Police Department, said searchers would try again in two weeks, according to the AP.

1:25pm 3/27/08 -- Ground Search Resumes for ABQ Student: First large-scale search in weeks launched in Vt. for 19-year-old Nick Garza.

About 30 searchers -- some with specially trained dogs -- today resumed their search for Nicholas Garza, the 19-year-old freshman from Albuquerque who went missing from the Middlebury College campus on Feb. 5, The Associated Press is reporting.

Members of the Vermont State Police's search-and-rescue team, with help from the Colchester (Vt.) Technical Rescue Squad and New England K-9 Search and Rescue, began scouring the campus for Garza's body or clues to his disappearance, the AP said.

It's the first large-scale search for Garza since Feb. 23, said Middlebury police spokesman Tom Scanlon, who said the effort now is one of recovery, not a rescue, the AP reported. 

6:10am 3/19/08 -- Air Search Fails To Find Any Sign of Garza: Texas search-and-rescue group says snow and ice could hamper efforts for weeks.

A Department of Homeland Security helicopter joined the month and a half-long search for missing Albuquerque student Nicholas Garza around Middlebury, Vt., on Tuesday but failed to turn up any clues to the whereabouts of the 19-year-old college freshman, the Rutland (Vt.) Herald reported this morning.

"We didn't find anything helpful," Middlebury police Officer Jason Covey told the Herald. "It was very useful to cover a much larger area than has been searched to date. We covered the entire campus area, some of the surrounding property and along the creek."

But the airborne search was hampered by the same weather conditions that have frustrated searchers on the ground -- too much ice and packed snow, the Herald reported.

Meanwhile, Gary Peterson, a volunteer for the nonprofit search-and-rescue organization Texas EquuSearch, told the Herald he took part in a search of the area Sunday by canine teams from Lower Adirondack Search and Rescue but that search was hindered by the same weather conditions.

"What we need is a day of temperatures in the 40s and when it goes down at night, not to get below freezing," Peterson, an investigator with the Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner's Office, told the Herald. "In some areas of the woods, you'll be lucky if that snow is going in three or four weeks. In some flatter areas, it could be a week."

Peterson said that in the meantime there is nothing much for him to do and said he planned to leave the area today, the Herald reported.

"The local authorities have it pretty well in hand," Peterson told the paper. "I think they're making good use of their people and that's the kind of cooperation you need. I can't contribute anything until we can get into the river."

According to a report on Fox News, heavy snow and a cold snap -- and more frigid weather in the forecast -- have continued to frustrate searchers.

"We still have a lot of snow on the ground. It's cold today, with sleet and freezing rain expected. That kind of hampers things a lot," Middlebury police Officer George Merkel told Fox News on Tuesday. 

12:15pm 3/13/08 -- Garza Search Postponed Again: "America's Most Wanted" plans to profile case of missing ABQ student.

Middlebury, Vt., police decided this morning to wait for snow and ice to melt before they resume searching for 19-year-old Nicholas Garza, who went missing from the Middlebury College campus more than a month ago, Vermont television station WCAX-TV reported.

Meanwhile, WCAX is reporting that the popular national television show "America's Most Wanted" plans to profile the case.

Earlier today, the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press reported that Middlebury police said their search for the Albuquerque student led them to an unregistered sex offender from Florida who was living in the nearby town of Weybridge, Vt.

But police said there is no indication that 41-year-old Elvin Williamson had anything to do with Garza's disappearance, the Free Press reported.

12:20pm 3/12/08 -- 'Everything Stops at 11:06 P.M.': Middlebury police trace Garza's movements electronically until the moment he disappeared.

Middlebury, Vt. police say they will re-evaluate ground conditions on Thursday before deciding whether to launch a new search for missing Albuquerque student Nicholas Garza, The Associated Press is reporting.

Garza, a 19-year-old freshman, was last seen just after 11 p.m. on Feb. 5 when he left a get-together in a campus dormitory, the AP said.

Meanwhile, Middlebury police investigators have traced Garza's movements electronically -- through such things as campus key cards and cell phone use -- until the moment he disappeared, the AP reported.

"You can construct this guy's life," said Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley. "Everything stops at 11:06 p.m."

Hanley said there is still two feet or more of snow in some locations on campus, but once ground conditions improve, it would take a day or so to put together another search, the AP said.

"We're not sure he's not on the campus," Hanley said.

1:15pm 3/11/08 -- Ground Search for Nick Garza Set Thursday: Freezing rain and snow forced cancellation of search planned last Sunday.

A new ground search for 19-year-old Albuquerque student Nicholas Garza, who has been missing from the Middlebury College campus for more than a month, is planned for Thursday, according an Associated Press story on KOB-TV.

Crews have conducted several searches of the campus but so far have turned up no clues to Garza's disappearance, the AP reported.

Melting snows had improved conditions on campus somewhat, but search planned for last Sunday was canceled when a new winter storm brought freezing rain and snow to the area, the AP said.

4:45am 3/7/08 -- Pedestrian No Help in Garza Search: Police interview, dismiss man seen wandering the night ABQ student went missing.

Middlebury (Vt.) police said Thursday that they found the man they believed might have some information on missing Albuquerque student Nicholas Garza and determined that he had nothing to do with the case, the Rutland Herald reported.

The man had been seen walking a few miles from the Middlebury College campus in the early morning hours of Feb. 6, just hours after the 19-year-old college freshman was last seen on campus, according to the Herald.

After questioning by police, it was determined that the early-morning pedestrian had nothing to do with Garza's disappearance, the paper reported.

Police say the investigation into Garza's disappearance is continuing and that they are monitoring ground conditions around the campus daily, and while the snow pack has been reduced by recent mild weather, conditions still preclude a ground search, the Herald said. 

9:15am 3/6/08 -- Police Seek Man Who May Have Seen Garza: A young man was seen walking near Middlebury early in the morning of Feb. 6.

It was one month ago today that Nicholas Garza's cell phone went dead, several hours after the 19-year-old Middlebury College freshman from Albuquerque was last seen on the college campus, the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press reported.

Now, Middlebury police are looking for young man who was seen walking in Weybridge, Vt., a few miles north of Middlebury, between 3:30 and 3:40 a.m. on Feb. 6, according to the Rutland Herald and the Free Press.

Police say they don't know whether the man -- described as a white male in his 20s, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a thin build and dark shoulder-length hair -- has any connection to Garza's disappearance, but the want to find out what he may have seen, the Herald reported.

Nor do they think the pedestrian was Garza, according to a police news release. 

Here's a copy of the release from today's Free Press:

8:55am 3/4/08 -- FBI Profilers Join Search for ABQ Student: Middlebury (Vt.) police say it's a way to "get inside Nicholas (Garza's) head."

While the ground search for 19-year-old Nicholas Garza of Albuquerque has been suspended until snows on the Middlebury College campus have melted, Middlebury police are expanding their missing-persons investigation, according to the Addison County (Vt.) Independent.

In an effort to understand the Albuquerque freshman's frame of mind on Feb. 5, the night he went missing while the college was on midwinter break, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Behavioral Analysis Unit has joined the investigation, the Independent said.

The FBI unit will use information local investigators have gathered from people who know Garza and try to build a psychological profile that could help shed light on decisions Garza was making the night he disappeared, the paper said. 

"With the FBI, we try to get inside Nicholas' head," Middlebury police Chief Tom Hanley told the Independent.

The behavioral analysis will come at no cost to the Middlebury Police Department, since the FBI unit uses cases like this to validate its data, said Hanley, who said the FBI has shown considerable interest in the Garza case.

With three Middlebury police officers working on the case and a fourth on Vermont Air Guard deployment, only six officers remain to handle other police matters, Hanley told the paper.

But two more investigators will be contracted from another police agency next week to help with the search for Garza, Hanley said. 

A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the safe return of 19-year-old Nicholas Garza, the Albuquerque freshman who was last seen on the campus of Middlebury (Vt.) College on Feb. 5, The Associated Press reported this morning.

Middlebury police said a foundation put up $5,000 of the reward and another $15,000 was offered by Garza's mother, Natalie Garza of Albuquerque, the AP reported.

Meanwhile, a fundraiser to help the family continue their search will be held at Albuquerque's Outpost Ice Arena from 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Sunday, according to e-mails we received this morning.

Donations are $7 and skate rentals are $3, with all proceeds going to the Garza Family Fund.

For more information on the fundraiser, the reward and the search for Nick Garza, go to www.nicholasgarza.org and click on "latest news."

Here's more from the Albuquerque Academy Web site -- Garza is a 2007 Academy graduate.

7:30am 2/27/08 -- Outside Experts To Help in Garza Search: Missing student's family hires Texas team that looked for Natalie Holloway.

Texas EquuSearch, a search and recovery group that assisted in the search for teenager Natalie Holloway who went missing on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005, is expected to arrive in Middlebury, Vt., this week to help find 19-year-old Nicholas Garza of Albuquerque who has been missing since Feb. 5, a local television station reported.

WPTZ, an NBC affiliate in Plattsburgh, N.Y., that also serves Burlington, Vt., reported this week that Garza's mother, Natalie Garza of Albuquerque, has been frustrated with police efforts to find her son, who disappeared from the Middlebury College campus during the school's winter break.

"I need experts here," said Natalie Garza, who has been staying in Middlebury. "I need somebody to treat this like a criminal investigation."

Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley defended his department's investigation, WPTZ reported.

"We can't create leads," Hanley told the station. "We've talked to everybody that we feel needed to be talked to in this case."

Hanley told WPTZ that investigators have interviewed more than 100 people about Garza's disappearance and that investigators are working 16-hour days, seven days a week, on the case.

Still, Natalie Garza said she believes the case is at a standstill and that outside experts like Texas Equusearch are needed.

"I think an expert is needed to come in with a different set of eyes and give us some place to go," Natalie Garza told WPTZ.

9:55am 2/25/08 -- Family, Friends Remember Nicholas Garza: ABQ student missing in Vermont called "wise beyond his years."

There has been no break in the search for Nicholas Garza, the 19-year-old freshman from Albuquerque who vanished from the Middlebury College campus on Feb. 5.

But family members and friends from his Albuquerque Academy days described Garza to a Vermont newspaper as "Renaissance man, a youth with varied interests who was hard-working, charming and wise beyond his years."

His friends said they cannot imagine him simply running off without telling anyone, but they can't help hoping that he did, because that would mean he was all right, the Rutland (Vt.) Herald reported over the weekend.

His mother, Natalie Garza of Albuquerque, told the paper she's still holding on to hope that her son is alive and well somewhere.

6:10am 2/20/08 -- Vt. College Holds Vigil for ABQ Student: Friends and family set up Web site to publicize search for Nicholas Garza.

About 100 people attended a vigil at Middlebury College's Mead Memorial Chapel Tuesday night to mark the passing of two weeks since Nicholas Garza, a 19-year-old freshman from Albuquerque, disappeared from the snow-covered Vermont campus, the Rutland (Vt.) Herald reported.

Meanwhile, friends and family have established a Web site to help publicize the search, which has been formally suspended but continues as a missing persons investigation.

The Web site is www.nicholasgarza.org, and a fund also has been established to help Garza's mother, Natalie Garza of Albuquerque, with travel and other expenses, the Herald reported.

Natalie Garza has been staying in housing provided to her by the campus, the Vermont paper reported.

5:45am 2/18/08 -- Formal Search for ABQ Student Called Off: Multi-team effort to find 19-year-old Nicholas Garza suspended Saturday.

Authorities in Vermont suspended their multi-team ground search for 19-year-old Nicholas Garza, the Middlebury College freshman from Albuquerque who went missing on Feb. 5, until new leads develop, the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press reported this morning.

Police are continuing to look through snow piles in several areas on campus, and while community members have volunteered to help, Middlebury Police Officer Vegar Boe said weather conditions require professional cold-weather teams for the task, the Free Press reported.

Meanwhile, police are urging people to search their own properties for evidence, the paper reported.

The full-scale recovery effort ended at 4 p.m. Saturday, yielding no leads to Garza's whereabouts, the Free Press said.

A missing persons investigation is ongoing, and police are focusing on Middlebury students' movements and campus activity between 11 p.m. Feb. 5 and 8 a.m. Feb. 6 in an attempt to locate anyone who might know what happened to Garza, Boe told the Free Press.

Middlebury College is posting updates on Garza's disappearance at www.middlebury.edu.

6:50am 2/13/08 -- Search Suspended for Missing ABQ Student: Heavy snow in Vermont hampering what officials are now calling a "recovery."

Authorities in Middlebury, Vt., suspended their search Tuesday night for 19-year-old Nicholas Garza, a Middlebury College freshman from Albuquerque who went missing on Feb. 5, the Albuquerque Journal reported this morning.

The search was suspended until Friday because heavy snow was expected in the area, but search and rescue officials with the Vermont State Police said they now consider the search a recovery effort rather than a rescue, the Journal reported.

Middlebury police said they will continue to interview friends and possible witnesses about what happened to Garza, who was last seen leaving a friend's dorm room while the school was on its winter break, the Journal said.

Meanwhile, the Garza family has set up a fund to help raise money for the search. Contributions can be made to the Garza Family Fund at any branch of the New Mexico Federal Educators Credit Union, the Journal reported.

Garza, who graduated last year from the Albuquerque Academy, was a star debater at the school and was an avid hockey player who played for a nearby high school because the Academy didn't have a hockey team, Garza's uncle Todd Sierra told the Journal.

5:40am 2/12/08 -- Academy Grad Missing in Vermont: 19-year-old college freshman from ABQ hasn't been seen since last week.

Nicholas Garza, 19, of Albuquerque, hasn't been seen since students at Middlebury College in Vermont went on break earlier this month, KOAT-TV reported.

Friends said Garza planned to stay in his dorm room during the break, but when his classmates returned Monday and couldn't find him, he was officially reported missing, Action 7 News reported.

Garza left behind no note and his winter coat was left behind in his room, despite heavy snow in the area, KOAT-TV reported.

A search is under way in the area, and his family is headed to Vermont to help in the search, the station reported.

Garza spent the last eight years at the Albuquerque Academy, according to KOAT-TV.

His mother, Natalie Garza of Albuquerque, called Middlebury police Sunday evening to say she hadn't heard from her son since Feb. 5, and that was the last night he was seen at his residence hall, according to The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press.

Middlebury went on its winter break from Jan. 31 to Feb. 10, the Free Press said.

Garza's uncle, Jason Hunter, said in an e-mail to the Free Press that his nephew had not used his cell phone since Feb. 5.

Middlebury police said in a statement Monday afternoon that no leads had been developed into Garza's whereabouts since that night, the Free Press reported.

Police are joined by Vermont State Police, the Middlebury Fire Department, the college's Department of Public Safety and the Community Emergency Response Team at least through this evening, the Free Press said.

"We are cooperating fully with the Middlebury police in the effort to locate Nicholas Garza," college dean Tim Spears said in a statement. "We are very concerned about Nicholas and hope for his safe return to campus."

A campus-wide e-mail went out Monday morning asking anyone who knows where Garza might have gone to come forward, according to the Rutland (Vt.) Herald.

"There was a crew of people on campus tonight, going over the grounds, checking the snow banks and such," Spears said Monday, according to the Herald. "We're also looking at the possibility he left campus." 

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