| Dogs and divers go to work in SF Bay Published 01/05/03 Search dogs and scuba divers came up empty Saturday in the water and on the shore of San Francisco Bay, as the investigation continued into the disappearance of Modesto's Laci Rocha Peterson. The day's bay search stretched from the Berkeley Marina to an island where Peterson's husband said he went fishing on Christmas Eve, the day that his wife vanished. A half-dozen dogs, trained to pick up scents off water, rode in boats or worked along the shore. Also Saturday, 10 dogs searched along part of the California Aqueduct and along waterways and land near Highway 132 west of Modesto. Peterson is 27 and eight months pregnant. Her husband, Scott, 30, told police that he last saw his wife at 9:30 the morning before Christmas as he left on his fishing trip and she prepared to go for a walk with their dog in East La Loma Park, a short distance from their La Loma neighborhood home. Peterson told police that he launched his aluminum boat at the marina, then went northwest and fished around Brooks Island, said police Sgt. Ron Cloward, who is directing the search. Dogs searched on the island but did not finish Saturday, and will return this morning, Cloward said. Late Saturday afternoon, searchers pulled something from the water, and Cloward later described what happened: "They pulled a tarp out of the water and found no one in it. It was nothing significant. It was just a tarp." The California Rescue Dog Association is furnishing the dogs at the request of the California Office of Emergency Services, after Cloward asked for help. "We currently have 75 percent of the water dogs in the state concentrated on this search," Cloward said. He attributed the bay search to pleasant weather, not to new leads in the case. He said he has worked on cases where dogs successfully tracked people a year after they disappeared, so time was not of the essence in searching the bay. In other developments: The search command center will be set up at police headquarters, effective Monday. The command center has been based at East La Loma Park almost every day of the search. Volunteers check in there to get maps and search assignments. "We are running out of places to send volunteers," Cloward said. Still, for people who want to continue looking, Cloward said, the Police Department will coordinate with the family-run search center at the Red Lion Hotel. And he urged people to keep looking for clues. "Continue to look in obvious and less-obvious places," Cloward said. "Just keep looking." In other developments: Public works crews once again removed every manhole cover in East La Loma Park and around the Peterson home, without finding any evidence in the manholes. Police said they have searched more than 100 miles of waterways, including canals, sloughs, rivers and creeks in Stanislaus County, and the California Aqueduct. The search could expand to Don Pedro and New Melones reservoirs in the foothills east of Modesto, Cloward said. He declined to say when, adding that he did not want search dogs to be distracted by the media. Fox News Channel's Geraldo Rivera discussed the Peterson case on his Saturday night "At Large" program; Rivera stayed in New York and interviewed people in Modesto via satellite. He planned to be in Modesto for tonight's show, which is scheduled at 6. SCOTT IS TAILED TO SAN FRANCISCO BAY HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL ALIBI-WITNESS LIST WIRETAPS DOGS CARS RENTED PLIERS-DNA AMBER SEARCHES OF BAY ROCHA FAMILY |
 |
| LACI & CONNER PRAY FOR JUSTICE |
 |
 |
|