From the archives: Laci Peterson murder case has deep ties to SJ

Editor's note: This story was first published in The Record on Feb. 8, 2003.

Relatives, friends and strangers moved by the disappearance of Laci Peterson gathered in the parking lot of a roadside restaurant in southern San Joaquin County early Saturday to search for the 27-year-old Modesto woman who vanished on Christmas Eve.

At 9 a.m., about 100 people had converged at the Orchard Restaurant on Highway 132 prepared to scour the fields, canals and reservoirs near Vernalis for any trace of Peterson. Some volunteers came on horseback and cross-country motorcycles, but most planned to look for Peterson on foot and by car.

The search had returned to where it began. The area around the intersection of highways 132 and 33 was one of the first locations search dogs were alerted to after Peterson was reported missing 47 days ago.

Harvey Kempel, Peterson's cousin, said combing the back roads around Modesto had become a grim routine for Peterson's friends and family.

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"I've been out so many times since the day she came up missing. We've just got to find her," Kempel said.

While searchers held out hope of finding Peterson alive, Kim Petersen, a family friend who organized the volunteer search party, advised people on what to do should they come across a body.

"Don't leave it, don't approach it," said Petersen, reminding helpers that clumsy searching could destroy crucial evidence.

The Modesto Police Department has no leads in the Peterson case. Police officials have said that Peterson's husband, Scott Peterson, is not a suspect, but investigators have not ruled out his possible involvement.

Most recently, Scott Peterson has drawn fire from Laci Peterson's family for selling her car. And, just before New Year's, a woman with whom Scott Peterson had an extramarital affair came forward to say that he had told her he was single.

"He needs to be more cooperative with the Modesto PD," Kempel said.

Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, said the sight of so many strangers looking for her missing daughter, who is pregnant and scheduled to deliver a baby boy Monday, gave her hope and helped her endure the pain of a child gone missing.

"It means the world to me. There are no words to even describe it," Rocha said.

For many volunteers, it seemed that imagining themselves in Rocha's place compelled them to join Saturday's search party.

"God forbid, if anything should happen in my family, I would appreciate any help I could have," said Pat DeBock, a 65-year-old Stockton resident who was accompanied by her son, Jeff DeBock, 36, also of Stockton.

Ron Jones, 37, a sheriff's deputy from Sacramento, said that seeing banners and posters pleading for Laci Peterson's safe return while he was on a business trip in Modesto compelled him to enlist in the search.

"I just can't imagine what the family is going through," Jones said.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Laci Peterson murder case on Netflix has ties to San Joaquin County