Sierra Sighted More Than 1,000 Miles Away

As of April 13, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office has received approximately 1,400 tips regarding the disappearance of Sierra LaMar, many of which have been relayed to authorities from people living hundreds of miles away from the missing teen’s home in Morgan Hill.  

“The farthest [sighting] that I know of—I don't monitor all the tips—came from Arizona,” said Sgt. Jose Cardoza of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. “I know there was a sighting of her in Phoenix, in the Dallas area, in Southern California there were a lot of sightings, and all along the Bay Area.”

Phoenix is almost 700 miles from Morgan Hill and Dallas is over 1,671 miles from the rural town. Tips have become the backbone of the Sierra LaMar case, Cardoza said, adding that police departments from outside the county and state have aided the search by following tips received outside their jurisdiction.

Tips ranging from possible areas of interest to sightings of the 15-year-old Sobrato High student are the most common tips relayed to authorities, who reportedly receive anywhere from 20 to 80 tips a day. Authorities are putting extra emphasis on following tips relayed by the public, since numerous search parties for Sierra have yet to produce concrete leads.

“The tips and leads continue to come in that's something that our team of detectives follows up on every day, including weekends,” Cardoza said. “We could get a tip today or tomorrow that could point us in the right direction and that could change the focus of the investigation, but for now it's just tips and leads.”

Tips can be relayed by contacting the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. Tipsters can call (408) 808-4500, the anonymous tip line at (408) 808-4431 or send a tip via email to tips@sheriff.sccgov.org.