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Machete, Blood at Home of Missing NYC Woman's Date

Sex-crime suspect told pal not to talk to cops about missing woman

By Mary Papenfuss, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 7, 2008 7:36 AM CST

(Newser) – Police have found blood, a machete, and a woman's shoe at the family home of a sex-crime convict suspected in the disappearance of a woman who left a Manhattan nightclub with him, reports the New York Daily News. Suspect Michael Mele, the son of a retired New York City transit deputy police chief, had bite and scratch marks on his body, and cleaned his upstate home with bleach after 25-year-old Laura Garza disappeared last week, according to cops.

Blood was also found in an car parked at the home, reports the New York Post. Mele was being held in a county jail on a probation violation for drinking alcohol at the popular Marquee club in Manhattan, where a security camera showed him leaving with Garza. Mele told a friend not to discuss the night with police investigators, according to the Post. Garza moved to Brooklyn from a small town in Texas just 5 months ago to pursue a fashion career.

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Photos, released by the New York City Police Department, show Laura Garza, who has been missing since last Wednesday. Police have questioned a registered sex offender in her suspicious disappearance. (AP Photo/NYPD)

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We feel she's not gone. We're praying for her safety. - Statement from Laura Garza's family

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Machete, Blood at Home of Missing NYC Woman's Date