More. Sahray Barber disappearance: San Bernardino police search Redlands ranch, Little Mountain
SAN BERNARDINO >> A nearly weeklong search for a woman who had gone missing from her apartment near Cal State San Bernardino descended on Redlands Thursday, where after a tip, detectives and searchers on horseback and by air found no answers but vowed to continue their search.
Sahray Barber, 22, was last seen around 6 a.m. Monday as she made her way to work from her apartment in the 1500 block of West Northpark Boulevard, across the street from Cal State San Bernardino, police officials said.
Roommates found several of her belongings scattered on the law outside the complex.
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Her disappearance comes as many in the campus community have expressed fear and alarm at a recent rash of violence there, including an attempted kidnapping.
• VIDEO: Jessica Padilla discusses search
Detectives were on scene at 8 a.m. Thursday when workers arrived at a ranch in the 3200 block of Live Oak Canyon Drive in Redlands. Jessica Padilla was among those workers.
“I was shocked. Completely shocked,” she said, referring to the surprise she felt when learning why police, some on horseback, had flocked to the property.
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Initially, she said, she thought investigators were ranchers.
San Bernardino police officials confirmed the Redlands search was linked to Barber’s disappearance, but said despite a tip nothing panned out.
“We are searching for any evidence related to the disappearance of Sahray Barber,” San Bernardino Police Lt. Rich Lawhead said in a phone interview today. “This investigation is ongoing and detectives are working around the clock to find Ms. Barber.”
Authorities went back to San Bernardino, where they searched the city’s Little Mountain area. Police closed a cul-de-sac at Brookfield Street and Morgan Road as they continued their search into the hills, which was aided by a low-flying helicopter.
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• VIDEO: San Bernardino police search Little Mountain area
Investigators could be seen in the green hills above the neighborhood, where a helicopter flew over as well.
When Barber she didn’t show up at work Monday morning at the The Art Institute where she is also a student, the police were called, setting off a search that has police working overtime.
Today she was set to receive an award from the institute for her work in graphic design.
Her parents on Tuesday made a tearful plea to get her back.
Even though she wasn’t a student at Cal State San Bernardino, students do live in the same apartment complex as Barber.
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And that had them on edge this week, in light of incidents on campus.
Those incidents included two attacks on women in one week, prompting a doubling of university policing on campus.
On Sunday, a man approached a woman from behind as she was leaving the university library, placed his hand over her mouth and told her she was going for a ride. She elbowed him in the chest and got away.
On March 4, a man approached a woman from behind in the library, grabbed her, kissed her several times on the face and tried to pull down her pants. She kicked him in the groin, and he ran away.
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Mayor Carey Davis released a statement Thursday, praying for Barber’s safe return.
“This is a time for our community to band together and show these individuals that this will not be tolerated,” he said.
Barber is described as white, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, 125 pounds, with long red/brown straight hair and green eyes.
Anyone who has seen Barber or has information about her whereabouts is asked to call San Bernardino police Detective Dan Han at 909-384-5623 or the San Bernardino Police Investigations Bureau at 909-384-5615. Refer to case number 2015-26028.
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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.
There are no solid clues as to the whereabouts of 22-year-old Sahray Astina Barber. She was last seen on her way to work at the Art Institute in San Bernardino early Monday morning. "We're looking for any kind of physical evidence to point us in one direction or another. Right now, we don't have anything that says it's an abduction and we don't have anything that says it's not," said Lt. Rich Lawhead of the San Bernardino Police Department. Investigators are working with Cal State University, San Bernardino police and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department in their search. Barber's laptop and cell phone were discovered in bushes near her apartment under suspicious circumstances. "The personal items that were found in the bushes are in the bushes, but they're not in there like they were thrown in there," Lawhead said. "They're not in there like they're broken or anything else. It's almost like they were placed there." Investigators are looking through Barber's laptop and emails in search of any clues. Barber didn't have any social media accounts.
On Tuesday, her parents asked the public for help in locating their daughter. "I just ask that if anybody has anything, any information that would lead to her safe return, please contact law enforcement as soon as possible," father Stephen Barber said. Her disappearance is particularly concerning given the recent attacks on women at CSU San Bernardino. On Wednesday, police released a sketch of a suspect wanted in connection to the attacks on campus. Police would not say whether the case is related to the recent crimes, but all agencies are working together to find the missing woman. Barber lives across the street from the campus but is not a student. Lawhead says bloodhounds tracked Barber from her apartment door to her apartment complex's front gate, and then the trail went cold. He says it suggests she may have gotten in a car. Police served a search warrant at Barber's apartment Wednesday in search of clues. "We have really done an extensive search in and around that apartment complex and around Cal State, and that kind of stuff, in an effort to locate any physical evidence," Lawhead said. Barber's family believes she was wearing the above blouse when she disappeared. She is described as a white female, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, 125 pounds, with long red-brown straight hair and green eyes. Anyone with information is urged to call the San Bernardino Police Department Investigations Bureau at (909) 384-5615.