January 26, 2025 • 30 mins
Sierra Mae LaMar was a 15-year-old high school student living in Morgan Hill, California with her mom and her mom’s boyfriend when, completely unexpectedly, she disappeared. Though at first the police thought she may have run away, due to her being unhappy with living Morgan Hill, evidence quickly suggested otherwise. Over the course of a few days, her cell phone and personal belongings were found, which suggested that she had been taken against her own will. And that is exactly what happened. DNA linked her abduction to a 21-year-old guy named Antolin Garcia-Torres, who was eventually arrested for her kidnapping and murder. Unfortunately, to this day, her remains have never been found.
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Episode Transcript
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Cierra is a very cheerful and bright young lady. She loved to make others smile and never
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had any problem making new friends. She loved to bring joy to others. How is it that she
could end up missing on her way to the bus stop to school?
Cierra Lamar was born on October 19, 1996, in Fremont, California, to her parents Marlene
and Steve. She also had one older sister named Danielle. October 19 should be a day that
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she would spend with loved ones, but instead, it's a day that they will again mourn her
loss.
Cierra was a small but mighty type of girl who, above all else, wanted to make other
people laugh. She was the type of person who was always looking for ways to bring joy to
others. She was incredibly goofy. She also loved social media and technology in general
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and was truly a teen of the early 2010s era. She loved recording these little silly videos
of herself and her friends on a laptop. It's very relatable, very much a 2010s era thing.
She just seemed like such a fun, easygoing person, and it's all those qualities about
her that made her so easy to love.
Growing up in Fremont, she had no problem making friends and was definitely a very well
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liked person among her peers. In her freshman year of high school, she joined the cheerleading
squad and all things considered, she was just generally really happy. The friendships she
had in Fremont were deeply treasured by her. Being a teenager, your friendships are everything
and she had some really great friends.
In October of 2011, a judge actually ruled that Cierra had to live full time with her
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mom and her mom was planning on leaving Fremont and moving 35 miles away to Morgan Hill. Now,
obviously that's not a huge move when you think about distance, but at that age, having
to leave behind all these great friendships and this life you've established, cheerleading
as well was really hard on her. It turns out that Cierra's dad, Steve, was caught acting
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inappropriately with one or more of her friends during a sleepover and he ended up being arrested.
Thankfully, he was charged for what he had done and Marlene, Cierra's mom, didn't want
to stay with him after that. So, the two of them got divorced, which is when and why a
judge ruled that Cierra had to move with her mom. It was just Cierra who was ordered to
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move with her mom because she was only 15 at the time and her sister was 4 years older,
so she wasn't ordered to move as well. So, it was just Cierra and her mom and obviously,
it was a huge transition. In October of 2011, she and her mom made that move from Fremont
to Morgan Hill, California. It was only about a 45-minute drive away. She ended up having
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a really hard time adjusting to the move and also adjusting to being at a new school. Now,
she's a sophomore in high school and had to essentially start over when it came to her
friendships and that life that she had once known. Moving at any age in your childhood,
but especially in the high school years, can be really difficult. Or just in the middle
of middle school, high school, or even elementary school, making that move can be really difficult.
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She seemed to be a very tenacious person. She was very funny and very likable. So, she
was able to make some new friends or was starting to build some new friendships and had also
joined the cheer squad at her new school, which was helpful as well. But overall, she
wasn't thrilled about the move to Fremont and this was no secret to her friends and
family. Given everything that her mom had been through, it wasn't just because she wanted
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a new start. She had also started a new relationship with a man named Ricky and the two of them
had gotten to the point where they wanted to live together. That was also part of the
reason for the move. So, Morgan Hill was supposed to really be a fresh start for the two of
them. But sadly, Morgan Hill is where Ciara's life was senselessly taken. On the morning
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of March 16th, 2012, as Marlene was getting ready for work, she walked into her daughter's
bedroom to make sure that she was awake and getting ready for school. It was right around
6 a.m. It was a completely normal day. Ciara was up and was about to start getting dressed
for school. Marlene gave her $5 for lunch, told her she loved her and said her goodbyes,
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not knowing that this would be the last time she ever saw her daughter. She left for work
that day and assumed that Ciara was going to catch the bus and go to school like normal.
Her high school, San Andreas High School, was not that far away. It was actually only
about 10 minutes down the road. But Ciara typically rode the bus because her mom and
Ricky often left for work before they could drive her. Her bus stop was pretty convenient.
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It was less than a half a mile from her house and it always picked her up at 7.25 a.m. So,
in order to get there on time, she normally left her house around 7.10 a.m., which is
what investigators believe she did that day at 6.57 a.m. Marlene had texted Ciara to ask
her to wipe down the tub before she left for school and then she sent her another text
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asking if she was meeting up with a friend after school. However, she never ended up
getting a response from her. Although we do think she received these messages and just
didn't reply because we also know that at 7.11 a.m. she had texted another friend. Of
course, it's pretty common for teenagers to not respond to their parents. But that text
to her friend at 7.11 a.m. is super important because it's actually the last known contact
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that Ciara had with literally anyone. It's also important because it tells us that she
was planning to go to school that day. In this text message, she was responding to her
friend who had asked her to bring the stuff, which was just homework and makeup, pretty
typical teenage text messaging. Maybe the two of them were going to compare notes on
their homework and also share some makeup. But they never got that opportunity because
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Ciara never made it to school that day. In fact, she never even made it onto the bus.
Later that afternoon at 3.45 p.m. when Marlene got off of work, she called her daughter like
she always did to check in after the school day. But Ciara didn't answer the phone. At
first, Marlene didn't panic or anything. She figured Ciara was probably busy doing
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something, probably with a friend, and didn't even look at her phone. But then she tried
calling her seven more times in the next hour, from 3.45 to 4.45, and all of those calls
went unanswered. That's when she started to seriously worry. That worry turned into
genuine fear when she got home and realized that Ciara wasn't there, and she had no idea
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where she was. Motherly instincts at this point were telling her that something was
seriously wrong, but she tried to calm herself down a little bit and see if she could locate
Ciara on her own before jumping to conclusions. First, she went to Ciara's high school, thinking
that maybe her daughter had just stayed behind with some friends, but she didn't see any
sign of her there. Next, she called her ex-husband to see if maybe Ciara had gone to Fremont
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to see him, but he let her know that she wasn't there either. Then, at about 6.00 p.m., she
got an email from the school, and that's when she learned something that made her realize
that her original instincts were right. She learned from the school that day that Ciara
had never made it to any of her classes. So, Marlene decided to call all of Ciara's friends
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one last time to see if she happened to be with any of them, but she wasn't. At that
point, she went ahead and called 911. Of course, Marlene was completely panicked by this point,
as any parent would be, and she started begging them to issue an Amber Alert. This whole part
really confuses me. There has been several cases where Amber Alerts were not issued.
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There are certain qualifications that have to be met, and that was the case here. Apparently,
Ciara didn't meet the qualifications for an Amber Alert. That being said, though, luckily,
the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office did jump right into action that evening. An officer
was dispatched to Marlene's house, and by that point, Steve had driven up from Fremont
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as well because he was equally concerned about their daughter. Together, they answered the
officer's questions. At first, the officer thought that Ciara had run away. It is very
common for teenagers to run away, and it does happen quite a bit. So, we see why they have
to go through this process of asking questions about her personal life. Did she have any
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fights going on? Was she upset? Is there any reason she wouldn't want to be home? Things
like that to determine if there would be a reason she would possibly want to run away.
Luckily, in this case, they didn't hang on to that theory and make it their main theory,
because we've heard of way too many cases where they have done that, and then things
were missed, or things weren't prioritized, or the case was straight up neglected because
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they were assumed to be a runaway. That is not the case here. But, as we know, Ciara
was not happy living in Morgan Hill. In fact, she did mention to some of her friends at
several different points that she was considering moving away, or at least wanted to move away.
Which, who knows if she was saying that in a more sarcastic, emotional way, or if she
actually had any plans. But that is absolutely not what happened here. Luckily, detectives
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did look at her case with a critical eye and took it very seriously. So, they started their
investigation. Of course, everyone is hoping that maybe she did run away, and that she's
okay, and that they'll quickly be able to locate her. So, the plan was to look for evidence
to make sure that there was no foul play, but very quickly the evidence showed otherwise,
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that there was, in fact, foul play involved in this case.
Beginning on the morning of March 17, officers began canvassing the immediate area surrounding
Ciara's house, and detectives were working to establish a timeline. Here's what they
were able to put together based on Marlene's statement. Ciara was awake and in the house
around 6 a.m. when she left for work. After this, they determined that she had posted
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on social media around 6.30 a.m. and then texted that friend at 7.11 a.m. Just as a
reminder, that text was about meeting up with this friend at school that day. So, she planned
to go and just never made it. After this text, her communication with the outside world just
completely shut off. To try and figure out where she may have gone, the officers canvassing
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the area tried to find surveillance cameras. But the thing is, and this is crucial to the
case, this bus stop was located at the intersection of two very rural roads, Palm and Doty Avenue,
in Morgan Hill. Specifically, where Ciara was living, there are vast open fields, farmland,
and orchards, which is what the area is known for. While it's beautiful, it means that
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there were no cameras even remotely near where she walked to the bus.
But investigators weren't at a complete loss because it turns out that Ciara's school bus
was equipped with security cameras. When they looked at those, well, they saw nothing. And
for as frustrating and scary as that was, it actually told them a lot because it told
them that she never got on the bus. This helped them establish a window of time when they
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think she disappeared, which was a 14-minute span between 7.11 a.m. when she sent that
final text and 7.25 a.m. when the bus showed up and she did not get on.
Since there were no cameras in the area, the next best thing that law enforcement could
do was continue to canvas the area as well as look into her last known movements. Luckily,
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because Ciara was such a big social media person, she had actually posted a selfie that
morning giving investigators a rough idea of what she was wearing that day. It wasn't
much, but they could tell that she had on a black sweatshirt with a partial logo, which
they quickly identified as the San Jose Sharks hockey team's logo. That ended up being incredibly
helpful. In the meantime, while investigators were just starting their investigation and
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figuring out all of those details, the local media jumped right on to spreading the word
about Ciara, which is fantastic. You don't always see that with disappearances, so it's
great that they were getting the word out and the community was hearing about it very
quickly. It wasn't long before a massive search was
kicked off on Saturday, March 17, less than 24 hours after she had been reported missing.
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More than 300 people were already out looking for her, or for any sign of her. They focused
on the grassy fields surrounding her house. On that day, and every day that followed,
people from Morgan Hill and all over the Bay Area came together in an effort to find Ciara.
A local elementary school even set up a search center where volunteers would gather to share
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information and discuss where to look next. Starting on the 17th, the police began looking
into sex offenders in the area, and unfortunately, it turns out there were a lot. However, each
and every one of them had a solid alibi that law enforcement was able to confirm. Sure,
many of you are wondering about Ciara's dad. He actually told police about his history
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right away because he knew they would look into their entire family and find out anyway.
He wanted them to hear it from him. They were able to clear him. When they first found out
about his history, they were definitely shocked and concerned. But yes, they were able to
clear him pretty quickly. There was something else that came up that shocked them even more,
and that was Ciara's cell phone. Her phone was discovered less than 24 hours after she
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went missing, and the circumstances of finding it are pretty strange.
On the night that Ciara was reported missing, just the night before, the first deputy who
arrived to speak with the family tried calling Ciara's phone multiple times. Every time
he called, it went right to voicemail until about 3.48 am on the 17th, when it didn't
go right to voicemail, meaning that it was turned on and that they would be able to track
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the cell tower that it was pinging off of. This was huge. While they were looking into
the data, they saw that her phone had turned on and off several times. It was only ever
on for a few seconds, but it was just long enough that they were able to get an approximate
location for it. Later that day, with the help of search teams, they located her Samsung
Galaxy phone, which had been lying on the wet ground. Basically, what was happening
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was that water had seeped into the phone and into the battery itself. Many of you have
spilled water on your phone or submerged it in water and have experienced it turning on
and off, or the screen blinking, or the mic going in and out, things like that. It basically
tricked the phone into thinking that it was charged, and so it would turn on for just
a second, long enough for them to get that ping, and then that was it. So, it was never
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actually turned on by anybody. It had been lying there on the wet ground the entire time.
The other really important element to note here is where the phone was found. It was
only a few blocks away from her bus stop, meaning that whoever took her had ditched
her phone pretty much immediately. Of course, the phone was sent off to the crime lab pretty
much right away, and while it was being processed, the search continued.
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Another huge discovery was made a day later on Sunday the 18th. A search crew was looking
in an area that is sort of like a barn structure out in an open field, and they ended up finding
Sierra's juicy bag lodged between some cacti. Inside her bag, they found neatly folded clothing,
including a pair of jeans and the black San Jose Sharks sweatshirt that they knew she
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was wearing on the morning she disappeared because of that selfie. They also found a
bra, a pair of underwear, a sock, her shoes, and some of her school paperwork. This is
just a horribly sad detail, but they also noted that her jeans smelled of urine.
Of course, all of these things were immediately sent in for forensic testing, and even though
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it took a little bit of time to get the results back, the wait was worth it. For one, they
found lichen on Sierra's clothing. Now, lichen is an algae that grows on rocks and in the
soil, and while that might sound like a pretty minor, sort of strange discovery, it actually
had the possibility of being really helpful because they brought in a botanist who explained
that this type of algae only grows in certain areas. The hope was that maybe they could
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track down Sierra based on where this lichen grows.
Another discovery that they made when they found her belongings were these little glass
beads that were found embedded into her jeans. These little glass beads matched the reflective
beads that you would find on the road, like the lane markings or the markings that separate
a bike path, for instance, which indicated that Sierra had likely been dragged by her
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abductor. Lastly, the biggest and most important discovery
they made was foreign DNA found on Sierra's jeans, and by foreign, it was not Sierra's
DNA. Of course, they ran it through Cody's, and they found not only one match, but 12
potential matches. Luckily, though, a Cody's administrator was very quickly able to take
a closer look and eliminate 11 out of those 12 potential matches, determining that the
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DNA belonged to just one person. On March 28, 2012, 21-year-old Antolín García Torres
was identified as the contributor to the DNA, which, mind you, was determined to be semen.
Based on phone records and other factors that proved they didn't know each other, it led
investigators to the strong belief that he was the man responsible for her disappearance,
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because had they known each other, there might have been a reason for his DNA to be on her.
It's just a formality because, obviously, there is no reason whatsoever that a 21-year-old
male's DNA should be on a 15-year-old girl, especially semen, but this just proved without
a doubt that his DNA being on her meant he was responsible.
From the public's perspective, this information was not released. This discovery was kept
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private to law enforcement, which totally makes sense. This is often done because they
don't want the suspect to know that they're onto them and have good evidence against
them. At this point, there was also a possibility that Sierra could have been alive and being
held captive, and they definitely didn't want to spook him at all. Instead, they were hoping
that he would lead them to her. Starting on the 28th, they did 24-hour surveillance
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on him. They literally followed his every move, wiretapped his phone, put a tracker
on his car, and even had two officers go undercover and move into a trailer adjacent to the trailer
that he had been living in with his girlfriend and their child. If Sierra was alive, they
strongly believed that at some point he would need to get to her, but he never did. At no
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point during the next six days of constant surveillance did Antoline do anything that
brought them any closer to finding Sierra. However, during that time, they did end up
finding more evidence that suggested he could be involved in her disappearance, which is
pretty obvious at this point. It turns out that the RV park where he lived
had a single security camera that recorded cars entering and exiting the area. There
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was only one way to get in and out, so it recorded all possible comings and goings.
When they looked at it from the morning of March 16th, they saw Antoline's red Volkswagen
Jetta leaving the RV park. Here's the thing, though, at first, it looked like he didn't
leave that morning until 8am. And we know that it's believed Sierra was abducted between
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7.11 and 7.25am, meaning that he couldn't have been responsible. So, of course, that
was confusing to everyone at first, but then they realized that the cameras hadn't been
adjusted for daylight savings yet, which means he left at 7am.
The RV park where he lived just so happened to be 10 minutes away from Sierra's bus stop.
The security footage also showed that he didn't return home until right before 1pm, giving
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him about 6 hours where he was unaccounted for. Because of this, and because Antoline
never led investigators to her during that 6 days of constant surveillance, they decided
that it was finally time to speak to him. On April 4th, two detectives showed up at
his RV and, this guy is one cocky person. They started talking to him very casually,
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asking if he was aware that there was a missing girl in the area, and his response was, I
would like you to get to the point. Then, of course, they asked him if he knew who Sierra
was, and he responded, I doubt it. Why? While he was in questioning, Antoline provided
a description of what he did back on March 16th, which included leaving his house around
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7.10 to 7.20am, going fishing alone, followed by a trip to the bank. Now, we know that they
had checked his time of departure, which was actually 7am, but because he said he went
fishing alone, that obviously can't be corroborated. He did, however. No shock here. Say something
incredibly stupid, which was that on his drive to the reservoir, he missed his turn and had
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taken a different route. And what road do you think he said he was on? Palm, which is
the road that Sierra's bus stop was located on. So, this idiot literally placed himself
on the exact road that she was abducted on around the same time. They were able to figure
out that it would have been around the same time based on how long it would have taken
for him to get there from his home. Just unbelievably dumb.
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And that's not all. The sergeant who was questioning him then asked him if there was any reason
that his DNA would be on any of Sierra's belongings. Let me be clear. He said DNA. That was it.
There was no mention of semen or sperm or anything like that. His response was to ask
if sperm could be a source for DNA. Then this freak goes into this incredibly bizarre story
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about how he masturbates in his car and then uses tissues to clean himself up. Then his
nasty self says that he sometimes throws these tissues out of his car window. So, if there
was any sperm found on her, it was probably because of that. Which? What? What are you
talking about? But you're telling me that your nasty sperm-soaked tissue that you threw
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out of your window somehow floated and found its way all the way to this field and got
itself onto Sierra's jeans? Okay. Makes total sense, right? Especially because her jeans
were found inside of her bag. But for as stupid and outrageous as his statement was, and as
obvious as it is that he is definitely connected to her disappearance, it still wasn't enough
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evidence at this point to make an arrest. So he was free to leave that day.
Meanwhile, though, his car was still being processed and the bank that he said he went
to was being looked into as well. It turns out that he did go to the bank. Security cameras
placed him at Bank of America around 1250 PM and although the footage was grainy, it
looked like the bottom of his jeans were a darker color than the top of his jeans. They
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couldn't say for certain and it sounds like sort of a weird thing to point out, but investigators
speculated that the dark part of his jeans was an indication that he may have been near
a body of water. Now, of course, he did say he went fishing. So if they're assuming that's
true, that could also explain the water. But of course, they're thinking that maybe he
was at a body of water because he was disposing of Sierras remains somewhere wet, which would
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make sense when it comes to the algae as well. But in the countless searches that have been
done to find her, reservoirs, ponds and lakes were searched with the help of expert dive
crews. Even on days with terrible weather conditions and low visibility, they never
stopped looking. But each and every search to this day has ended with no sign of Sierra.
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One search did turn up an empty box that was labeled handcuffs and also some used condoms.
But that was the last of what they ended up finding. Even cadaver dogs who scoured miles
and miles of land were not successful. During all of this, Sierra's family even offered
a $10,000 reward for information. But that reward went untouched. Thankfully, though,
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it wasn't too much longer before the results from his car came back and what they found
was incriminating, to say the least. Inside his car, they not only found Sierra's DNA
on the rear driver's side door and on a pair of gloves, but they also found a piece of
her hair, which was located on a rope that they discovered in his trunk. They were also
able to match fibers from the floor mats to fibers that were located on Sierra's jacket.
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They did not, however, find any evidence of blood. Finally, with all of this evidence
to suggest that Sierra had been inside his car and likely inside his trunk, they decided
to arrest him. On May 21, 2012, Antolín García-Torres was arrested for kidnapping
and first-degree murder. His one and only response to being placed in handcuffs was,
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really? Um, yeah, really. Now, the announcement of his arrest was not technically the first
time that investigators had shared that they had a suspect in mind. Earlier that May, they
did release a photo of his red car to the public, asking if anyone had any information
about it because it belonged to someone they thought was involved. But his arrest was the
first time that anyone following the case, any of her loved ones, had heard his name.
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They were super confused because he was not someone that any of them knew. It wasn't someone
that they thought Sierra knew. So, what did he have to do with her murder? To this day,
that remains a bit of a mystery. Despite his arrest, and this isn't surprising because
he is such an awful person, he has not shared any details when it comes to his involvement
in Sierra's murder. So, investigators and prosecutors have had to come up with their
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own theory as to what happened. They truly believe that this was just a random attack,
just a case of wrong place, wrong time. They believe that he had either been watching her
at her bus stop, learned her routine, and struck when he thought the moment was right.
Or this could have really just been a crime of opportunity. The thing is, though, Sierra
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wasn't his first murder as far as we know. But she wasn't his first violent attack. While
investigators were looking into him, they obviously wanted to run a background check
and look to see if he had any history of violence. At first, it looked like he had a prior conviction
for interfering with an officer, which didn't look great. But it wasn't the worst of it.
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What they ended up finding was much, much worse. Back in 2009, there were three women
who were attacked out in the parking lot of a Safeway. It just so happened to be a Safeway
that he had worked at at that time. At the time, police weren't able to figure out who
was responsible for those attacks. But with the help of those women, they were able to
create a composite sketch of the attacker. When investigators were digging around, they
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saw this sketch and realized it looked a hell of a lot like him. So, of course, they reopened
those cases and found out that during one of those attacks, the guy had dropped his
stun gun. After running some testing on it, they determined that a partial fingerprint
was left on the battery of the device, and it was a match to him. So, on top of facing
charges for kidnapping and killing Sierra, he was also facing charges related to this
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string of attacks in the Safeway parking lot. But the biggest hurdle that prosecutors are
facing now is the undeniable fact that they still don't have Sierra's body. But, of course,
that was not going to stop them from trying to pursue justice. On January 30, 2017, Antoline's
trial began. He had pleaded not guilty back in February of 2014, and in the years that
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he awaited trial, he never said a word. The searches continued day in and day out, but
were officially suspended by law enforcement in May of 2015. That being said, the community
searches went on, and loved ones never gave up on finding Sierra, and that remains true
to this day. Balloon releases and candlelight vigils were held repeatedly in her honor.
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The way that this community came together for Sierra and her family was something that
was just so incredibly beautiful to see. As for his trial, it went on for quite some time.
From the end of January through the beginning of May, to nobody's surprise, the defense
argued that Sierra had, in fact, run away. They even believed that they had evidence
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to back up that theory. That evidence was one of Sierra's old school notebooks. In
this notebook, there was a note that read, I hate my life. No one ever sees this. I will
be in San Francisco by March 16, 2012. Now, mind you, March 16, 2012 happens to be the
day that she went missing. So, this seemed like a crazy coincidence, right? Plus, they
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also had another note that talked about running away. In the eyes of the defense, this seemed
like plenty of evidence that she really willingly left her life. A handwriting expert testified
as well and said that none of these notes were in Sierra's handwriting. The prosecution
argued that these messages were actually written by other students as some sort of prank. It's
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incredibly weird. Kids can do some dumb things, but to make a prank for a case like this?
Luckily, for the most part, these notes seem to be discredited during the trial. And luckily,
the jury agreed with the prosecution. On May 9, 2017, after two days of deliberation, they
found Antolín García Torres guilty on all charges. Although he was facing the death
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penalty, they decided to spare his life and ultimately recommended a sentence of life
in prison without parole. Sierra's dad disagreed with this decision. He believes that the man
responsible for his daughter's death should not be afforded the opportunity to live and
wishes they had chosen a different conclusion. As for Marlene, she said that although they
are grateful that the jury chose to convict him, nothing will take away the pain and sorrow
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they experience every single day. Antolín García Torres showed little emotion
but bowed his head when the jury's verdict was read aloud. Guilty for the kidnapping and
murder of Sierra Lamar. Guilty on all counts. Truly, they had been praying for this chapter
to have this type of ending. Just as supporters and Sierra's search team members embraced
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and high-fived each other, Sierra's friends and family wept. Victory in the courtroom,
but the loss goes on. Nothing will take away the pain and the sorrow that they experience
every day. It took just 12 hours of deliberations for
this jury to reach a verdict. A huge victory for the prosecution tasked with proving murder
even though Sierra's body was never found. Since the time that Antolín was arrested,
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he refused to speak about what happened to Sierra besides maintaining his innocence.
Several news outlets wrote to him in jail to try and see if he would talk, but he never
did. That is, until December of 2020, when for whatever reason, he decided to reply to
a reporter. Although she asked him many different questions, he responded to only one, and it
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was one about his innocence. No shock here, but he says that he holds fast to his innocence
and that he is not going to talk about the case. He also mentioned not trusting people
and that his days of having his voice are long gone. Truly, that is the last time he
has spoken out. Until next time, everyone be safe and watch out for others as well as
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yourself.
Cierra is a very cheerful and bright young lady. She loved to make others smile and never
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had any problem making new friends. She loved to bring joy to others. How is it that she
could end up missing on her way to the bus stop to school?
Cierra Lamar was born on October 19, 1996, in Fremont, California, to her parents Marlene
and Steve. She also had one older sister named Danielle. October 19 should be a day that
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she would spend with loved ones, but instead, it's a day that they will again mourn her
loss.
Cierra was a small but mighty type of girl who, above all else, wanted to make other
people laugh. She was the type of person who was always looking for ways to bring joy to
others. She was incredibly goofy. She also loved social media and technology in general
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and was truly a teen of the early 2010s era. She loved recording these little silly videos
of herself and her friends on a laptop. It's very relatable, very much a 2010s era thing.
She just seemed like such a fun, easygoing person, and it's all those qualities about
her that made her so easy to love.
Growing up in Fremont, she had no problem making friends and was definitely a very well
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liked person among her peers. In her freshman year of high school, she joined the cheerleading
squad and all things considered, she was just generally really happy. The friendships she
had in Fremont were deeply treasured by her. Being a teenager, your friendships are everything
and she had some really great friends.
In October of 2011, a judge actually ruled that Cierra had to live full time with her
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mom and her mom was planning on leaving Fremont and moving 35 miles away to Morgan Hill. Now,
obviously that's not a huge move when you think about distance, but at that age, having
to leave behind all these great friendships and this life you've established, cheerleading
as well was really hard on her. It turns out that Cierra's dad, Steve, was caught acting
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inappropriately with one or more of her friends during a sleepover and he ended up being arrested.
Thankfully, he was charged for what he had done and Marlene, Cierra's mom, didn't want
to stay with him after that. So, the two of them got divorced, which is when and why a
judge ruled that Cierra had to move with her mom. It was just Cierra who was ordered to
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move with her mom because she was only 15 at the time and her sister was 4 years older,
so she wasn't ordered to move as well. So, it was just Cierra and her mom and obviously,
it was a huge transition. In October of 2011, she and her mom made that move from Fremont
to Morgan Hill, California. It was only about a 45-minute drive away. She ended up having
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a really hard time adjusting to the move and also adjusting to being at a new school. Now,
she's a sophomore in high school and had to essentially start over when it came to her
friendships and that life that she had once known. Moving at any age in your childhood,
but especially in the high school years, can be really difficult. Or just in the middle
of middle school, high school, or even elementary school, making that move can be really difficult.
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She seemed to be a very tenacious person. She was very funny and very likable. So, she
was able to make some new friends or was starting to build some new friendships and had also
joined the cheer squad at her new school, which was helpful as well. But overall, she
wasn't thrilled about the move to Fremont and this was no secret to her friends and
family. Given everything that her mom had been through, it wasn't just because she wanted
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a new start. She had also started a new relationship with a man named Ricky and the two of them
had gotten to the point where they wanted to live together. That was also part of the
reason for the move. So, Morgan Hill was supposed to really be a fresh start for the two of
them. But sadly, Morgan Hill is where Ciara's life was senselessly taken. On the morning
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of March 16th, 2012, as Marlene was getting ready for work, she walked into her daughter's
bedroom to make sure that she was awake and getting ready for school. It was right around
6 a.m. It was a completely normal day. Ciara was up and was about to start getting dressed
for school. Marlene gave her $5 for lunch, told her she loved her and said her goodbyes,
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not knowing that this would be the last time she ever saw her daughter. She left for work
that day and assumed that Ciara was going to catch the bus and go to school like normal.
Her high school, San Andreas High School, was not that far away. It was actually only
about 10 minutes down the road. But Ciara typically rode the bus because her mom and
Ricky often left for work before they could drive her. Her bus stop was pretty convenient.
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It was less than a half a mile from her house and it always picked her up at 7.25 a.m. So,
in order to get there on time, she normally left her house around 7.10 a.m., which is
what investigators believe she did that day at 6.57 a.m. Marlene had texted Ciara to ask
her to wipe down the tub before she left for school and then she sent her another text
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asking if she was meeting up with a friend after school. However, she never ended up
getting a response from her. Although we do think she received these messages and just
didn't reply because we also know that at 7.11 a.m. she had texted another friend. Of
course, it's pretty common for teenagers to not respond to their parents. But that text
to her friend at 7.11 a.m. is super important because it's actually the last known contact
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that Ciara had with literally anyone. It's also important because it tells us that she
was planning to go to school that day. In this text message, she was responding to her
friend who had asked her to bring the stuff, which was just homework and makeup, pretty
typical teenage text messaging. Maybe the two of them were going to compare notes on
their homework and also share some makeup. But they never got that opportunity because
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Ciara never made it to school that day. In fact, she never even made it onto the bus.
Later that afternoon at 3.45 p.m. when Marlene got off of work, she called her daughter like
she always did to check in after the school day. But Ciara didn't answer the phone. At
first, Marlene didn't panic or anything. She figured Ciara was probably busy doing
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something, probably with a friend, and didn't even look at her phone. But then she tried
calling her seven more times in the next hour, from 3.45 to 4.45, and all of those calls
went unanswered. That's when she started to seriously worry. That worry turned into
genuine fear when she got home and realized that Ciara wasn't there, and she had no idea
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where she was. Motherly instincts at this point were telling her that something was
seriously wrong, but she tried to calm herself down a little bit and see if she could locate
Ciara on her own before jumping to conclusions. First, she went to Ciara's high school, thinking
that maybe her daughter had just stayed behind with some friends, but she didn't see any
sign of her there. Next, she called her ex-husband to see if maybe Ciara had gone to Fremont
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to see him, but he let her know that she wasn't there either. Then, at about 6.00 p.m., she
got an email from the school, and that's when she learned something that made her realize
that her original instincts were right. She learned from the school that day that Ciara
had never made it to any of her classes. So, Marlene decided to call all of Ciara's friends
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one last time to see if she happened to be with any of them, but she wasn't. At that
point, she went ahead and called 911. Of course, Marlene was completely panicked by this point,
as any parent would be, and she started begging them to issue an Amber Alert. This whole part
really confuses me. There has been several cases where Amber Alerts were not issued.
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There are certain qualifications that have to be met, and that was the case here. Apparently,
Ciara didn't meet the qualifications for an Amber Alert. That being said, though, luckily,
the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office did jump right into action that evening. An officer
was dispatched to Marlene's house, and by that point, Steve had driven up from Fremont
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as well because he was equally concerned about their daughter. Together, they answered the
officer's questions. At first, the officer thought that Ciara had run away. It is very
common for teenagers to run away, and it does happen quite a bit. So, we see why they have
to go through this process of asking questions about her personal life. Did she have any
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fights going on? Was she upset? Is there any reason she wouldn't want to be home? Things
like that to determine if there would be a reason she would possibly want to run away.
Luckily, in this case, they didn't hang on to that theory and make it their main theory,
because we've heard of way too many cases where they have done that, and then things
were missed, or things weren't prioritized, or the case was straight up neglected because
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they were assumed to be a runaway. That is not the case here. But, as we know, Ciara
was not happy living in Morgan Hill. In fact, she did mention to some of her friends at
several different points that she was considering moving away, or at least wanted to move away.
Which, who knows if she was saying that in a more sarcastic, emotional way, or if she
actually had any plans. But that is absolutely not what happened here. Luckily, detectives
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did look at her case with a critical eye and took it very seriously. So, they started their
investigation. Of course, everyone is hoping that maybe she did run away, and that she's
okay, and that they'll quickly be able to locate her. So, the plan was to look for evidence
to make sure that there was no foul play, but very quickly the evidence showed otherwise,
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that there was, in fact, foul play involved in this case.
Beginning on the morning of March 17, officers began canvassing the immediate area surrounding
Ciara's house, and detectives were working to establish a timeline. Here's what they
were able to put together based on Marlene's statement. Ciara was awake and in the house
around 6 a.m. when she left for work. After this, they determined that she had posted
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on social media around 6.30 a.m. and then texted that friend at 7.11 a.m. Just as a
reminder, that text was about meeting up with this friend at school that day. So, she planned
to go and just never made it. After this text, her communication with the outside world just
completely shut off. To try and figure out where she may have gone, the officers canvassing
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the area tried to find surveillance cameras. But the thing is, and this is crucial to the
case, this bus stop was located at the intersection of two very rural roads, Palm and Doty Avenue,
in Morgan Hill. Specifically, where Ciara was living, there are vast open fields, farmland,
and orchards, which is what the area is known for. While it's beautiful, it means that
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there were no cameras even remotely near where she walked to the bus.
But investigators weren't at a complete loss because it turns out that Ciara's school bus
was equipped with security cameras. When they looked at those, well, they saw nothing. And
for as frustrating and scary as that was, it actually told them a lot because it told
them that she never got on the bus. This helped them establish a window of time when they
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think she disappeared, which was a 14-minute span between 7.11 a.m. when she sent that
final text and 7.25 a.m. when the bus showed up and she did not get on.
Since there were no cameras in the area, the next best thing that law enforcement could
do was continue to canvas the area as well as look into her last known movements. Luckily,
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because Ciara was such a big social media person, she had actually posted a selfie that
morning giving investigators a rough idea of what she was wearing that day. It wasn't
much, but they could tell that she had on a black sweatshirt with a partial logo, which
they quickly identified as the San Jose Sharks hockey team's logo. That ended up being incredibly
helpful. In the meantime, while investigators were just starting their investigation and
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figuring out all of those details, the local media jumped right on to spreading the word
about Ciara, which is fantastic. You don't always see that with disappearances, so it's
great that they were getting the word out and the community was hearing about it very
quickly. It wasn't long before a massive search was
kicked off on Saturday, March 17, less than 24 hours after she had been reported missing.
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More than 300 people were already out looking for her, or for any sign of her. They focused
on the grassy fields surrounding her house. On that day, and every day that followed,
people from Morgan Hill and all over the Bay Area came together in an effort to find Ciara.
A local elementary school even set up a search center where volunteers would gather to share
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information and discuss where to look next. Starting on the 17th, the police began looking
into sex offenders in the area, and unfortunately, it turns out there were a lot. However, each
and every one of them had a solid alibi that law enforcement was able to confirm. Sure,
many of you are wondering about Ciara's dad. He actually told police about his history
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right away because he knew they would look into their entire family and find out anyway.
He wanted them to hear it from him. They were able to clear him. When they first found out
about his history, they were definitely shocked and concerned. But yes, they were able to
clear him pretty quickly. There was something else that came up that shocked them even more,
and that was Ciara's cell phone. Her phone was discovered less than 24 hours after she
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went missing, and the circumstances of finding it are pretty strange.
On the night that Ciara was reported missing, just the night before, the first deputy who
arrived to speak with the family tried calling Ciara's phone multiple times. Every time
he called, it went right to voicemail until about 3.48 am on the 17th, when it didn't
go right to voicemail, meaning that it was turned on and that they would be able to track
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the cell tower that it was pinging off of. This was huge. While they were looking into
the data, they saw that her phone had turned on and off several times. It was only ever
on for a few seconds, but it was just long enough that they were able to get an approximate
location for it. Later that day, with the help of search teams, they located her Samsung
Galaxy phone, which had been lying on the wet ground. Basically, what was happening
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was that water had seeped into the phone and into the battery itself. Many of you have
spilled water on your phone or submerged it in water and have experienced it turning on
and off, or the screen blinking, or the mic going in and out, things like that. It basically
tricked the phone into thinking that it was charged, and so it would turn on for just
a second, long enough for them to get that ping, and then that was it. So, it was never
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actually turned on by anybody. It had been lying there on the wet ground the entire time.
The other really important element to note here is where the phone was found. It was
only a few blocks away from her bus stop, meaning that whoever took her had ditched
her phone pretty much immediately. Of course, the phone was sent off to the crime lab pretty
much right away, and while it was being processed, the search continued.
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Another huge discovery was made a day later on Sunday the 18th. A search crew was looking
in an area that is sort of like a barn structure out in an open field, and they ended up finding
Sierra's juicy bag lodged between some cacti. Inside her bag, they found neatly folded clothing,
including a pair of jeans and the black San Jose Sharks sweatshirt that they knew she
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was wearing on the morning she disappeared because of that selfie. They also found a
bra, a pair of underwear, a sock, her shoes, and some of her school paperwork. This is
just a horribly sad detail, but they also noted that her jeans smelled of urine.
Of course, all of these things were immediately sent in for forensic testing, and even though
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it took a little bit of time to get the results back, the wait was worth it. For one, they
found lichen on Sierra's clothing. Now, lichen is an algae that grows on rocks and in the
soil, and while that might sound like a pretty minor, sort of strange discovery, it actually
had the possibility of being really helpful because they brought in a botanist who explained
that this type of algae only grows in certain areas. The hope was that maybe they could
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track down Sierra based on where this lichen grows.
Another discovery that they made when they found her belongings were these little glass
beads that were found embedded into her jeans. These little glass beads matched the reflective
beads that you would find on the road, like the lane markings or the markings that separate
a bike path, for instance, which indicated that Sierra had likely been dragged by her
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abductor. Lastly, the biggest and most important discovery
they made was foreign DNA found on Sierra's jeans, and by foreign, it was not Sierra's
DNA. Of course, they ran it through Cody's, and they found not only one match, but 12
potential matches. Luckily, though, a Cody's administrator was very quickly able to take
a closer look and eliminate 11 out of those 12 potential matches, determining that the
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DNA belonged to just one person. On March 28, 2012, 21-year-old Antolín García Torres
was identified as the contributor to the DNA, which, mind you, was determined to be semen.
Based on phone records and other factors that proved they didn't know each other, it led
investigators to the strong belief that he was the man responsible for her disappearance,
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because had they known each other, there might have been a reason for his DNA to be on her.
It's just a formality because, obviously, there is no reason whatsoever that a 21-year-old
male's DNA should be on a 15-year-old girl, especially semen, but this just proved without
a doubt that his DNA being on her meant he was responsible.
From the public's perspective, this information was not released. This discovery was kept
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private to law enforcement, which totally makes sense. This is often done because they
don't want the suspect to know that they're onto them and have good evidence against
them. At this point, there was also a possibility that Sierra could have been alive and being
held captive, and they definitely didn't want to spook him at all. Instead, they were hoping
that he would lead them to her. Starting on the 28th, they did 24-hour surveillance
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on him. They literally followed his every move, wiretapped his phone, put a tracker
on his car, and even had two officers go undercover and move into a trailer adjacent to the trailer
that he had been living in with his girlfriend and their child. If Sierra was alive, they
strongly believed that at some point he would need to get to her, but he never did. At no
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point during the next six days of constant surveillance did Antoline do anything that
brought them any closer to finding Sierra. However, during that time, they did end up
finding more evidence that suggested he could be involved in her disappearance, which is
pretty obvious at this point. It turns out that the RV park where he lived
had a single security camera that recorded cars entering and exiting the area. There
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was only one way to get in and out, so it recorded all possible comings and goings.
When they looked at it from the morning of March 16th, they saw Antoline's red Volkswagen
Jetta leaving the RV park. Here's the thing, though, at first, it looked like he didn't
leave that morning until 8am. And we know that it's believed Sierra was abducted between
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7.11 and 7.25am, meaning that he couldn't have been responsible. So, of course, that
was confusing to everyone at first, but then they realized that the cameras hadn't been
adjusted for daylight savings yet, which means he left at 7am.
The RV park where he lived just so happened to be 10 minutes away from Sierra's bus stop.
The security footage also showed that he didn't return home until right before 1pm, giving
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him about 6 hours where he was unaccounted for. Because of this, and because Antoline
never led investigators to her during that 6 days of constant surveillance, they decided
that it was finally time to speak to him. On April 4th, two detectives showed up at
his RV and, this guy is one cocky person. They started talking to him very casually,
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asking if he was aware that there was a missing girl in the area, and his response was, I
would like you to get to the point. Then, of course, they asked him if he knew who Sierra
was, and he responded, I doubt it. Why? While he was in questioning, Antoline provided
a description of what he did back on March 16th, which included leaving his house around
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7.10 to 7.20am, going fishing alone, followed by a trip to the bank. Now, we know that they
had checked his time of departure, which was actually 7am, but because he said he went
fishing alone, that obviously can't be corroborated. He did, however. No shock here. Say something
incredibly stupid, which was that on his drive to the reservoir, he missed his turn and had
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taken a different route. And what road do you think he said he was on? Palm, which is
the road that Sierra's bus stop was located on. So, this idiot literally placed himself
on the exact road that she was abducted on around the same time. They were able to figure
out that it would have been around the same time based on how long it would have taken
for him to get there from his home. Just unbelievably dumb.
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And that's not all. The sergeant who was questioning him then asked him if there was any reason
that his DNA would be on any of Sierra's belongings. Let me be clear. He said DNA. That was it.
There was no mention of semen or sperm or anything like that. His response was to ask
if sperm could be a source for DNA. Then this freak goes into this incredibly bizarre story
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about how he masturbates in his car and then uses tissues to clean himself up. Then his
nasty self says that he sometimes throws these tissues out of his car window. So, if there
was any sperm found on her, it was probably because of that. Which? What? What are you
talking about? But you're telling me that your nasty sperm-soaked tissue that you threw
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out of your window somehow floated and found its way all the way to this field and got
itself onto Sierra's jeans? Okay. Makes total sense, right? Especially because her jeans
were found inside of her bag. But for as stupid and outrageous as his statement was, and as
obvious as it is that he is definitely connected to her disappearance, it still wasn't enough
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evidence at this point to make an arrest. So he was free to leave that day.
Meanwhile, though, his car was still being processed and the bank that he said he went
to was being looked into as well. It turns out that he did go to the bank. Security cameras
placed him at Bank of America around 1250 PM and although the footage was grainy, it
looked like the bottom of his jeans were a darker color than the top of his jeans. They
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couldn't say for certain and it sounds like sort of a weird thing to point out, but investigators
speculated that the dark part of his jeans was an indication that he may have been near
a body of water. Now, of course, he did say he went fishing. So if they're assuming that's
true, that could also explain the water. But of course, they're thinking that maybe he
was at a body of water because he was disposing of Sierras remains somewhere wet, which would
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make sense when it comes to the algae as well. But in the countless searches that have been
done to find her, reservoirs, ponds and lakes were searched with the help of expert dive
crews. Even on days with terrible weather conditions and low visibility, they never
stopped looking. But each and every search to this day has ended with no sign of Sierra.
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One search did turn up an empty box that was labeled handcuffs and also some used condoms.
But that was the last of what they ended up finding. Even cadaver dogs who scoured miles
and miles of land were not successful. During all of this, Sierra's family even offered
a $10,000 reward for information. But that reward went untouched. Thankfully, though,
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it wasn't too much longer before the results from his car came back and what they found
was incriminating, to say the least. Inside his car, they not only found Sierra's DNA
on the rear driver's side door and on a pair of gloves, but they also found a piece of
her hair, which was located on a rope that they discovered in his trunk. They were also
able to match fibers from the floor mats to fibers that were located on Sierra's jacket.
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They did not, however, find any evidence of blood. Finally, with all of this evidence
to suggest that Sierra had been inside his car and likely inside his trunk, they decided
to arrest him. On May 21, 2012, Antolín García-Torres was arrested for kidnapping
and first-degree murder. His one and only response to being placed in handcuffs was,
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really? Um, yeah, really. Now, the announcement of his arrest was not technically the first
time that investigators had shared that they had a suspect in mind. Earlier that May, they
did release a photo of his red car to the public, asking if anyone had any information
about it because it belonged to someone they thought was involved. But his arrest was the
first time that anyone following the case, any of her loved ones, had heard his name.
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They were super confused because he was not someone that any of them knew. It wasn't someone
that they thought Sierra knew. So, what did he have to do with her murder? To this day,
that remains a bit of a mystery. Despite his arrest, and this isn't surprising because
he is such an awful person, he has not shared any details when it comes to his involvement
in Sierra's murder. So, investigators and prosecutors have had to come up with their
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own theory as to what happened. They truly believe that this was just a random attack,
just a case of wrong place, wrong time. They believe that he had either been watching her
at her bus stop, learned her routine, and struck when he thought the moment was right.
Or this could have really just been a crime of opportunity. The thing is, though, Sierra
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wasn't his first murder as far as we know. But she wasn't his first violent attack. While
investigators were looking into him, they obviously wanted to run a background check
and look to see if he had any history of violence. At first, it looked like he had a prior conviction
for interfering with an officer, which didn't look great. But it wasn't the worst of it.
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What they ended up finding was much, much worse. Back in 2009, there were three women
who were attacked out in the parking lot of a Safeway. It just so happened to be a Safeway
that he had worked at at that time. At the time, police weren't able to figure out who
was responsible for those attacks. But with the help of those women, they were able to
create a composite sketch of the attacker. When investigators were digging around, they
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saw this sketch and realized it looked a hell of a lot like him. So, of course, they reopened
those cases and found out that during one of those attacks, the guy had dropped his
stun gun. After running some testing on it, they determined that a partial fingerprint
was left on the battery of the device, and it was a match to him. So, on top of facing
charges for kidnapping and killing Sierra, he was also facing charges related to this
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string of attacks in the Safeway parking lot. But the biggest hurdle that prosecutors are
facing now is the undeniable fact that they still don't have Sierra's body. But, of course,
that was not going to stop them from trying to pursue justice. On January 30, 2017, Antoline's
trial began. He had pleaded not guilty back in February of 2014, and in the years that
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he awaited trial, he never said a word. The searches continued day in and day out, but
were officially suspended by law enforcement in May of 2015. That being said, the community
searches went on, and loved ones never gave up on finding Sierra, and that remains true
to this day. Balloon releases and candlelight vigils were held repeatedly in her honor.
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The way that this community came together for Sierra and her family was something that
was just so incredibly beautiful to see. As for his trial, it went on for quite some time.
From the end of January through the beginning of May, to nobody's surprise, the defense
argued that Sierra had, in fact, run away. They even believed that they had evidence
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to back up that theory. That evidence was one of Sierra's old school notebooks. In
this notebook, there was a note that read, I hate my life. No one ever sees this. I will
be in San Francisco by March 16, 2012. Now, mind you, March 16, 2012 happens to be the
day that she went missing. So, this seemed like a crazy coincidence, right? Plus, they
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also had another note that talked about running away. In the eyes of the defense, this seemed
like plenty of evidence that she really willingly left her life. A handwriting expert testified
as well and said that none of these notes were in Sierra's handwriting. The prosecution
argued that these messages were actually written by other students as some sort of prank. It's
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incredibly weird. Kids can do some dumb things, but to make a prank for a case like this?
Luckily, for the most part, these notes seem to be discredited during the trial. And luckily,
the jury agreed with the prosecution. On May 9, 2017, after two days of deliberation, they
found Antolín García Torres guilty on all charges. Although he was facing the death
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penalty, they decided to spare his life and ultimately recommended a sentence of life
in prison without parole. Sierra's dad disagreed with this decision. He believes that the man
responsible for his daughter's death should not be afforded the opportunity to live and
wishes they had chosen a different conclusion. As for Marlene, she said that although they
are grateful that the jury chose to convict him, nothing will take away the pain and sorrow
(29:14):
they experience every single day. Antolín García Torres showed little emotion
but bowed his head when the jury's verdict was read aloud. Guilty for the kidnapping and
murder of Sierra Lamar. Guilty on all counts. Truly, they had been praying for this chapter
to have this type of ending. Just as supporters and Sierra's search team members embraced
(29:35):
and high-fived each other, Sierra's friends and family wept. Victory in the courtroom,
but the loss goes on. Nothing will take away the pain and the sorrow that they experience
every day. It took just 12 hours of deliberations for
this jury to reach a verdict. A huge victory for the prosecution tasked with proving murder
even though Sierra's body was never found. Since the time that Antolín was arrested,
(29:59):
he refused to speak about what happened to Sierra besides maintaining his innocence.
Several news outlets wrote to him in jail to try and see if he would talk, but he never
did. That is, until December of 2020, when for whatever reason, he decided to reply to
a reporter. Although she asked him many different questions, he responded to only one, and it
(30:20):
was one about his innocence. No shock here, but he says that he holds fast to his innocence
and that he is not going to talk about the case. He also mentioned not trusting people
and that his days of having his voice are long gone. Truly, that is the last time he
has spoken out. Until next time, everyone be safe and watch out for others as well as
(30:40):
yourself.
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