More clues could be out there in the case of Alexis Gabe, the missing 24-year-old Oakley woman, and her family is asking for volunteers to help search this weekend.
Last weekend the Gabe family, police and volunteers searched areas surrounding Oakley Road to look for Alexis’ broken cellphone and any other evidence that could help find her.
Following the search, Gwyn Gabe, Alexis’ father, posted photos on Facebook of some of the items recovered – what looked like a phone camera, women’s underwear and men’s gloves. He hoped to find more this weekend.
Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard said while nothing found last week provided immediate additional information, the items are still being processed and “further analyzing needs to take place.”
In February, a search team found Alexis’ cellphone case on Vista Grande Way in Antioch near Jones’ home. Police say they believe her ex-boyfriend Marshall Curtis Jones, 27, discarded her cellphone case while returning from Oakley after dropping off her car on the night of Jan. 26, the day she went missing. A shattered screen saver that had his DNA on it meanwhile was found in Oakley.
Jones, whom police believe killed Alexis, was fatally shot last month when Washington police tried to arrest him and he lunged at them with a knife in a Seattle suburb. He had returned to Washington following Alexis’ disappearance but not before visiting his sister in Vacaville and driving up to Pioneer, where police believe he might have tried to dispose of his ex-girlfriend’s body on Jan. 28.
Police know Jones was driving an older black Ford Explorer he had borrowed from his stepfather that night. An image of Jones in the car was captured as he drove over the Benicia-Martinez bridge on Jan. 28, Gwyn Gabe said.
Directions in his handwriting also were later found at his sister’s home during a search by police. Authorities have extensively searched the Pioneer area though there’s a lot of territory to cover.
“We have been asking people to focus on or about Jan. 26 to 28 for any camera footage that shows anything that seems to be suspicious or out of place,” Beard said of the continuing investigation.
The Oakley police chief said his department supports the Gabe family and volunteers helping them and will assist with additional searches this weekend in Oakley.
“The Oakley Police Department stands prepared to take possession of any evidence that is recovered in Oakley,” he said.
The Gabes have said that if anyone finds potential evidence, they should not touch it but inform organizers know so they can let police know about the items and retrieve them.
The Gabes have organized searches for Saturday on Neroly Road, with the parking lot at Laurel Ridge Community Church at 2459 Laurel Road serving as the meetup location. On Sunday, the group plans to search on Empire Avenue all the way to Slatten Ranch Road and the meetup will be at Diamond Hills Sports Club at 1510 Neroly Road. Volunteers are asked to register in advance for Saturday at https://bit.ly/3RUZ8vC or Sunday at https://bit.ly/3v6Sfxy.
Police have received hundreds of tips, with many coming after a reward for information grew to $100,000, including $50,000 from an anonymous donor.
Anyone with information about Alexis is asked to contact Oakley police at 925-625-7009 or email alexistips@ci.oakley.ca.us.
Source: www.mercurynews.com