Searchers try again in Malibu

The search for a missing 19-year-old female college student brought together a diverse ensemble of volunteers Saturday hoping to find answers to a formidable question: What happened to Donna Jou six months ago?

About 100 relatives and friends -- even a former girlfriend of the man police have named as their prime suspect in Jou’s disappearance -- scattered throughout the Santa Monica mountains in Malibu looking for clues.

“It happened six months ago, but it feels like it was yesterday,” said Nili Jou, the missing girl’s mother. “I want to start the new year with my daughter beside me.”

The search was organized by Mike Melson, who started his nonprofit Christian search group Trinity Search & Recovery earlier this year after seeing other volunteers participate in previous search efforts.

“I was embarrassed as a native Californian that people in Arkansas and Texas and North Carolina were coming to California to help find missing people,” said Melson, whose group is based in Pleasanton, Calif. “We’re a Christian organization, and I feel it’s important that we get out of the pews and help our neighbors.”

Los Angeles police detectives say Jou, a student at San Diego State University, met John Steven Burgess on the popular website Craigslist.com. The two were last seen together at Burgess’ West Los Angeles home June 23.

Burgess, a registered sex offender who is serving a three-year prison sentence for not reporting his residence to authorities, has refused to talk to police about Jou’s disappearance.

Authorities already unsuccessfully searched the mountains, a vast territory that detectives believe Burgess frequented. They did not join Saturday’s search.

Others did, however, including Burgess’ former girlfriend.

“I just felt when I lived with him, he did creepy things with me,” said Missy Prusinski, 25, who also met Burgess on Craigslist and stayed with him for three weeks. “I just thought he was a creepy guy.”

Melson said the extensive Santa Monica Mountains still could hold clues to Jou’s whereabouts, even though another organized search launched by the Texas-based private search firm Equusearch came up empty three months ago.

“There are some folks out there that feel very cynical about a search like this,” Melson told the crowd that gathered at Malibu Bluffs Park to help. “I think anyone here would do the same if our daughter was missing.”

Volunteers were instructed to look for items that might help investigators. Melson recounted details of that June night to the scores of searchers who surrounded him:

Burgess picked Jou up on a black motorcycle at her parents’ home in Rancho Santa Margarita. Both wore helmets as they sped off, family members recall. The motorcycle and one of the helmets have not been found. Jou wore a navy blue JanSport book bag; multicolored, checkered Vans tennis shoes; and a gold diamond-studded horseshoe necklace.

As he addressed the volunteers, Melson paused, leaned down and whispered into Nili Jou’s ear. He wanted to warn her about what he was about to say next. “Unfortunately, we also have to acknowledge the fact that we may find Donna up there,” Melson told his searchers. “If Donna is up there, we will find some type of human remains. If you do find human remains, you will know it.”

Finally, Melson handed his searchers maps of the region divided into 24 zones and told them to stay on the main road.

“If you can’t go off the road, [Jou’s abductor] probably wouldn’t have stopped either.”

The all-day search turned up a book bag, a dumped motorcycle and a helmet. None was linked to Jou, however.

The search will continue again this morning.

“We won’t give up until we find Donna,” said the family’s attorney, Gloria Allred. “And good people will help us.”

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jp.renaud@latimes.com