Area Around Home of Missing Woman Searched

On horseback and foot, volunteers spent Saturday combing the underbrush of Bonita Canyon and the shores of Upper Newport Bay, searching for clues that might lead them to Denise Anette Huber, the Newport Beach woman who has been missing for five months.

The search team, which included a Costa Mesa police detail, the Orange County Search and Rescue Team and others, was concentrated in an area near the Huber home that had gone largely unchecked since the 23-year-old woman’s car was found abandoned June 3 on the Corona del Mar Freeway just south of the Bear Street exit.

“There is no other reason (for Saturday’s search) other than it’s logical to look in these areas,” said Dennis Huber, the missing woman’s father. “There has been nothing at all, but the people are out there digging hard.”

Local police, the FBI and a private investigator hired last month by Huber’s family have yet to uncover a solid lead in the case. But on Saturday, authorities had hoped that evidence, possibly hidden initially, would surface after changes in weather or ground features.

Saturday’s effort was an attempt to narrow the range of the investigation, eliminating areas to be searched as authorities attempt to retrace the woman’s movements.

“Progress is real slow because we haven’t had much to work with,” Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Ron Smith said.

Gary Stockdale, head of the Search and Rescue Team, said: “The idea is to get some people to look and if nothing is found, (the area) can be eliminated.”

Dennis Huber said he is relieved when the various searches do not produce a body, but the mystery is agonizing.

“We don’t know whether to mourn her or what,” he said at the search command center on the UC Irvine campus. “The lack of evidence gives us no straws to grasp at, but a lot of people are praying. That is the only thing that gets us through.”

Since the disappearance, the woman’s father accompanied by the family dog have conducted searches without success. And frustration levels on all sides are running high.

“My investigators are very frustrated by the lack of concrete leads,” Costa Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden said, adding that officers have checked tips from local residents, psychics and police sources.

“The family hasn’t given up hope and we haven’t either,” he said.

Searchers were told to look for scraps of clothing, a purse, keys or human remains.

“It is morbid,” said Cyndi Doran of Newport Beach. “They say to look for clues, but we know we’re looking for a body.”

One woman who attends the same church as the Huber family said: “I never thought I would be out looking for a person I know.”

Kay Schrock, owner of the weekly Newport News and who has printed flyers displaying the woman’s photograph, said community participation has helped ease the family’s pain.

“I have noticed that they have relaxed a little this week, knowing that people are helping them,” Schrock said. “When you lose a daughter, you can’t give up hope until every possibility is exhausted.”