1st Break in ’92 Murder Case

Katrina Elizabeth Montgomery left an Oxnard party five years ago and hasn’t been seen since--a disappearance that baffled police and her family.

The 20-year-old Santa Monica College student who attended Ventura High School in the late 1980s simply vanished.

Police, private investigators, even psychics searched for her. But no body was ever found. No arrests were ever made.

Until now.

Larry Robert Nicassio, 21, was arrested last week on suspicion of slaying Montgomery and faces a hearing this morning in Ventura County. Police say they expect to make more arrests.

The break in the case came earlier this year after the Ventura County district attorney’s office dusted off the old files and came up with new leads.

Investigators believe Montgomery was slain in Ventura County, although her body has not yet been found.

Nicassio, whose last known address was North Hollywood, is scheduled to appear for a fitness hearing in a Ventura County juvenile court because officials believe he killed Montgomery when he was 16, said Lt. Jim Harper, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Harper would not say what evidence has been gathered against Nicassio.

Today’s hearing will determine whether Nicassio will be tried in adult court, Harper said.

Montgomery’s Westchester family has been in contact with police since Nicassio’s arrest. But after five years of agonizing over their daughter’s disappearance, they said Wednesday it was too difficult to discuss. “It’s really been a painful time. This makes it more painful,” said her mother, Katy Montgomery. “They’ve been working on it for years. I’ve been in touch with police in Ventura County and Los Angeles for five years.

“It’s a very personal tragedy. When she was missing, it was useful for the press to be involved, there was a reason,” she added. “At this point, the police are working on it.”

Her daughter, who worked as a waitress at Jerry’s Famous Deli in Marina Del Rey, had been headed to Ventura to visit a friend.

The petite redhead stopped by a party on the 1200 block of Azalea Street in Oxnard and was last seen leaving alone at about 5 a.m. Nov. 28, 1992.

Her pickup truck was found about 11 hours later, 13 miles off the Foothill Freeway outside of Pacoima with the keys still in the ignition and a little blood in the cab.

“I remember thinking about it a lot,” said Jesus Alba, who worked with Montgomery at the deli for about a year.

Alba described Montgomery as popular with customers. When she disappeared, her co-workers were shocked and saddened, Alba said.

“I remember it made me wonder about people in general,” he said. “I wondered if maybe she was picked up by strangers. I thought about it for a long time after.”

Shortly after her disappearance, a $10,000 reward was offered for information in the case, but no one ever came forward.

Except for her blood-stained blue Toyota pickup truck found abandoned near Little Tujunga Road in the Angeles National Forest, no trace of her has been found.

Friends organized search parties. The family hired a private detective and three psychics to help. And at one point investigators following up on an anonymous tip used a helicopter, search dogs and a backhoe to search a portion of the Santa Clara River looking for Montgomery.

But nothing was found.

Then this spring, investigators with the Ventura County district attorney’s office reopened the case. They followed up on cold leads and last week arrested Nicassio.

The investigation--largely conducted by Ventura County investigators with the help of the LAPD--is not complete, said Harper.

“I know the guy’s in custody up in Ventura and that they are looking at making other arrests,” Harper said. “For anything else you’ve got to talk to Ventura. It was a joint investigation, but Ventura was really the lead agency.”

Ventura County prosecutors, however, would not comment on the case because it is still in juvenile court.

“All I can say is that it’s an active investigation,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Bamieh.

Staff writer Henry Chu contributed to this report.