Police Narrow Search for Body of Deli Waitress

Investigators searching for the body of a 20-year-old former Ventura High School student who disappeared from a rowdy Oxnard party six years ago have narrowed the hunt to four locations--including the house where the party was held, sources said Friday.

Authorities believe the body of Katrina Elizabeth Montgomery may be buried at the Azalea Street house where she was last seen on Thanksgiving weekend in 1992.

Police arrested Larry Robert Nicassio, a 21-year-old North Hollywood man, last December on suspicion of killing Montgomery. And now a source close to the investigation says two other men they believe participated in the killing are in County Jail on unrelated charges.

“We’re confident everyone involved is in custody,” the source said.

Authorities would provide few details Friday, other than to say new information has allowed them to focus the search for Montgomery’s body at the Oxnard home and three undisclosed locations in Ventura County.

Using police dogs and sophisticated search equipment, investigators are planning to probe all four sites, sources said.

Montgomery’s relatives declined comment Friday. But in an interview with The Times last year, her mother said, “It’s really been a painful time. . . . It’s a very personal tragedy.”

The lengthy investigation has also been difficult for Guillermo Hernandez and Dora Russell, the young Oxnard couple who bought the home where Montgomery was last seen.

Not knowing about the young woman’s disappearance, the couple purchased the house in June 1993, sinking $15,000 into home improvements.

It was several months before a neighbor told Hernandez about the case--a revelation hetried to hide from his wife and young daughter and son, now ages 6 and 11.

But the secret did not last long, because investigators soon showed up at the house with a search warrant, probing the house and backyard for evidence. This week, several years after the initial search, investigators returned, saying Montgomery’s body might be buried in their backyard, the couple said.

“It bothers me a lot, because my house is the ghost house, the murder house,” said Hernandez, a cook at Hueneme High School. “My house is the talk of the block, the talk of the town.”

The new leads into Montgomery’s mysterious disappearance mark the latest progress in a case that has long baffled police.

Montgomery, a Santa Monica College student in 1992, came back to Ventura County to visit friends and stopped by the Oxnard party on the way, authorities said.

The petite redhead had attended Ventura High in the late 1980s. At the time of her disappearance she was working as a waitress at Jerry’s Famous Deli in Marina Del Rey. She was reportedly last seen leaving the party alone.

A few hours later, her Toyota pickup--its interior stained with blood--was found in the Angeles National Forest in northern Los Angeles County.

Police initially pursued the incident as a missing persons case, passing Montgomery’s picture around Oxnard and searching the Santa Clara River bottom for her. On three occasions, the Los Angeles City Council offered a $10,000 reward for information, most recently in October 1996. Her relatives, who live in Westchester, even hired a psychic to assist in the search.

But the case, which is being handled by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Ventura County district attorney’s office, went nowhere for five years. Last year, however, district attorney’s investigators followed up on some old leads and arrested Nicassio.

Authorities have declined to discuss Nicassio’s case, which is pending in juvenile court because he was 16 at the time of the Montgomery’s disappearance. His attorney has said that his client is innocent.

Meanwhile, the Oxnard couple now living at the Azalea Street house say authorities visited their home twice this week.

Worried that Montgomery’s suspected killers could return to the scene, the couple installed iron security doors. They have considered moving, but say they can’t afford it and don’t think there would be any buyers. In the meantime, they have tried to calm their frightened children.

“At night, it’s really spooky,” Dora Russell said. “[My son] Richard refuses to sleep by himself. When we kiss him good night, he says ‘Check, that the doors are locked. . . .’ I had to sit down and tell them, if this person is here, or isn’t here, don’t be scared. If there’s a noise, it’s just the wind blowing stuff around.”

Added Hernandez: “We want her to be found, so it’s out of our minds and out of everybody’s mind.”