Police
Step up Search for Missing Woman
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By Jorge Casuso
September 19 -- At a dead
end, police are hoping someone, somewhere
will recognize a missing woman who
mysteriously vanished from her Santa
Monica home three months ago.
So far, they’ve issued press
releases, posted pictures on street
corners and on the Web, even opened
a booth in a supermarket parking lot
in Venice frequented by Alicia Serrano
Medina, 52, who has not returned to
her home on the 700 block of Marine
Street since mid-June.
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Unlike other
missing person cases, police
are baffled by Medina’s
disappearance, because she left
behind her money, her wallet
with her ids, her passport,
her keys and her car and hasn’t
been seen since, police said.
“We’re at a dead
end,” said Lt. Alex Padilla,
the Police Department spokesman.
“You just don’t
fall off the earth. You just
don’t disappear.
“Santa Monica and the
Westside aren’t so large,”
Padilla said. “Someone
by now would have seen her.
. . We have no idea if she’s
dead or alive.”
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On Tuesday, police held a press conference
attended by Medina’s family
to get her picture out in the hopes
someone will have seen her.
During the conference, Medina’s
mother broke down and her son tried
to paint a picture of his missing
mother, Padilla said.
Medina has a birthmark by her nose,
and although she’s short, her
son said, she can be “mean”
and won’t let anyone push her
around.
“Her disappearance was out
of character,” Padilla said.
“She’s never done this
where she’s disappeared.”
The conference is the latest effort
by Santa Monica police to spread the
word, Padilla said. Three weeks ago,
police set up a booth at a supermarket
parking lot on the corner of Inglewood
Avenue and Braddock Drive in Venice,
where Medina used to go.
“We had posters and flyers,”
Padilla said. “Some people had
seen her in the past, but not recently.
Police initially believed Medina
had left with a male companion only
known as “Rodrigo,” but
they have since interviewed the man
and determined that she was seen after
he last met with her, Padilla said.
Police also initially thought Medina
had disappeared on July2, but have
since leaned that she was gone for
two weeks before her son reported
her missing, Padilla said
“He thought she was at her aunt
and uncle’s, where she often
stays,” Padilla said.
If the latest effort fails to bear
fruit, police may take the case to
a television show dedicated to finding
missing persons, Padilla said.
But for now, they aren’t dismissing
any scenario.
“There’s no reason to
believe anyone would have ill regard
for her,” Padilla said. “In
some of these cases, it turns out
to be the person you least expect.”
Anyone with information should call
the Santa Monica Police Department,
Office of Criminal Investigations,
Robbery Homicide Unit at 310.458.8451.
For more information call Detective
Henry at 310.458.8978 or Sgt. Herman
at 310.458.8451, or the watch commander
24 hours a day at 310.458.8427.
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