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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Campaign encourages SOU students to drive less 10 things to know for Monday Parent files complaint against Ashland schools Living Well can help with chronic conditions Missing teen clue search fruitless Education Parent files complaint against Ashland schools Learning on the job AHS speech and debate team headed north Willow Wind inquiry forms now available District to host parent meeting Environment Grant will help restore 'legacy' oak habitat in Southern Oregon and Northern California Mt. Ashland Ski Area crew dips to five Mt. Ashland Ski Area announces layoffs The top five conservation success of 2014 Protestors want Keystone pipeline plans stopped Business Ride & Drive: The 2015 BMW M4 Silvio Calabi: Jeep’s Patriot earns respect New Ashland eatery features Basque cuisine Learning on the job Ashland restaurant featured on cable TV Politics and elections Amid rising scrutiny, governor says fiancee won't have role in administration Ashland Fiber Network wants to be able to keep trade secrets Volunteer award, State of City address presentations Tuesday City's policy, efforts aim for diversity, but numbers show shortfall Kent Bush: The keys to decoding the State of the Union address State News Amid rising scrutiny, governor says fiancee won't have role in administration Two new wolves confirmed in Southern Oregon, state reviewing status of northeastern packs State records show number of big marijuana farms has increased New wandering wolf arrives in Southern Oregon Nation - World Obituaries Geraldine "Gerry" Smith Death Notices Lily Hearn May Antonucci Death Notices Shareable Sports Latest Stories Raiders, at last Hawks keep streak alive, top Trail Blazers Raiders pulverize Simpson, bag first shutout in six years Raiders seek weekend sweep Seahawks consider the Gronk factor High school Raiders, at last Ashland swimmers sweep three-way Grizzly spirit Ashland girls remain winless in MWL Springfield takes advantage of Ashland letdown Southern Oregon University Raiders, at last Raiders pulverize Simpson, bag first shutout in six years Raiders seek weekend sweep Southern Oregon zeroes in on first men's soccer coach Howard named NAIA coach of the year Opinion Latest Stories Other Views: Allow wilderness burns Letters to the Editor, Feb. 2 Chris Honoré: Public schools: separate, still unequal Herb Rothschild Jr: Thoughts on the drug war Our View: Missing teen dilemma Editorial Other Views: Allow wilderness burns Our View: Missing teen dilemma Our View: Making room for all Our View: Honor well deserved Our View: Whole lotta shakin' ... Letters Letters to the Editor, Feb. 2 Letters to the Editor, Jan. 28 Letters to the Editor, Jan. 27 Letters to the Editor, Jan. 26 Letters to the Editor, Jan. 23 Guest opinions Guest Column: A Koch and bull story Guest Opinion: A New Year’s resolution you can keep: starting “the conversation” Chris Honoré: Modern media: the unreliable narrator Guest Opinion: The relevance of socialism in the U.S. Herb Rothschild Jr.: Support single-payer Revels Latest Stories Community blog: Share your love poems at Downtowne Coffee House Frisell brings fine-tuned act to Armory Community blog: Applegate Library offers self-publishing workshop Classics, premiers highlight 2015 season for OSF Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Theater Classics, premiers highlight 2015 season for OSF Roy Orbison tribute hits high note Insights into the gifts theater offers off the stage Music Frisell brings fine-tuned act to Armory The Farr Side: Trainor building a music niche A laid-back chat with Marilyn Manson Roy Orbison tribute hits high note Jeff Kloetzel at Belle Fiore Visual Art Movies Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas 'Whiplash' pounds out a riveting beat Movie review: ‘Mortdecai’ majorly misses the mark Movie review: Aniston’s performance is the icing on ‘Cake’ Movie review: ‘Cake’ showcases Jennifer Aniston at her best Food and Drink Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Episode 20: Dawn follows her nose Gail Ciampa: Spinach contains an alphabet of vitamins Kitchen Call: Don’t wait to get your game-day wings Ride & Drive: The 2015 BMW M4 It Is What It Is: No parent wants to play favorites Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business NEWS NOW Calendar: Monday, Feb. 2 ... Chris Honoré: Public schools: separate, still unequal ... Herb Rothschild Jr: Thoughts on the drug war ... Calendar: Monday, Feb. 2 ... Chris Honoré: Public schools: separate, still unequal ... Herb Rothschild Jr: Thoughts on the drug war ... RUNAWAY? OR CRIME VICTIM? Missing teen clue search fruitless Two-month mark passes since Hannah Thomas-Garner went missing Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 1, 2015 @ 9:42 am By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 1, 2015 @ 9:42 am » RELATED CONTENT What do you think? --> Have a reaction to this story? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter.More photos appear on A6 » Read more X What do you think? Have a reaction to this story? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter . More photos appear on A6 • Group continues to press search for missing Ashland girl • Evidence supports runaway theory, officer tells crowd • Candlelight vigil for Hannah • One of two missing Ashland girls found in Northern Califo... • Missing teen's mom hopes for safe return • Help sought finding missing juvenile • Search for Missing Teen » Social News No evidence shedding any light on the disappearance of 17-year-old Hannah Thomas-Garner was discovered Saturday during the fifth and what's expected to be final search of the teen party area by a gravel pit at the top of Dead Indian Memorial Road. Thomas-Garner slipped out of her Ashland home Saturday night, Nov. 29, and was seen at the party area early Sunday, Nov. 30. Her damaged car was found abandoned in the city of Mt. Shasta that Sunday night. At the request of the Ashland Police Department, county search and rescue teams and search dogs on Saturday, Jan. 31, combed the area of the gravel pit and four other areas near milepost 13 that are popular for teen parties, and turned up with a very low “probability of detection” rating, said Sgt. Shawn Richards of the Jackson County Sheriff Department. In earlier searches, the team searched the entirety of roadside and turnoffs of Dead Indian Memorial Road and found nothing connected with the missing Ashland High School student, he said. These were the areas with the highest “POD” or probability of detection, he said. The team, made up of experienced volunteers, puts in 20,000 hours a year in its search missions and did 100 such missions last year, said Richards. He and his assistant are the only paid members of the team. Dogs aided search The team included two search dogs who are certified in “HRD” or human remains detection, he said. “We look for anything,” said Richards, standing beside an old sock and squashed beer can, both circled in green spray paint. “We start from the PLS or Place Last Scene and this is it, right here.” Several random articles of clothing and liquor or beer bottles could not be tied to the case, he said. “What we know is, more likely than not, it (evidence) is not here,” said Richards, “so Ashland Police can take their attention off this place.” One of the volunteer search team members, Rick Klimek of Phoenix, said they were doing 10- to 15-foot grid sweeps for anything that might be pertinent and, though they are finding a lot of party debris, they haven’t found anything that Richards deems relevant.  Ashland Police have classified Thomas-Garner’s disappearance as a runaway case, not a criminal case. A group of community members calling themselves “Team Hannah” want the classification changed, so evidence collected from her car can be sent to a crime lab for processing. In a recent news conference with the group and other citizens, Deputy Chief Tighe O'Meara said police classed it a runaway case because, in their investigative interviews, they learned the girl had planned such a flight with a classmate and spoke at the wilderness party of her plans for flight. Her abandoned car was found near an Interstate 5 interchange at Mt. Shasta with the windshield bashed in and SIM (subscriber identity module) card missing from her phone — but not with airbag deployed. The citizen group say this is evidence of foul play and fault police for not embarking on extensive analysis of forensics evidence in state crime labs. Police have said the evidence upholds their premise that she’s a runaway — but they're still on the case. “We're continuing to follow it and it’s still under investigation,” said Warren Hensman, APD Deputy Chief for Operations. “We’re doing everything we can to find her and are still concerned.” Investigator hired, petition started The girl’s father, Jeff Garner of Kilgore, Texas, in a phone interview Saturday, said he has hired a private investigator, Vicki Siedow of the Los Angeles area, and is seeking financial help to pay for her and his travel expenses on http://www.gofundme.com/bringhannahhomesoo . The site had raised $2,150 from 38 people as of Sunday morning, Feb. 1. An petition calling for testing of evidence — saying in part "We, the community and family of Hannah Thomas Garner, want all evidence tested NOW! If this was your daughter you would want answers too!" — has been started on the change.org website at www.change.org/p/ashland-oregon-police-department-test-the-evidence-they-found-on-hannah-thomas-garners-car . The petition had 3,031 online signatures as of Sunday morning. Garner said analysis of forensics evidence has been complicated by the fact that it hasn't been declared a crime and that the car was in Siskiyou County, California, “and we're trying to figure out who’s in charge, to process the case. We're trying to get the blood sample from the car processed.” Garner is in touch with the girl’s grandmother in Stockton and aunt in Modesto but, he says, they haven't heard from the girl. Police have said a credible witness gave her a ride from Mt. Shasta to Dunsmuir on Monday, Dec. 1. They also said she asked to leave with the other runaway girl and two young men, but was refused.  Her mother, Jamie Daugherty of Ashland, has said Hannah was in good spirits the day of her disappearance. She has been a good student and well-adjusted, says Garner, with no complaints about her home life over the years. Deputy chief responds O'Meara, the Ashland deputy chief, addressed some of the concerns expressed by those calling a more aggressive investigation in an email, a portion of which reads: "From the onset we have taken this case quite seriously and we have put a lot of resources into it. We have enlisted the help of other police agencies, and we have conducted many interviews, and re-interviewed the same people if needed. We have sent our detectives into California as needed, and we asked the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office to process Hannah's vehicle for forensic evidence, which they did. We have pushed all information out to all West Coast police departments through our information sharing system. That system is what (led) to the second runaway being found in Humboldt County by a fire chief. “... The part about us being non-responsive is just plain wrong. The part about the evidence requires a bit more explanation. Let's start with the rule that forensics labs will not test forensic evidence unless they are investigating a crime. In this case there are several points that give us a very strong indication that no crime was committed in association with that vehicle. “We know, from Hannah's friends and her own social media account that she planned to run away; “We know that she planned her runaway time, and the manner in which she would run away, including damaging her car and leaving her cell phone behind, but taking the SIM card; “Her car was in fact left abandoned, damaged with the cell phone remaining but the SIM card gone ....” “This all leads us to our strong belief that Hannah is a runaway, and therefore whatever evidence is present in the car should not be submitted for testing. “As always, we want to emphasize that we are concerned for Hannah's well-being, and we certainly understand that a 17-year-old girl on her own, living amongst the people that she is likely to be living amongst, is in danger, but that doesn't change the fact that she seems to have started out on her own volition, and left her car behind on her own volition, which is not a crime." Father 'will do whatever I can' Meanwhile Garner, the missing girl's father, says his worry has deepened because it’s been two months since the disappearance and it’s not like Hannah to be out of touch more than a few days. “I think there’s nowhere she would run away to. Maybe she did run away. It appears from the school and police that maybe she did run away. I lean to that, that she did run away,” says Garner. “I would like to think she ran away to get away from a situation in school or at home and met some people and now is hanging out with them.”  However, said Garner, “the only reason she wouldn't call is that she can’t for some reason. I’m scared. My daughter’s been abducted or taken against her will and is in a situation she can’t control. I’m fearful for her safety. I can't protect her.  “There are no answers and that’s the scary part ... I wish we knew one piece of evidence ... They're all hemming and hawing. I think Ashland Police have dropped the ball and should turn over the case to the FBI ... I call APD every week and they say, ‘We're still trying’ and I say, ‘that’s great, buddy.’ Someone needs to take the bull by the horns. Let’s get real and someone stand up and fight for this girl. My first-born child is missing, the love of my life is gone. I will do whatever I can to get her back, even if I have to sue the city.” Garner said he’s setting up a reward fund. Police urge anyone with information to call them at 541-482-5211. The gofundme lists other contacts as [email protected] and 800-THE-LOST. Reach Ashland freelance writer John Darling at [email protected] . Tidings Editor Bert Etling contributed to this story; reach him at [email protected] .     By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 1, 2015 @ 9:42 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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