By Khalida Sarwari
Law enforcement officials today wrapped up the mysterious excavation of a field in San Jose’s Alviso community.
The excavation began Monday morning and concluded shortly before noon today. The activity involved officials from the Los Altos Police Department and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, said Moises Reyes Jr., a criminal investigator with the district attorney’s office.
A fence and crime scene tape enclosed several giant mounds of dirt dug up by bulldozers from the field, located on Wilson Way.
Reyes would not comment on speculation that the excavation may be linked to the 1991 disappearance of a Los Altos woman whose body has never been found.
Dawn Sanchez, 31, was last seen on Aug. 30, 1991. Sanchez’s friend, Bernardo Bass, 48, was arrested in 1991 in connection with her disappearance but the case was dismissed the following year due to insufficient evidence, Bass’ defense attorney Dennis Lempert said.
Bass was arrested again in 2007, and now faces trial on Sept 21. Police alleged that Bass shot and killed Sanchez during an argument and later disposed of her body. Bass has pleaded not guilty to the crime, Lempert said.
Lempert maintained that his client was not involved in Sanchez’s disappearance and that it is likely she may still be alive and working as a prostitute, as she did before she disappeared.
“I suppose anything in the world is possible,” Lempert said. “There is no evidence that this lady is dead.”
