6 years ago
There was another massive search effort Thursday for missing 25 year-old Yolanda Bindics. Near the Jamestown Plaza where her abandoned car was found more than a week earlier, investigators took measurements, and made footprint and tire track castings while rescue teams with search dogs combed acres of wooded land.
"We're basically looking for anything that would help us in this investigation," said Captain Lee Davies of the Jamestown Police Department.
But so far, they've turned up nothing. It's a frustrating outcome, say authorities. They've also been monitoring Bindics's cell phone and bank account. Officials say neither has been disturbed.
Meantime, Jamestown Police continue to insist that the officer who had a relationship of some sort with Bindics, a mother of four, is not a suspect in her disappearance; however, investigators acknowledge the FBI has questioned the unnamed officer.
Officials say he was put on paid leave simply to avoid a conflict of interest. But Channel 2 News has learned that he was not put on leave until five days after Bindics vanished. Investigators say they didn't know about the connection at first. They also say that the officer's presence in the department during the early, crucial days of searching did not compromise or taint the investigation.
For Bindics's mother Patricia, these have been trying times. This week, her only comfort seemed to be an answering machine message recorded by Yolanda the week before she disappeared. In the message, she told her mother she would be out all night.
"Hey, this is Yolanda," the recording began. "Dad called me earlier at work. I'm going to be stepping out again, so I won't be home. I'll talk to you later. You can try my cell phone if you want. Bye."
It's a chilling message because no one knows what has become of Bindics. Authorities say the weekend before she disappeared she took a trip to Canada. But like all of the other leads in the case so far, that one turned up empty.
