Mystery of missing Galt family continues
Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel staff writer

Three members of a Galt family are still missing after three months.
Annie Marie Hernandez, 34, and her two daughters, Jesika Hernandez, 2, and Korra Meyers, 5, were last seen Nov. 2 in a fast food restaurant parking lot east of Interstate 5 in South Sacramento.
Galt police detectives say they have exhausted all their leads, but relatives say otherwise, contending police moved too slowly and timidly.
The three disappeared after Annie Hernandez had an argument with her husband, Armando, on Nov. 2.
After the argument, Hernandez and three of her four children left their Galt home for a McDonald's at Pocket Road off Interstate 5.
McDonald's was a common meeting place for Hernandez and Jeanne Peterson, her mother -- Hernandez going there northwest from Galt, and Peterson southeast from Dixon.
Hernandez handed over her 18-month-old son, Daniel, to her mother for an overnight visit with his grandmother. When they left McDonald's, Peterson thought Hernandez was taking the two other children home to Galt.
Peterson finds her daughter's and grandchildren's disappearance suspicious because neither Hernandez nor her daughters had a change of clothing. She also didn't take an inhaler and medication for her asthma and migraine headaches.
Korra's Barbie and Teletubby collections, from which she is inseparable, are still in their Galt home, Peterson said.
Hernandez also talked on the phone with her mother almost every day. And the calls stopped coming.
Since the night of their disappearance, the only clue to their whereabouts is a partial credit card transaction in the St. Louis area on Nov. 24.
Detectives Jim Uptegrove and Steve Denier say they have done everything possible, including interviewing relatives and friends in the Galt-Sacramento-Dixon area, Washington state, Wisconsin and Kentucky.
They heard a report that a woman in the state of Washington may have seen Hernandez. The local police department there took the woman to where she thought she may have seen Hernandez, but it turned out to be a false lead, Uptegrove said.
Galt officers talked to police in Green Bay, Wis., and Korra Meyers' father, who lives in Green Bay, in the belief Hernandez may have taken her daughters to visit Korra's father.
Detectives drove all routes from the South Sacramento McDonald's to Galt. Officers also drove and flew in a sheriff's helicopter along all area rivers and levees.
They submitted the case to the "America's Most Wanted" television series in early December. Program spokeswoman Josie Blair said Friday that no decision has been made on whether to air the Hernandez case.
Police have enlisted support from the Missing Children's Help Center, based in Tampa, Fla.
They have checked for changes in her checking account and credit card balances.
And the department has also interviewed Hernandez's husband, Armando.
Nothing thus far has panned out.
While it seems like much has been done, Peterson believes too little was done early in the investigation.
"I don't think they busted their butts in the beginning," Peterson said. "If this was their child, would they be satisfied with the service they have gotten?"
She takes particular exception to a news release put out by the department indicating Hernandez may have taken her two daughters to visit relatives or friends.
"They may possibly be traveling to the states of Washington or Wisconsin, visiting relatives along the way," the news release said. "They may not know they are reported as missing."
The case wasn't originally treated as a missing persons scenario, said Uptegrove, because their was no evidence of foul play.
Galt police defend what appears to be a tardy response, noting that they didn't receive the report until Nov. 18.
Peterson didn't report Hernandez's disappearance to Galt initially because she contacted Vacaville police first.
She said talked to Vacaville police because Dixon's police station was closed for the weekend.
Hernandez's husband, Armando Hernandez, said he doesn't fault Galt police but hopes for the best outcome.
"I have my good days, and I have my bad days," Hernandez added. "I try to believe they're OK. I'm not going to give up hope."
Hernandez, who works as a mechanic for Teichert Construction, said he has talked to anyone he can think of who knew his wife.
Seeking help elsewhere, Peterson said she has enlisted the aid of a Sacramento printer to create fliers with her daughter's and grandchildren's photographs.
At least 500 fliers are distributed a week in the Sacramento area, Peterson said.
Peterson said she has also enlisted the help of a national organization called Project Pride, which focuses on missing children.
Meanwhile, an official of the Clements-based Cyndi Search Foundation said she is more than willing to help the Hernandez family try to find their missing family members.
Since the disappearance and apparent murder of Cyndi Vanderheiden, who has been missing since November 1998, her sister, Kim Wrage, and Wrage's friend, Pam Ellis, are devoting their lives to helping other families finding missing loved ones.
Ellis and Peterson were critical about the lack of publicity surrounding the Hernandez family disappearance.
"Don't rely on the police for anything," Ellis said. "Basically, you have to do your own investigation."
The local media have written articles about the disappearance in November and December, but it wasn't until the past 10 days that the case received regional publicity in newspapers and TV newscasts.
"It's just now getting on the news," Peterson said. "It's getting a little late now."
Anyone with information on the Hernandez family may call Galt police at 209-745-1535 or their local law enforcement agency.