Hollinger case moves to two men
The investigation into Nora "Lori" Loreta Hollinger's disappearance last week is turning away from a man arrested Wednesday and toward two men police say were seen with the Gridley woman during the four days she was missing.
At a news conference Thursday, Gridley-Biggs police gave their most detailed description of the men they seek to question about the disappearance of Hollinger. A picture began to emerge from police interviews with Hollinger of two strangers - an uncle and nephew known only as "Juan" and "Arturo" - hiding out with the 18-year-old woman, but details of what the three did and where they went - and how the woman met the men - remained elusive even to detectives.
"Juan and Arturo were total strangers to her," Lt. Brian Cook said of the men police still call "persons of interest" rather than suspects.
Hollinger vanished from her Gridley home March 6 following a reported argument with her host mother, only to resurface four days later at a Wal-Mart in Willows.
Police identified "Juan" as the man depicted in a composite sketch released last week. Cook described him as 5 feet 9 inches and between 240 and 260 pounds, and in his 30s. The second man sought by police, "Arturo," was described as a 19- or 20-year-old of about the same height as his uncle.
According to Cook, "Juan" picked up Hollinger on March 6 in what Hollinger described as a gray four-door car with a large, deep trunk. A witness saw the two later that day in a local convenience store.
Based on Hollinger's accounts and caller tips, police believe "Juan" and Hollinger went to a ranch in Glenn or Tehama counties, where "Arturo" joined them.
The younger man is thought to have driven Hollinger to Willows on Saturday and dropped her off at the Wal-Mart, where she called local police. Gridley-Biggs police took her back to Gridley and helped place her in a county-run shelter.
As police turned their attention to the unknown men, they also downplayed the Hollinger case's link to the arrest of Sean Thomas Lindsay. Chief Gary D. Keeler said Lindsay, a 41-year-old welder who moved to the Marysville area from Gridley last year, has no known connections to "Juan" or "Arturo."
Police detained the 41-year-old Lindsay on Wednesday, but Keeler said a search of his Nissan sedan turned up no evidence linking him to Hollinger's disappearance.
He was jailed on suspicion of unlawful intercourse and three other felonies with a person younger than 18.
Keeler told reporters all the crimes were committed in Gridley against one victim several months ago, but avoided saying whether the victim was Hollinger.
He also declined to say whether the suspect is related to or knows Susan Lindsey of Gridley, who has raised Hollinger for seven years but who police say is not the woman's official foster mother.
"There is a link between Sean Lindsay and Susan Lindsey, but we're not going to disclose that right now," Keeler said.
Jail booking records give the suspect's last name as Lindsay, but police recorded it as Lindsey - the same as that of Susan Lindsey, a friend of Hollinger's birth mother. Susan Lindsey has declined comment about the disappearance or Sean Lindsay's relationship to her family.
Sean Lindsay was being held in the Butte County Jail in Oroville in lieu of $260,000 bail. His arraignment is scheduled for 2 p.m. today in Butte County Superior Court, but the hearing likely will be postponed if the court must provide him an attorney.
Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune can be reached at 749-4708. You may e-mail him at hyune@appeal-democrat.com.
