Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 07/27/2001
- Missing From:
- Missing From Los Gatos, California
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race Hispanic
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 06/10/1959 (65)
- Age:
- Age 42 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’5, 118 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A light blue floral-print cotton dress, black high-heeled sandals, hoop earrings, silver bracelets, silver rings, and a silver analog watch with an expandable metallic band and a round face
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Harms has a burn scar on the center of her right inner thigh. Her ears are pierced and she wears contact lenses. Harms may use her maiden name, Sanchez, and some agencies give her last name as “Harms-Sanchez.”
- Details of Disappearance:
- On July 27, 2001, a woman named Harms went on a date after spending time with friends. Later that night, she and her date, along with Maurice Nasmeh and another person, smoked marijuana. Harms went home with Nasmeh. He said he left her asleep on her couch around 12:30 or 1:00 AM.
Harms disappeared. Her phone was off, and she didn’t contact anyone – unusual for her. Her family reported her missing on July 30th.
A neighbor heard a loud bang near her apartment after midnight and saw a bald, mustachioed man driving away. Harms’s car was still there, but her phone, purse, keys, a rug, and couch cushions were gone.
Three and a half years later, police arrested Nasmeh for her murder. A woman found Harms’s rug in a dumpster near his home. Crime lab tests linked fibers from the rug and a craft rug Harms was making to Nasmeh’s car. Nasmeh also matched the description of the man seen leaving Harms’s apartment.
However, the case against Nasmeh was dismissed due to a delay in trial. He was released.
Three and a half years later, Harms’s brother shot and killed Nasmeh, then killed himself. After that, further forensic tests finally confirmed the suspicion that Nasmeh had murdered Harms. The case is considered closed, though her body has never been found.
- Agency:
- Los Gatos Police Department 408-354-8600
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 07/27/2001