Landfill Search Pushed Into Holiday

Police and volunteers are back at a Pittsburg landfill, continuing the search for the body of a missing Hercules man who might have been the victim of foul play.

Police started searching the landfill Friday after finding a  white Cadillac Escalade on Wednesday that was driven by a now-deceased suspect who may be responsible for the disappearance of the 35-year-old Fredrick Sales.
     
The Cadillac was found at Northshore Business Park.  A large garbage container is located there.
     
Officers are sifting through trash collected there between Aug. 25 and Aug. 31.
     
Sales' father, 73-year-old Ricardo Sales, was found dead Aug. 28  in the master bedroom of the Crepe Myrtle Drive home where the father and son  lived.
     
Police believe the elder Sales was murdered by Efren Valdemoro,  38, who was fatally shot in Richmond on Aug. 31 after trying to evade  California Highway Patrol officers.
     
Authorities have linked Sales to three other murder victims - two  women whose decomposed bodies were found at a Vallejo home, and Valdemoro's  girlfriend, 46-year-old Cindy Tran, who was found dead in Valdemoro's car at  the time he was shot by CHP officers.
     
Hercules police spokeswoman Michelle Harrington said Tran owned and lived at the home on Crepe Myrtle  Drive with the Sales father and son and one other roommate. Valdemoro often  visited, and Harrington said there had been friction in the home after  Valdemoro had warned the elder Sales to stay out of his relationship.
     
Hercules police were called to the home on Aug. 22, five days  before police believe the elder Sales was killed, in response to a report of  a fight.
     
A police report from the incident states that Tran called police  at 8:21 a.m. to report that her ex-boyfriend and two roommates were fighting  at her home.
     
When officers arrived, they found Ricardo Sales holding down a  naked Valdemoro on the floor of one of the bedrooms. His eye was swelling and  he complained of back and shoulder pain, according to the report.
     
Sales told police he had woken up that Sunday morning to find a  letter on his door from Valdemoro. The letter, written in Tagalog, called  Sales a backstabber and accused him of interfering in Valdemoro's  relationship with Tran, according to the report.
     
Sales told police he went into the room where Tran and Valdemoro  were sleeping and asked to talk to Valdemoro, who he said then got out of bed  and attacked him.
     
Tran and Valdemoro, however, both told police Sales was the  aggressor and hit Valdemoro first.
     
Frederick Sales, who had been downstairs on the living room sofa,  heard the commotion and jumped in to help his father, he told police.
     
Valdemoro told police he wanted to press charges against Ricardo  Sales. After taking the report, police gave Valdemoro a ride to the Creekside  Shopping Center about a mile away.
     
A short time later, Valdemoro showed up at the police station and  said he also wanted to press charges against Frederick Sales.
     
He was then driven back to the Crepe Myrtle Drive home to retrieve  his belongings, and then dropped off at a church in Rodeo.
Bay City News

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