A small group of friends and family began their second day of searching for the body of a 28-year-old man whom San Jose police say was allegedly killed by his co-worker, who adamantly denied in a jailhouse interview that he was responsible for the homicide.
"I was framed," Steve Hlebo said Monday from jail.
Meanwhile, the family of the Kyle Myrick began searching in Mountain View for the 28-year-old's body, which has yet to be found after he went missing on Friday. They fanned out to Palo Alto and Aliso. And some people also planned to search near Loma Prieta Mountain, later in the day. On Saturday, volunteers looked for his body around Lexington Reservoir.
Sparry said that police had suggested places where they should look for Myrick's body, based on where the suspect - 39-year-old Hlebo of Los Altos - lived and rode his four-wheel drive.
Myrick's family said they are hoping that despite the odds, they hope the avid motorcycle enthusiast is still alive.
"It's hard, but we're going to keep hoping," Sparry said.
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San Jose police on Saturday arrested Hlebo, Myrick's new co-worker on a murder charge, though officials have not released a motive or details of why they believe Hlebo is the alleged killer. However, in a jailhouse interview on Monday, Hlebo said he didn't kill Myrick and he was "framed." He also said someone must have drugged his coffee, a detail San Jose police didn't immediately respond to.
Myrick started working at GP Sports motorcycle shop in the Cambrian neighborhood last week, and was reported missing on Friday. His family said he had only worked there four days after he had been transferred from another shop. Myrick was a graduate of Westmont High School graduate in Campbell. Myrick's mother, Kelly Sparry, described her son to the Mercury News as someone who loved to ride his motorcycle, snowboard, and play baseball and football.
Other than that, his step-father told NBC Bay Area that he didn't believe Myrick and Hlebo knew each other aside from that brief time period.
Sources told NBC Bay Area that Myrick was killed inside a boarded up, scorched building in San Jose, next to where he and Hlebo worked. Sources said there is a shared employee bathroom in that building. In October 2014, a fire destroyed 70 motorcycles at GP Sports.
Someone told police that they thought Myrick left the store with Hlebo to grab some lunch, but neither returned to the store.
Alice Palamidessi, a former aunt of Hlebo's who hasn't seen him for years, told NBC Bay Area on Monday, that she remembers Steve Hlebo, one of four brothers, as a "typical Hlebo kid," which she described as someone who was "in and out of trouble" and "not on the honor roll." She said he and his brothers liked motorcycles and he ran a suspension motorcycle shop with one of his brothers, who hung up the phone on NBC Bay Area on Monday morning.
Palamidessi insisted, however, that Hlebo certainly wasn't a murderer.
Another aunt said the family was in "shock" but she declined to speak publicly.
Along with canvassing the neighborhood and interviewing people, officers seized Hlebo's white 2003 GMC Sierra 1500 truck because they believe it's associated with the homicide. They are, however, are asking for help determining where the GMC was between 5 p.m. Friday and 2 a.m. Saturday.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Detective Sgt. Paul Hamblin or Detective Jason Tanner of the Homicide Unit at (408) 277-5283.
NBC Bay Area's Bob Redell contributed to this report.
