Police in downtown Los Gatos shut down a restaurant Monday and were seen digging up the ground in the back of the property on Santa Cruz Avenue in a cold case homicide investigation, according to the San Jose Police Department.
San Jose police homicide investigators literally were digging for something behind Gardino's Italian Restaurant at 51 N. Santa Cruz Ave., police confirmed Tuesday, but they declined to provide any details about the case.
Video of the scene early Tuesday morning shows police supervising an excavation in the parking lot behind Gardino's. The footage shows a San Jose police patrol car, what appears to be a crime scene tech truck, a blue canopy and mounds of dirt and rock.
“Frightening, I wonder how long ago it was, that’s scary,” said Megan Kunis. “It’s such a beautiful area.”
Police sources say the search is connected to a 1982 murder in which a man was convicted and sentenced to death for killing his wife, but her body was never recovered.
This digging operation started when a friend of an alleged accomplice told police he remembered strange activity there around the time of the murder.
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The restaurant reopened Tuesday, as did neighboring businesses. Los Gatos police told NBC Bay Area it is not their case.
San Jose police declined to provide any further information "to protect the integrity of the investigation."
“If it’s a family member you would want that closure,” said Mary Guercio. “So, it would be very interesting to find out what it is, but clearly, it’s something.”
