WEST CHESTER, OH — Police in West Chester have ended a nine-day search of a backyard where they believed the body of a missing Tri-State man might be buried. Detectives had been digging at a Gregory Creek Lane home after a tip pointed them to the property, but no body has been recovered.

The search focused on Rigoberto Garcia, who disappeared in January 2018 and left behind a wife and three young children. Investigators began excavating the yard on October 27 after receiving information that Garcia had been buried there. Police say the case remains open and that they are still pursuing leads.

Tip led detectives to Gregory Creek Lane after property owner died

The search began shortly after the death of Lawana Tzeiranakis, who owned the West Chester home where police were digging. According to investigators, a tipster contacted police and said Garcia’s body was buried in the yard behind the residence. That information prompted the excavation, which continued through the end of the month and into early November.

The property sits on Gregory Creek Lane, and crews used excavators as they examined the backyard for signs of human remains. Police have not said what, if anything, was found during the dig. By ending the operation, investigators signaled that the search phase at the home had run its course, even though the broader inquiry continues.

Garcia vanished in 2018 and his truck turned up near a connected home

Garcia was reported missing from Fairfield Township in 2018. His disappearance left his family searching for answers for years, and his truck was later found near the home of Gary Tzeiranakis, the son of the woman who owned the property searched by police.

Garcia’s sister has said Tzeiranakis was her brother’s bookkeeper, which helps explain the connection investigators have been examining. Police have not publicly laid out a full timeline of the relationship between the men, but they have treated the link as significant enough to keep the case active. The missing-man investigation has remained unresolved since Garcia was last seen.

Police now say they have multiple persons of interest

West Chester police previously identified Gary Tzeiranakis as a person of interest. In their latest statement, however, detectives said they have identified multiple persons of interest, widening the circle of people they are looking at in the disappearance.

Police have not named anyone else and have not said whether the people of interest are being considered for any specific role in Garcia’s disappearance. Tzeiranakis still has not been named a suspect. The department has also declined to release additional details about what prompted the shift from one person of interest to multiple people of interest.

Former prosecutor says proving a homicide without a body is difficult but possible

Legal analyst Katelyn Mollett, an associate at Shark Law and former prosecutor, said the lack of a body makes a homicide case harder to prove because a defense can argue that the missing person may still be alive. Without remains, she said, it becomes easier for a defense attorney to create reasonable doubt about whether a crime even occurred.

Mollett said prosecutors can still rely on circumstantial evidence, including financial records, credit card activity, and purchases such as rope, shovels, or rented equipment. She pointed to the long-running challenge of building a case when no body is recovered, while noting that such prosecutions can still succeed if the evidence is strong enough.

Indiana gun arrest and prior theft conviction add separate background

Last week, Gary Tzeiranakis was arrested in Indiana on an unrelated gun charge and held for a few days for allegedly possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. He is now out on bond in that case. Court documents obtained by Local 12 show he was convicted in 2017 of stealing money from his employer, but that case was not connected to Garcia’s disappearance.

Police have not said how, or whether, that arrest affects the missing-person investigation. For now, detectives say the case remains active and that the search for answers continues even after the backyard excavation has ended. The department has not released the names of the additional persons of interest.