Patience wearing thin for family
The arrest of a West End man as part of the investigation into a woman's disappearance did little to comfort her friends and family.
"It's just about getting information from him, and I highly doubt he's going to say anything," Nicole Massart, 19, of Green Tree said Thursday. "It's really hard. I feel like my sister is gone."
Allegheny County police said they arrested Alexander P. Lorenzi, 22, on drug and receiving stolen property charges after searching his Esplen apartment on Wednesday. They are investigating the disappearance of Lorenzi's girlfriend, Alivia Kail, 19, who last lived in Mt. Washington.
"I just want my daughter to be safe, wherever she is," said Kail's mother, Christine DiDiano, 50. "The strain is really getting tremendous."
DiDiano said she doesn't know much about Lorenzi or his past.
"Everything is crazy, and all I can do is sit here and try to be as patient as I can," she said. "Throughout the day, I'm either really mad or I'm crying or I'm staying collected to keep my strength up for my kids."
Police said Kail was last seen on March 5 leaving her brother's home in West Mifflin, where she picked up some clothes and said she was planning to go to Florida with Lorenzi.
Police said they found a stolen handgun, bags of suspected marijuana and suspected cocaine, evidence of drug packaging and records of drug sales during their search of Lorenzi's apartment.
Senior District Judge Richard Zoller ordered Lorenzi jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail. Zoller could not be reached to explain the bail.
Janice Dean, head of county pretrial services, said bail agents recommended a high figure for Lorenzi based on his risk to get into trouble while free or the possibility he might not show up for another court hearing.
A woman who answered the door at Lorenzi's family home in Dormont declined to comment.
Zachary John Zilles, 21, of South Park, who wrote on his Facebook page that he and Kail dated for three years before breaking up shortly before her disappearance, was questioned by county police last night.
"He's an ex-boyfriend, so we wanted to talk to him," Assistant County Police Superintendent James Morton said. "At this time, we don't believe he was involved in her disappearance."
Zilles was questioned when he was picked up on a bench warrant issued Tuesday by Common Pleas Judge Joseph K. Williams III for failing a drug and alcohol evaluation urine test, thus violating terms of his probation, court records show. The records show Zilles was sentenced in July to five years' probation after pleading guilty to criminal trespass for a break-in.
Kennedy police arrested Lorenzi in 2008 when his girlfriend at the time claimed he banged her head into the dashboard of his car multiple times during an argument. Prosecutors withdrew the simple assault and harassment charges.
A man told Collier police Lorenzi used a vehicle to trap him at a car wash on Campbells Run Road in Robinson in 2009. The man said Lorenzi previously threatened to break both of his legs. Charges of terroristic threats, harassment, false imprisonment and other crimes stemming from the incident were withdrawn.
County police Lt. Jeffrey Korczyk has described Lorenzi as uncooperative in their investigation. When police tried to question him earlier this week, he had his brother refer them to an attorney, who police would not identify. The attorney could not be reached.
Lorenzi's record includes theft charges and 36 traffic cases dating to 2005. In 2008, he was charged with involvement with two car break-ins in Dormont. He pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in both cases and was sentenced to 90 days of probation in each case.
