Officer Pat Mahanay

Before getting into this chapter, keep in mind that you are viewing this story through my experience. I know more than practically anybody on this planet about Kristen's disappearance. There are a few exceptions however, and this man is one of them.

I first heard the name, "Mahanay" at Bob and Debbie's kitchen table in October of 1997. His name was grouped in along with Graham Desvernine and Tim Hames, both

private investigators working Kristen's case.

Debbie had given me their contact info and said I should call them to introduce myself and to let them know I was coming out to the Bay Area to look for Kristen.

Tim Hames called me right back. Desvernine took a few days but eventually called me and said as soon as I hit town to drop by his office.

Officer Mahanay never returned my call.

Fresh out of the gate from North Carolina, I drove to California thinking that there was going to be a great deal of activity in the Bay Area focused on Kristen. Iexpected to be just another person looking for her.

I was wrong. There was essentially no 'visible' activity dedicated to Kristen.

Four months into her disappearance, the investigation basically had narrowed itself to Officer Mahanay's office in Oakland and, to a lesser extent, Desvernine's office on Van Ness Street in San Francisco.

Des, as we all called him, is a retired FBI agent with world-wide connections whose expertise, I believe, is in Financial Forensics. In the world of big time money

laundering, Des' expertise was in following the money trail and more than not, the money tells the story.

I can remember Des telling me on more than one occasion..."Let's stay out of Mahanay's way....if he needs us....he'll let us know."

So basically, Patrick Mahanay was the guy.

Des had helped me get a meeting with Officer Mahanay the first week I was in the Bay Area. I went to his office in Oakland and he invited me into a small room that had seen a lot of wear over the years and I remember there was a child's play toybox over in the corner.

"Officer Mahanay, I want to begin by telling you who I am not," I began.  "I am not a police officer, I am not a private eye, I am not involved in law enforcement whatsoever. I am just out here trying to help."

I explained to him that my father was a Police Homicide Detective from back east and that I understood very clearly what the badge represented and I certainly did not want to be perceived as a meddling vigilante.

Eight months later in a subsequent meeting, Mahanay told me that in my entire time out in the Bay Area he did not receive one complaint about me.

I then asked him for his take on what very little I knew at the time. I mentioned the name of Jon Onuma to him and this is what the lead investigator told me about the lead suspect:

Jon Onuma had made the anonymous phone call accusing two women of killing Kristen Modafferi.  This lead proved  false.  Was Onuma just a sick punk out to make trouble,  or did he have more to do with Kristen's disappearance than he was willing to admit?  Mahanay set as his #1 goal to  find out the answer to this question.

I told Mahanay that I found it hard to believe that people would actually do that (the phone call leading the police on a wild goose chase).  Officer Mahanay got a little animated at my statement and took me to school somewhat:  "Dennis", he said, "there is a whole subculture out there that hate the police, and to them, this is entertainment. Onuma is one of these guys."

I found out from Mahanay where Onuma was living.  "He lives in the 700 block of O'Farrell' over in San Francisco".

The police usually keep information very close to the vest. In many instances, they hold back information from the  victim's parents.  That is not necessarily a bad thing.

Sometimes, informing the parents could gum up the works  because of how emotional they understandably are. 

So I thought it was significant and a little surprising that he shared information with me.  

Officer Mahanay told me that he believed Kristen was at a hotel located in the 600 block of O'Farrell.  This was the next block over from where Onuma supposedly was living.

Mahanay had gone there as soon as the tip came in but when he arrived at the hotel, she was nowhere around.

I remember his exact words to me: "I classify that as a near miss, Dennis". I believe she was there and that we just missed her."

So, on that day, back in October of 1997, the question remained,  "Is Jon Onuma a suspect or not?"   Seven months later, Onuma was back in the spotlight in a

very, very big way!