Alycia Mesiti, the Ceres girl whose body was found last month buried in a residential backyard, had been previously molested by a family acquaintance, the Courier has learned.
Ceres Police Lt. Rick Collins confirmed that detectives have interviewed Gregory Joseph Ulrich, a 51-year-old Modesto man who served time in jail for molesting Alycia. He couldn't say if Ulrich was considered a suspect in the girl's death.
Police have only publicly stated that the prime suspect in the case is Mark Edward Mesiti, Alycia's father. Mesiti was arrested March 28 in Los Angeles on drug charges but has not been charged with his daughter's death. He remains behind bars on $500,000 bail.
Ulrich, who is known by Mark Mesiti, served a year in jail after being convicted of the molestation. He was released three days prior to Alycia's disappearance, a source told the Courier.
Ulrich has relatives in law enforcement.
Lt. Collins said detectives and prosecutors are awaiting results of a forensics investigation to determine the cause of Alycia's death before the case proceeds. He said the district attorney's office is wanting an air tight case.
"We hope to hear something by the end of the month," said Collins.
He would not divulge further details about Mesiti nor Ulrich, saying it could jeopardize the case.
Mark Mesiti's live-in girlfriend, Shelly Walker-Welborn, 40, was released from jail on bail last week. Walker-Welborn had been behind bars at the Los Angeles County Jail after police delivered an arrest warrant on their home. Los Angeles police found a methamphetamine lab set up in the couple's residence during the raid on an apartment in the 2100 block of Bentley Avenue in L.A.
Walker-Welborn is facing charges of drug and child endangerment charges since the home was used to make drugs where her 12-year-old daughter lived.
Ceres police detectives called Walker-Welborn a "person of interest" in the death of the Ceres girl. She reported Alycia as a missing person on August 15, 2006. The disappearance remained a cold case until new clues surfaced last month which prompted a search warrant of the Alexis Avenue home in west Ceres where Mesiti and Walker-Welborn lived. A cadaver-detecting police canine was able to pinpoint a makeshift grave in the yard.
The Courier has also learned that police have checked out a large carpet stain in one of the bedrooms that someone made a labored attempt to remove.
Approximately six months after the girl was reported missing the couple left Ceres.
The Mesiti family moved to Ceres in 2005 from the Bay Area. She had been enrolled by her father to attend Central Valley High School on Sept. 15, 2005, but never attended, said Ceres Unified School District officials. On Oct. 6, 2005 CUSD received a request for her records from Harbor High School in Santa Cruz saying she was attending there.
Walker-Welborn told police that Alycia returned to San Jose on August 11, 2006, to spend the weekend with a friend but that she telephoned her family on August 13, saying that she had instead gone camping with other friends, refusing to disclose her whereabouts. Police feared the worst when her myspace account and cell phone saw no activity following the reported disappearance.
Ceres Police Lt. Rick Collins confirmed that detectives have interviewed Gregory Joseph Ulrich, a 51-year-old Modesto man who served time in jail for molesting Alycia. He couldn't say if Ulrich was considered a suspect in the girl's death.
Police have only publicly stated that the prime suspect in the case is Mark Edward Mesiti, Alycia's father. Mesiti was arrested March 28 in Los Angeles on drug charges but has not been charged with his daughter's death. He remains behind bars on $500,000 bail.
Ulrich, who is known by Mark Mesiti, served a year in jail after being convicted of the molestation. He was released three days prior to Alycia's disappearance, a source told the Courier.
Ulrich has relatives in law enforcement.
Lt. Collins said detectives and prosecutors are awaiting results of a forensics investigation to determine the cause of Alycia's death before the case proceeds. He said the district attorney's office is wanting an air tight case.
"We hope to hear something by the end of the month," said Collins.
He would not divulge further details about Mesiti nor Ulrich, saying it could jeopardize the case.
Mark Mesiti's live-in girlfriend, Shelly Walker-Welborn, 40, was released from jail on bail last week. Walker-Welborn had been behind bars at the Los Angeles County Jail after police delivered an arrest warrant on their home. Los Angeles police found a methamphetamine lab set up in the couple's residence during the raid on an apartment in the 2100 block of Bentley Avenue in L.A.
Walker-Welborn is facing charges of drug and child endangerment charges since the home was used to make drugs where her 12-year-old daughter lived.
Ceres police detectives called Walker-Welborn a "person of interest" in the death of the Ceres girl. She reported Alycia as a missing person on August 15, 2006. The disappearance remained a cold case until new clues surfaced last month which prompted a search warrant of the Alexis Avenue home in west Ceres where Mesiti and Walker-Welborn lived. A cadaver-detecting police canine was able to pinpoint a makeshift grave in the yard.
The Courier has also learned that police have checked out a large carpet stain in one of the bedrooms that someone made a labored attempt to remove.
Approximately six months after the girl was reported missing the couple left Ceres.
The Mesiti family moved to Ceres in 2005 from the Bay Area. She had been enrolled by her father to attend Central Valley High School on Sept. 15, 2005, but never attended, said Ceres Unified School District officials. On Oct. 6, 2005 CUSD received a request for her records from Harbor High School in Santa Cruz saying she was attending there.
Walker-Welborn told police that Alycia returned to San Jose on August 11, 2006, to spend the weekend with a friend but that she telephoned her family on August 13, saying that she had instead gone camping with other friends, refusing to disclose her whereabouts. Police feared the worst when her myspace account and cell phone saw no activity following the reported disappearance.
