US News

CLUB GIRL’S ‘LAST’ RIDE

Investigators seeking to link a hotshot ladies’ man from upstate Middletown with the disappearance of a Texas beauty in Manhattan appealed to the public today, releasing photos of the bloodstained SUV in which she may have taken her last ride.

Cops want to hear from anyone who saw Michael Mele’s 2005 Infiniti FX35 – which had only temporary plates – any time after early Wednesday morning, when he left the Chelsea club Marquee with 25-year-old Laura Garza and a male pal.

As investigators scoured Mele’s apartment complex for the second straight day, draining a septic tank and sending dogs into the nearby woods, her increasingly distraught family back home in Texas valiantly tried to stay hopeful.

“We have lots of faith that she will be found,” said her tearful brother Ivan Garza, 32, a tour-bus driver from Monterrey, Mexico, where images of drug-related gang violence often dominate the news.

“We would see that on TV, and I never thought it could happen to our family.”

The girl’s mother, Elizabeth, has barely eaten or slept since learning that her daughter vanished four days ago and didn’t show up to meet her Brooklyn roommate for the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting.

“This is her baby,” said cousin Isela Villalobos. “This is her flesh and blood. She’s thinking, ‘Where’s my daughter? Is she hurting?’ A million things are going through her mind.”

Villalobos added that Garza knew better than to leave a club with a strange man – and was puzzled when shown photos of Mele because light-skinned men were never Garza’s type.

“She doesn’t like white guys,” she said. “She likes dark-skinned guys.”

Today, investigators also said they wanted to hear from any other women who may have had unpleasant run-ins with Mele.

“Mele frequents locations in and around New York City and the tri-state area, and it is believed that some of the women he has approached have not come forward to police at this time,” Lt. Pierce Gallagher said in a statement.

The suspect, who owns a Quizno’s sandwich shop upstate, is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail for violating the terms of his probation, stemming from a 2007 forcible-touching incident in Clarkstown.

Friends and associates described Mele as a successful young man who loved flashy cars and beautiful women, but expressed shock that he could be linked to Garza’s disappearance.

“She’s freaked out,” said one woman, referring to one of Mele’s ex-girlfriends, with whom she had been in touch. “She’s a gorgeous girl, and she was lured by his money and good looks. She’s in shock.

“We’re trying to understand how this happened. It sounds so brutal.”

The New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation is asking that anyone with information regarding Mele in general, or his whereabouts during the previous four days, contact (845) 344 5300. All calls will be treated as confidential.