Le Gallion: --- The friends of Leta Lynn Cordes the Mission Viejo woman who disappeared on St. Maarten on the night of January 11 2008 is now conducting yet another search in the hope of finding her body.
The search which began early yesterday morning around the Le Gallion Beach was done by the Sherriff and Checkmate Security including manpower from the United States, the Voluntary Korps, the RST and the local police. On the scene was the fire department that transported the dingy that was in the pond with one of the cadaver dogs.
Late yesterday afternoon the friends and search team had their hopes up when the cadaver dogs gave them at least two hints. The team immediately alerted the RST who is over the search who immediately showed up and cordoned the area with a human chain. The RST officers and a few persons who took part in the search from the Voluntary Korps began digging to see if they would find the body of Leta Lynn or someone else that might have gone missing. The two friends Cary and Elaine became very emotional as they look from a distance as the men in blue dug the sand where the first hint was given. However, before they knew it the search was called off since nothing substantial was found. 
The gendarmes who are cooperating fully with the search were not present but they were making spot checks throughout the day. Searchers have at least three cadaver dogs as they comb through the ponds as well as the mangrove in the immediate area. Also on site is the crew from the CBS (48 hours) who were filming as the searchers walked through the area. Good to note while this search is ongoing the husband of Leta Lynn Cordes who still remains a suspect in the case was nowhere around the search team. Instead he brought in a television crew from NBC dateline who is also trying to secure an interview with the friends. During the afternoon hours the NBC crew was also there to see what police and other volunteers are doing to find closer in the case.
Speaking to SMN News was Elaine Karas, Cary Honstein and Bobby Hargis who form part of the search team. Karas said she has been friends with Leta Cordes since she was 14 years old and she knows some of the things her friend who is now missing would do and not do. The purpose of this fourth search she said is to make sure they can take the body back home where a proper funeral would be conducted as well as to seek justice in the case. While the family is not in close contact with Leta's only son Rory Bryant the friends wants to make sure the 30 year old man whom they said is very much distraught with the ordeal get some closer. 
Karas said her friend Leta was indeed drinking the day she disappeared but felt the reason behind her drinking was because she had lost two brothers while her mother was ailing. She said the woman did not receive any kind of emotional support from her husband at the time which pushed her to alcohol. "If in fact Leta was drinking it was because she was numbing herself from her pains."
The friends said they know the Cordes family very well since they have been travelling for the past 17 years together. However, since Leta disappeared the friendship they said is no longer good.
Asked if she was a compulsive gambler her friend Cary said Leta did not have an addiction to gambling instead she did. "Leta would go to the casino with a few hundred dollars while I used to take a few thousands."
Asked if she knew about the Cordes marital problems Elaine said Frank was not paying much attention to his wife since he was busy with work and focused on building his house on St. Maarten and not paying much attention to her emotional needs. The woman said Frank Cordes was not giving his wife the support she needed during a crisis in her opinion.
Furthermore, Bobby Hargis confirmed that on the night Leta disappeared she called him at 10:30 pm to talk about the problems she had that day. That night Leta and her husband had a heated argument over monies for her to go over to the Westin casino to gamble while earlier that day they argued on Grand Case Beach, where Leta told Frank she was going to seek a divorce and demand half of their wealth. The missing woman had also promised to call back her brother that night but that never happened.
Even though the woman had made these threats in the past in the end she was becoming more serious on what to do says Elaine. Elaine said Leta Lynn was a very private woman but the same day she disappeared she called someone she met on the island and expressed herself concerning the problems she was having in her marriage. "That day January 11 was not a good day for the couple since they fought during the day as well as that night. Something which caused Frank Cordes to lock his wife out of the house even when she was under the influence.
Asked why she believed Frank Cordes has something to do with her best friend disappearance Elaine said that she came to St. Maarten 48 hours after she heard her friend went missing. The woman said she went to the Cordes house in the company of three police officers and immediately after she found that Frank Cordes were having inconsistent stories. Both Cary and Elaine said that the man's behavior is what made them concerned. "Frank sent us some emails and he made some comments that made us very much uncomfortable".
One of the inconsistencies the women said is that their friend Leta never drove on St. Maarten. They said the woman was afraid of driving on St. Maarten so the fact that Frank said she asked for the keys was a lie. They also don't believe the woman ever got far away from the home that night because she would not have walked down to Westin at that hour of the night.
Ever since January 11 2008, police on Dutch St. Maarten held several searches in the hope of finding the woman but to date they have not come up with anything.
The friends said they are very satisfied with the police and they way they have conducted the investigation. Frank Cordes was arrested in October 2008 where he spent over three months in pre-trial detention. He was released by the investigating judge on the request of the prosecutor's office for the lack of evidence. However, Frank Cordes still remains a suspect in the disappearance of his wife. Elaine Karas said that the prosecutor's office acted smartly by not taking the case to court with only circumstantial evidence. "While we believe the police has a lot on the case they still do not have a body. They would indeed have a hard time proving their case in court and we do not want the prosecutor or the police to gamble with this case. It's better to wait and see if the body would be found." the two women said.
The search team plans to continue their search today at different locations. Asked why the Le Galleon Beach was chosen the team said that they worked with several tips and leads which narrowed them down to that area.
About Frank and Leta Lynn Cordes.
Frank Cordes a German went to the United States at age 18. He met Leta Lynn Cordes at age 19 while she was already 27 years old and had her son Rory. The two got married shortly after since Frank's visa would have expired. The couple who were not at all in love in the beginning worked on their animation business which became very successful.
