2 ‘persons of interest’ investigated in missing SoCal woman case

LOS ANGELES — Police searching for a 22-year-old woman who vanished near a Southern California university that has seen a string of attacks on female students said on Monday that they were investigating two “persons of interest” in the case.

Sahray Astina Barber was last seen a week ago after leaving her apartment across the street from Cal State San Bernardino on her way to work at another school campus.

She never arrived at that job and her laptop computer and cell phone were found in bushes near the gate to her apartment complex across the street from CSUSB. San Bernardino is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles in Southern California’s so-called Inland Empire.

Police have said that they were especially concerned for Barber in light of several attacks on women on the CSUSB campus, including one attempted kidnapping, and were studying the electronic devices left behind for clues.

On Monday a San Bernardino Police spokeswoman said that detectives had identified two persons of interest in the case, but declined to name them or provide further details. No arrests had been made and no charges filed.

Police and the university have stepped up security on campus following Barber’s disappearance.

“Over the last two weeks, CSUSB has experienced an unprecedented number of crimes on campus,” President Tomas Morales wrote in a statement on the school’s website last week.

“This is incredibly disturbing, as this university has long been a model for campus safety, including being ranked amongst the safest campuses in California,” he said.