Back to Home > Communities > Friday, Sep 15, 2006 Montclarion Posted on Fri, Sep. 15, 2006 email... Search grows for missing h

White-smocked Oakland crime lab technicians and police using a cadaver dog Wednesday searched the Montclair home of the estranged husband of Nina "Nenasha" Reiser -- the last place she was known to be before her disappearance.

The search did not yield any immediate clues to help locate the 31-year-old mother of two, but police removed bags of items from the home for further analysis and testing.

Bishop, a dog trained to pick up the scent of a dead body, first searched a crawl space underneath the house on the 6900 block of Exeter Drive before being led inside by its trainer.

Oakland police Lt. Kevin Wiley said the case is still being treated as a "missing person at risk, and the reason we are here is that this is the last place she was known to be." He said police expected to continue searching the house Thursday.

Friends last spoke to Reiser the morning of Sept. 3. Reiser dropped her two children off at the house around 2 p.m. that day and was supposed to go shopping at the Berkeley Bowl and meet with a girlfriend who lives in Montclair at 6 p.m. but failed to show up.

Reiser was driving a 2001 Honda Odyssey that police said was found intact on Saturday in North Oakland with bags of groceries from the Berkeley Bowl, but declined to say whether Reiser's purse or any other personal effects were found.

The children had been with their father, Hans Reiser, 43, and his mother, Beverly Palmer, but were taken into Child Protective Services on Monday, police said.

Hans Reiser was not at the house, where he grew up with his parents. Palmer was home. Wiley said she was "very cooperative" and had left to stay with friends.

Wiley said police know where the husband is, but have not been able to contact him. Wiley would not elaborate. Police broadcast radio alerts to officers to look out for two cars the husband has access to.

Also present at the house with police were two agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That agency has been brought into the case because the Reisers frequently traveled overseas, police said.

Hans Reiser traveled abroad because he employed Russian programmers to help him create a computer program that he worked on for years and marketed through a company called Namesys.

Nina Reiser was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she practiced gynecology until she met her husband and emigrated to the United States in 1999.

She was to begin a new job next week as a program administrator for a health clinic that serves Russian immigrants. Reiser also volunteered helping immigrant communities and political refugees at the International Rescue Committee in San Francisco.

Nina Reiser wrote in court documents filed in their divorce that she worked as CFO of her husband's company when the two were married. But the fact her husband spent nine months a year working in Russia created a problem in the marriage, according to court documents.

Reiser wrote that when her husband did come back, he began exposing their toddler son to violent video games and movies, which gave the boy nightmares.

Hans Reiser said in an interview published online that he dropped out of school in eighth grade because he disagreed with having to do homework.

Reiser told the interviewer for kerneltrap.org that he applied to UC Berkeley, and was accepted at age 15. He eventually received his bachelor's degree there.

The family court of Alameda County granted Nina Reiser a temporary restraining order against her husband in December 2004, barring him from coming in contact with her or their two children. The order eventually was dissolved after mediation, and friends said Reiser was allowing her estranged husband to see the children.

Hans Reiser fired at least four attorneys during the divorce proceedings, and represented himself for a time. The divorce settlement still has not been finalized, and a settlement conference is scheduled for Dec. 15.

While police kept searching for clues, friends of Nina Reiser's and parents at Joaquin Miller taped photographs of their smiling friend to a fence at Montclair Park. A candlelight vigil is planned at the park at 7 p.m. today.

Anthony Zografos, 46, and Ellen Doren talked to Reiser on Sept. 3 before her disappearance. Zografos, who has been dating Reiser for more than a year, said Reiser is in good health and enjoyed outdoor activities including paragliding, snowmobiling and was learning to play soccer with her children.

Both friends are leading the effort to get pictures and information about their friend out. Zografos said he will hand out fliers at farmers markets in Oakland throughout the weekend. Her photograph and a missing persons ad was posted on Craigslist.org.

"I sleep with the phone, I eat with the phone, I shower with the phone," Zografos said. "It's a nightmare. Every time it rings, I think I'm going to die."

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