RENO, Nev. — A search warrant Wednesday night served at the home of the 3-year-old boy abandoned last weekend at a Sugar House ShopKo may have unearthed clues as to the whereabouts, or the demise, of his mother.
When investigators served the warrant at the home where Jonathan Jacob Corpuz and his mother lived with her new husband, they found a blood-stained carpet outside the Reno house.
Yet despite that finding, a Reno justice court judge rejected Thursday a request by the Washoe County District Attorney's Office to deny bail to Lyle Montgomery, who is accused of abandoning his 3-year-old stepson at the Sugar House store last Saturday.
The decision came as circumstantial evidence mounted against Montgomery in the disappearance of his wife and speculation about the woman's fate grew increasingly grim.
But Judge Harold G. Albright did order Montgomery to be placed under house arrest and abstain from alcohol and drugs, submit to daily testing for both drugs and alcohol and have no access to any weapons.
The house arrest won't begin until Montgomery is released from a Reno hospital, where he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation after an apparent suicide attempt.
Montgomery's attorney, Mark Picker, said his client was admitted for the mental evaluation "involuntarily" after he reportedly consumed an excess amount of pills and alcohol.
He was found Wednesday lying on the floor of his upscale Reno townhouse in a fetal position with a loaded gun and several rounds of ammunition 20 feet away, according to court documents. Police found him while executing a search warrant in connection with the disappearance of Jacob's mother, who goes by the names Jeanette Snyder, Jeanette Corpuz, Jeanette Montgomery or Jeanette Acord. She has not been seen since Jan. 13.
When police entered Montgomery's house Wednesday and asked him where his wife was, court documents said his only reply was, "She left."
This isn't the first time police have been called to investigate Montgomery.
He was arrested in October after being accused of pointing a gun at Jacob's mother. His bail for that case was set at $34,000.
Prosecutors allege Montgomery is the person who left Jacob in a shopping cart at the ShopKo in Sugar House last Saturday.
The day before Jacob was abandoned, Montgomery fired a shot at his mother in their Reno house and hit a dresser, officers said in court documents.
When investigators served the search warrant Wednesday at Montgomery's house, they found the carpet and carpet pad from the master bedroom had been ripped up, rolled up and placed outside.
After examining the carpet, detectives found two "substantial size red stains which appeared to be blood and which tested positive for blood," court documents say.
Also missing from the house is Montgomery's bed, according to court documents.
On Jan. 27, a Realtor wanted to show Montgomery's house, which has been for sale. Montgomery told her, "Now is not a good time. The house is a mess. I don't want the house shown," according to court documents.
Later that night, a neighbor "observed a truck pull away from the residence with an unknown item in the bed of the truck concealed by a tarp," court documents say.
In court Thursday, Washoe County Deputy District Attorney Kelli Ann Viloria argued that not only did Montgomery pose a threat to himself and others but there was "an incredible amount of evidence" stacking up against him in the disappearance of Jacob's mother.
A "number of sources," including Viloria, recognized Montgomery on the ShopKo surveillance tape, she said.
Viloria told the judge that her office was looking at the possibility of filing kidnap or homicide charges.
Picker countered that the state could speculate on any charge it wanted but until one is actually filed, it held no legal authority.
"The state is asking for a lot of guess work. It's all fiction at this point," he said. "Let's look at the facts. We have absolutely no information (Jacob) was removed without authorization."
Picker said it's not even clear his client is the person seen in the ShopKo surveillance tape leading Jacob into the store.
Furthermore, he said Jacob's mother has a history of disappearing for long periods of time and showing up unharmed. Her character and her bizarre history with Montgomery were topics discussed in court Thursday.
After Montgomery was accused of pointing a gun at her head in October, she fled to live with her ex-husband in California without telling prosecutors, who were forced to delay the case.
Montgomery wrote a letter to Snyder in December asking her to move back to Reno. She did, and two days later, on Dec. 29, they were married.
Reno police are confident that Snyder did not voluntarily disappear this time. They searched a storage shed about two minutes from Montgomery's home Thursday afternoon and took "several items," Reno Police Lt. Ron Holladay said.
Investigators also went back to his house late Thursday night to go over it with ultra-violent lights to look for additional forensic evidence. The search of the house will likely end today, Holladay said.
Meanwhile, as for the fate of Jacob, who has been with a foster family in the Salt Lake area since Saturday, a worker with the Division of Child and Family Services Thursday night inspected the home of Joel Corpuz, Jacob's biological father, to see if it is suitable place for Jacob to live.
Speaking to the Deseret News Thursday night, Corpuz said social workers were doing this week what normally takes three or four months so Jacob can get into a home quickly.
As for the situation involving his ex-wife, Corpuz said he had never met Montgomery. But when Snyder lived with him last fall, she had her mail forwarded from Reno. Corpuz said he saw one letter from Montgomery that said Montgomery was upset because Jacob told him that "he already had a father."
Even though Snyder has a history of disappearing, Corpuz said she would never leave her son.
E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com