MODESTO, Calif. – Another witness says he may have seen Laci Peterson walking her dog on the day her family reported her missing, the Modesto Bee reported Friday.
Modesto High School teacher Mike Chiavetta said he told police that he recalls seeing Scott and Laci Peterson's dog, McKenzie, around 10:45 a.m. as he played with his own dog in East La Loma Park -- approximately 30 minutes after another neighbor says she found the golden retriever with its muddy leash attached and returned it to the Petersons’ backyard, the Bee reported.
"It's a pretty distinctive dog,” Chiavetta, a neighbor of Peterson's, told the Bee, recalling McKenzie's long hair.
He wasn’t as sure about who was with the dog however, and told the paper that someone may have been walking the dog next to an orchard fence.
"I remember looking over, and, in my mind, I see a woman with a big white smock and black leggings,” he said to the Bee.
Peterson was last seen wearing black pants and a long-sleeved white blouse according to missing posters that were plastered all over the town and national media after her disappearance.
The Bee also reported that two other local residents say they are sure they saw a "very pregnant" woman, who they believe was Peterson, walking McKenzie on the morning of Dec. 24.
It was a sunny day and the park was full of people , Chiavetta told the Bee. Others who have reported Laci and McKenzie sightings also have remarked on the day’s clear weather.
Yet, according to the Bee, the the Western Regional Climate Center reported that while the weather is Modesto was clear on Dec. 22 and 23, mist set in on the evening of Dec. 23, and was around until at least Christmas day.
"I wish I could say, 'Yeah, I saw a pregnant woman in the park,'" Chiavetta told the Bee, but said he could not be certain.
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