Ex-Mendocino woman disappears in Reno

Family and friends of a former Mendocino teen on Monday made a national plea for information about her weekend disappearance from a friend’s home in Reno.

Reno police describe the disappearance of 19-year-old Brianna Denison as “suspicious,” and her family is offering a $100,000 reward for details that lead to her return.

Denison, who grew up in the town of Mendocino, was last seen at 4 a.m. Sunday at a house near University of Nevada, Reno. She was staying overnight after attending a concert.

Denison was gone when her friends checked the couch where she slept, but her cell phone, purse, clothes and shoes were in the house.

“Anything you would expect a 19-year-old gal to take with her was still there,” said Police Lt. Robert McDonald.

The only item missing was a teddy bear Denison used to prop up a pillow.

A small mark on her pillow may be blood and was being examined, police said.

Denison has not been in contact with her mother, with whom she speaks several times a day, McDonald said. Nor has she contacted friends. She was due to return to Santa Barbara City College on Monday.

Police have no suspects in Denison’s disappearance, but are searching for the driver of a beige or light brown late model Chevrolet or GMC Suburban. That driver, a 45-year old white man, dropped a friend of Denison’s at the house early Sundayn after she was unable to get a taxi at the nearby Sands Hotel and Casino.

McDonald said the man is not a suspect but may have information about the neighborhood, including any potential suspects or witnesses.

McDonald said the home is rented by a group of university students. The couch where Denison slept was next to an unlocked sliding glass door.

The home showed no signs of forced entry or struggle, he said.

Her mother, Bridgette Zunino-Denison, and 15-year-old brother live in Reno. Her grandparents, Bob and Barbara Zunino, live in Mendocino. Denison briefly attended junior and senior high school in Mendocino, Barbara Zunino said.

Denison’s father died several years ago.

Her relatives are “devastated” a family friend said, and have offered the reward for information leading to her safe return home.

Family and friends organized the reward and held several national press conferences, including one televised on CNN.

They have set up pages on the Facebook social networking Web site calling for people to help in the search.

On the Facebook page “FIND BRI,” more than 150 of Denison’s friends have joined the network to support one another and spread word of her disappearance.

“I hope you are OK, wherever you may be,” wrote a friend with the screen name Tally Mack. “I am hoping, praying and wishing you are in a safe place.”

You can reach Staff Writer Laura Norton at 521-5220 or laura.norton@pressdemocrat.com.