NAGI POLLIS CASE Brother believes files were not stolen

Files returned to the police department have been shredded, a detective says.
GIRARD -- The brother of a missing woman says he believes files on his sister's case were thrown out and not stolen.
Allegations by city officials that the files on Charlotte Nagi Pollis's case may have been stolen from a room in the municipal building is difficult for Ali Nagi to believe.
"This file was way at the bottom of the trash," Nagi said. "We got it out of the trash."
Mayor James Melfi said earlier this week that the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation was called to look into the matter after an internal police investigation led authorities to believe the file may have been stolen.
"I got a call Feb. 26 at home from an anonymous caller saying the files and evidence on my sister's case were in a trash bin behind the police building," Nagi said. "I called a friend of mine, and we went down there to look."
His sister was reported missing in March 1994.
When the two arrived they found hundreds of documents in the trash.
"We couldn't find it," Nagi said. "We left, and I called the FBI. They said an agent would be in touch with me Sunday, so we waited."
On Sunday, Nagi waited until late in the afternoon to hear from the FBI. When a call was not received, he and his friend called the local media and went back to the bin.
"My friend had to go through hundreds of files, and then, he finally found two large files containing information on my sister's case but no evidence," Nagi said. "If someone had stolen the file, wouldn't they have just put it on top for me to find? I'm very upset by all this because the phone call brought back all the memories of my sister's case, and now, I'm dragged into an investigation."
He noted the file had sticky notes on the front that contained family names and phone numbers.
Investigation
Nagi says he spoke several times to BCI agents and Girard police. He added that he also has talked to FBI agents.
Detective John Norman said the investigation is ongoing.
The file was among hundreds of old police records that had been locked in a room since the police department moved three years ago from its Main Street quarters to the first floor of the new justice center, Melfi said.
The mayor has said that the file was set to be tossed out but had not yet been placed in the trash.
The mayor stressed that the majority of the files that were going to be tossed out were not old cases. He said most of the files were old mug shots and police schedules.
Nagi's friend, however, grabbed 29 files when he was searching for the Nagi-Pollis case. A review of some of those files by the Vindicator showed they were closed cases from the late 1990s. The cases contained written notes, arrest sheets and in some cases, such as a suicide, there were pictures.
The files were returned to the police department Friday and were shredded, Norman said.
The mayor said the cases weren't shredded before because the city doesn't have a shredder that can handle such a large amount of paperwork.