Gruesome details in alleged San Jose co-worker killing -- with no body

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - A severed human ear found lying in a pool of blood. Blood in the suspect's truck and in a vacant building near his work— and no signs of the victim.

That's just some of the evidence San Jose police say points to their belief that 38-year-old Steve Hlebo killed his co-worker, Kyle Myrick.

Hlebo made his first court appearance at the Hall of Justice today in San Jose. He did not enter a plea to a murder charge.

Myrick's body hasn't been found. But prosecutors say their case is solid.

"At this point, we're very confident in the charges that we filed," said Sumerle Davis, a Santa Clara County prosecutor.

Myrick disappeared on Friday. That same day, police said they  found evidence and a crime scene at a boarded-up building on Camden Avenue in San Jose. Myrick and Hlebo worked next door at GP Sports.

When co-workers asked Hlebo to look for the victim in the vacant building, Hlebo refused, saying there's, "ghosts in there," police said in a court affidavit.

Police say workers went inside and found "a great deal of fresh blood on the walls and floor" of a storage room.

Court papers say there were signs that a body had been dragged from the building to a spot where Hlebo's truck had been parked. Also, officers found a severed human ear lying in a pool of blood, the affidavit says.

Police arrested Hlebo at his home in Los Altos on Saturday.

Police, family and volunteers have searched everywhere for any signs of Myrick or his body, including local reservoirs and the Santa Cruz mountains.

But still, nothing -- and the defendant isn't talking.

He denied any wrongdoing in a jailhouse interview with KTVU.

 "We just want everybody in the bay area to know that what we want is for kyle to come home," said Myrick's brother, Shane Myrick.

Myrick's brother asked for people to continue searching.

"Any and all volunteers, please please come out and help us bring Kyle home," he said through sobs.

Hlebo remains jailed without bail. He returns to court on Feb. 16.