Man in custody cleared in case of missing Reno woman

A man arrested in Carson City last week after reportedly wielding a machete and assaulting three people, was cleared in the mysterious case of a Reno girl missing since April.

Nathan Alan Sabin, 25, took a lie detector test Wednesday. The answers helped eliminate him from consideration in the case of 25-year-old Star Palumbo, who disappeared April 26 in Reno.

No body has been found in the case, but following leads from community members, investigators are becoming increasingly suspicious that there was foul play - possibly a murder - involved.

Last week, information led Reno Police to look at Sabin as a potential suspect, Reno Police Deputy Chief Jim Weston said.

"He's pretty much not a player in this case, we think," he said. "There have been pieces of information leading us to believe she was murdered, so we're looking everywhere."

Chief Deputy Scott Burau, of the Carson City Sheriff's Department, said local investigators were not involved with the case.

Sabin was arrested Sept. 12 after a fight at a home in the 1900 block of North Fall Street where he reportedly forced three people to lay down, kicking one person in the head and hitting the other in the neck with the machete. Burau said the injuries were apparently minor.

Deputies tracked Sabin down at 3380 Fall St. later in the day and had to convince him to put the machete down before he was taken into custody. Sabin was reportedly angry about a dispute he had with the victims over alleged drug use. Teresa McGee, 31, was also arrested for suspicion of drug possession.

Sabin is set for a preliminary hearing on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and drug possession. He was held on $30,000 bail.