SAN JOSE — As Steve Hlebo was arraigned in Kyle Myrick's disappearance, prosecutors revealed that a bloody crime scene containing a severed ear prompted a homicide investigation and murder charge even as the search for Myrick's body continues.

A police statement of facts released by the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office details how Hlebo, Myrick's co-worker at GP Sports in the Cambrian neighborhood, told detectives the two mechanics got into a fight while they were working on all-terrain vehicles. The court document also contends that Hlebo told an unspecified relative that he killed Myrick and dumped the body in the ocean.

An organized search for the 28-year-old Myrick entered its fourth day Wednesday with his family and friends continuing to comb the area surrounding the shop and parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains believed to be familiar to Hlebo. Shane Myrick, the victim's older brother, sought volunteers to help.

"Obviously his parents are suffering right now looking at some of the evidence. Whatever it takes for Kyle to come home, that's what we want," Myrick said.

Fighting through tears, he added: "Any and all volunteers, please, please come out and help us bring Kyle home."

Meanwhile, Hlebo, 39, of Los Altos, briefly appeared in a San Jose courtroom Wednesday to answer for a murder charge in Kyle Myrick's disappearance Friday and presumed death. He stood silently in a red jumpsuit reserved for high-security inmates, his only utterance being a "Yes" when asked a procedural question by Judge Allison Danner, after which he was led back to custody at the Santa Clara County Jail, where he is being held without bail.

Accompanying the arraignment was the release of the statement of facts that formed the basis of the charge against Hlebo. Written by San Jose police Detective Sgt. Paul Hamblin and Detective Jason Tanner, the account states that Friday afternoon, an employee of the motorbike shop at Camden and Union avenues assigned Hlebo with assembling two ATVs in the lot behind the store and sent Myrick to help him.

The employee later went out to check on them and found a gate to the lot was atypically locked. Myrick was nowhere to be seen, and Hlebo said he did not know where Myrick was. When the employee checked on them a second time, police say, he saw Hlebo's white GMC Sierra pickup truck with the license plate 6041R1 backed up to the rear door of an adjacent building that was heavily damaged by a 2014 fire and virtually abandoned. Hlebo reportedly gave a "nonsensical" answer when asked about why his truck was there.

Then, when the employee told Hlebo and other employees to enter the burned-out building to look for Myrick, Hlebo was reluctant and contended there were "ghosts in there," police said. When the store closed at 6 p.m., Hlebo left, and the employee and another co-worker entered the building and in a small 5-foot-by-5-foot storage room found a "great deal" of fresh blood on the walls and called police.

Responding officers also found blood stains suggesting that someone had been dragged to where Hlebo's truck had been parked, police said. They also found a severed ear in a pool of blood on the floor.

Later that night, police staked out Hlebo's home in Los Altos and waited until he arrived around 2 a.m. to enter the home, arrest Hlebo, and look for Myrick, who was not found. A search warrant served on the truck found "a large amount of blood" in the vehicle's cab, police said.

After Hlebo's arraignment, deputy district attorney Sumerle Davis said the evidence, despite no body being located, was strong enough for the murder charge.

"Our hearts go out to Mr. Myrick's family," she said.

Brian Davis, whose son has been best friends with Myrick for over a decade, said he knew something was wrong when Myrick didn't make his routine visit to Davis' home on the evening of the disappearance.

"We still need some closure," Davis said. "We need to find him."

The search parties are staging at 8 a.m. each morning at GP Sports in San Jose and at Summit House in Los Gatos, Shane Myrick said.

Anyone with information about the case can contact Hamblin or Tanner at 408-277-5283 or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP (7867) or with svcrimestoppers.org.

Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga.