SAN JOSE — Like so many people throughout the Bay Area, Logan Couture has closely followed the heartbreaking saga of Sierra LaMar, the teenager who 30 months ago disappeared on her way to a school bus stop.

Now, he has decided to do something to help find her.

Couture, the San Jose Sharks standout, organized a group of his teammates for an autograph-signing fundraiser Wednesday night to raise money and awareness for the ongoing search effort.

“The main thing is that we don’t want her to be forgotten,” Couture said. “We want people to remember that she’s still out there, and people are still looking for her.”

Couture, 25, one of the NHL’s rising stars, finished fourth among the Sharks in points last season. But as the team prepares to open training camp Friday, Couture’s first “assist” of this season will be off the ice. And it means the world to the Sierra LaMar search team.

“He’s helping us keep hope alive,” said Roger Nelson, the search coordinator. “This just means so much and touches deep into our hearts. It’s so important because Logan is keeping the search in the public eye, and brings the possibility of more volunteers to come and assist us.

“This all started with Logan,” he added. “He reached out to us.”

Sierra, a 15-year-old cheerleader who attended Sobrato High School, vanished on March 16, 2012, in an unincorporated area near Morgan Hill. Antolin Garcia Torres, 23, a former supermarket employee, is charged with her kidnapping and murder, and faces the death penalty if convicted. Torres, who has pleaded not guilty, continues to be held without bail at the Santa Clara County Jail.

But a body has not been found. That’s why every Saturday, a couple dozen dedicated volunteers continue to scour rural south Santa Clara County in hopes of bringing closure to Sierra’s family.

Not long after last season ended, Couture told Scott Emmert, the Sharks’ director of media relations, that he wanted to get involved. Emmert reached out to the searchers, saying only that an unnamed Shark was interested in somehow helping.

And that led to Nelson receiving a most unexpected email earlier this summer.

“It read, ‘Hi Roger, my name is Logan Couture and I play for the San Jose Sharks . . .'” Nelson recalled. “I just kept looking at it and thinking, ‘My gosh, this is Logan Couture!’ There are so many charitable and altruistic endeavors vying for his time. I don’t know why he chose this. But we feel so blessed.”

He’s not the first athlete to play a role in trying to find Sierra. In the early days after her disappearance, then-49ers Alex Smith and Delanie Walker joined teammate Joe Staley in volunteering their time.

Couture, a center from London, Ontario, said he had been thinking for “quite a while” about getting involved and even contemplated joining a Saturday search.

“I really haven’t done much charity work here yet,” Couture said. “But I’ve been here six years now, and I figured that it was time to do something that’s important to me. And just living here in the area, I know how this has affected San Jose.”

He recently spoke by phone with Steve LaMar, Sierra’s father, and called it a very difficult conversation.

“You could hear in his voice how this continues to affect their family,” he said.

But, Steve LaMar added, he also tried to explain to Couture how much they appreciate his act of kindness.

“I think the amazing part is he’s still a young guy, and it’s pretty impressive that he’s showing such maturity and initiative,” LaMar said. “I’m a Sharks fan, but not really a rabid one. So I certainly already knew that he was a great player. But now I know that he’s even more impressive as a person.”

Couture recruited teammates Tomas Hertl, Alex Stalock, Jason Demers, James Sheppard, Andrew Desjardins and Matt Nieto to join him at the autograph session at Morgan Hill’s Britton Middle School. All are younger players who could be key contributors for a Sharks team that is in transition after a first-round collapse in last spring’s playoffs.

“It was a no-brainer to be involved in this,” said Demers, a defenseman. “It’s bigger than hockey. It’s someone’s life. It’s affected not only the girl, the family and everyone close to her, but the entire community. So it’s easy to donate a little bit of your time.”

Added Couture: “It means a lot to me that her friends and family think we can be of help.”

For more information about Wednesday’s fundraising event or the Sierra LaMar search effort, visit findsierralamar.com, call 408-612-6628 or email sierra.search.center@gmail.com