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Police scour West Ashley woods for clues to 26-year-old cold case
Jailhouse informant said missing woman's remains can be found at site
Charleston police and forensic specialists dug through a wooded patch of West Ashley on Monday, sifting through dirt by hand as they searched for the remains of a person missing for more than two decades.
More than a dozen police officers, crime scene workers and death investigators descended on the area after receiving information that the remains could be found in woods off Arlington Drive.
Capt. Gary Tillman, who supervises the detective division, would not disclose the source, but said investigators were able to substantiate enough information to get a search warrant for the property, which is owned by a private trust.
Sources said the tip came from a jailhouse informant who claimed the remains were those of a young woman who went missing in the area 26 years ago. The informant told authorities she was slain and her body deposited in the woods, sources said.
Tillman would not disclose details of the case except to say that "it's an old case that goes back in time." Investigators reportedly used ground-penetrating radar and a dog trained to sniff out cadavers to help pinpoint a likely area where the remains could be found.
The dig was expected to continue into the night, with floodlights guiding the way.
Later in the day, friends told Johnson that the search focused on a 26-year-old case in which a woman was killed.
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=19457§ion=localnews
Jailhouse informant said missing woman's remains can be found at site
Charleston police and forensic specialists dug through a wooded patch of West Ashley on Monday, sifting through dirt by hand as they searched for the remains of a person missing for more than two decades.
More than a dozen police officers, crime scene workers and death investigators descended on the area after receiving information that the remains could be found in woods off Arlington Drive.
Capt. Gary Tillman, who supervises the detective division, would not disclose the source, but said investigators were able to substantiate enough information to get a search warrant for the property, which is owned by a private trust.
Sources said the tip came from a jailhouse informant who claimed the remains were those of a young woman who went missing in the area 26 years ago. The informant told authorities she was slain and her body deposited in the woods, sources said.
Tillman would not disclose details of the case except to say that "it's an old case that goes back in time." Investigators reportedly used ground-penetrating radar and a dog trained to sniff out cadavers to help pinpoint a likely area where the remains could be found.
The dig was expected to continue into the night, with floodlights guiding the way.
Later in the day, friends told Johnson that the search focused on a 26-year-old case in which a woman was killed.
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=19457§ion=localnews
