Post by LadyBlue on Jul 19, 2007 17:55:06 GMT -5
More than a dozen Caddo Correctional Center inmates joined the search early Monday for the remains of a Shreveport woman who disappeared more than a decade ago.
The inmates, supervised by Caddo crime scene investigators, removed underbrush at the site where an accused killer says he dumped Kristi O'Pry's body in June 1996.
Following his arrest last week in connection with the death of an 86-year-old man, Eric Mickelson admitted to killing O'Pry and directed investigators to an area in Greenwood, off Jefferson-Paige Road and near the American Rose Center, where he supposedly ditched O'Pry's body.
Investigators returned to the site early Monday for day three of their search. They worked until late Friday, digging up parts of a creek. And Saturday they spent most of the day sifting through that debris.
On Monday they enlisted trusties, dressed in yellow jumpsuits and equipped with machetes and shovels.
"We wanted to broaden our area of search; we had some underbrush that needed clearing out and this was free labor," Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator said. "We are letting them do the manual work, and as they clear the brush, we are able to better search."
Prator said they'll search the area until they find O'Pry's body or until they are satisfied they've done all they can do.
"Keep in mind, it's been 11 years," he said. "We hope we find it, but then there's that possibility."
By 3:30 p.m. Monday the search yielded a "very small" object that looked like it could be a piece of bone, the sheriff said, but he added it is too soon to know for sure. The item will be tested in a laboratory to determine its origin.
Even if it is a bone fragment, Prator said, it could have come from an animal.
Mickelson, 38, told investigators he dumped the body near water that runs into the wooded area.
O'Pry last was seen July 19, 1996, with Mickelson. His confession came after his arrest late Thursday in connection with the death of Charles S. Martin. Mickelson later told detectives he'd killed the Shreveport woman.
Mickelson had been a suspect in O'Pry's disappearance. But it was his arrest in connection with Martin's disappearance and the subsequent discovery of Martin's remains in west Caddo that spurred investigators to again ask him about the O'Pry case.
So far, no charges have been filed against Mickelson in connection with O'Pry's disappearance.
www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/NEWS03/707170324/1002/NEWS
The inmates, supervised by Caddo crime scene investigators, removed underbrush at the site where an accused killer says he dumped Kristi O'Pry's body in June 1996.
Following his arrest last week in connection with the death of an 86-year-old man, Eric Mickelson admitted to killing O'Pry and directed investigators to an area in Greenwood, off Jefferson-Paige Road and near the American Rose Center, where he supposedly ditched O'Pry's body.
Investigators returned to the site early Monday for day three of their search. They worked until late Friday, digging up parts of a creek. And Saturday they spent most of the day sifting through that debris.
On Monday they enlisted trusties, dressed in yellow jumpsuits and equipped with machetes and shovels.
"We wanted to broaden our area of search; we had some underbrush that needed clearing out and this was free labor," Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator said. "We are letting them do the manual work, and as they clear the brush, we are able to better search."
Prator said they'll search the area until they find O'Pry's body or until they are satisfied they've done all they can do.
"Keep in mind, it's been 11 years," he said. "We hope we find it, but then there's that possibility."
By 3:30 p.m. Monday the search yielded a "very small" object that looked like it could be a piece of bone, the sheriff said, but he added it is too soon to know for sure. The item will be tested in a laboratory to determine its origin.
Even if it is a bone fragment, Prator said, it could have come from an animal.
Mickelson, 38, told investigators he dumped the body near water that runs into the wooded area.
O'Pry last was seen July 19, 1996, with Mickelson. His confession came after his arrest late Thursday in connection with the death of Charles S. Martin. Mickelson later told detectives he'd killed the Shreveport woman.
Mickelson had been a suspect in O'Pry's disappearance. But it was his arrest in connection with Martin's disappearance and the subsequent discovery of Martin's remains in west Caddo that spurred investigators to again ask him about the O'Pry case.
So far, no charges have been filed against Mickelson in connection with O'Pry's disappearance.
www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/NEWS03/707170324/1002/NEWS