Jul 22, 2008 5:43 pm US/Eastern
Digging For Evidence In Potential Murder Mystery
Tipster Says Body Buried In Worcester 20 Years Ago
WORCESTER (WBZ) ―
Armed with shovels and a backhoe, police returned to a potential crime scene in Worcester Tuesday. They are searching for evidence in what may be a decades-old murder.
Acting on a tip, state and local police began digging Monday at the rear of 13 Kilby Street. Nine hours of digging turned up nothing on Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, the only bones that turned up belong to an animal, police said. Further testing needs to be done to confirm the bones are not human.
Last week, investigators received information that the body of a murder victim had been buried at the scene about 20 years ago.
Interest intensified Tuesday afternoon, and investigators said they will continue digging for the rest of the day and will resume again Wednesday.
A State Police dog was brought in and appeared to detect evidence of remains.
"We have to do what we have to do to see if we can find if this is true or not," said Worcester Police Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst. "We're going to continue to dig until we've pretty much exhausted the area."
Police are not saying anything about the potential victim. However, they have said they don't believe any possible remains are connected to former owners of the home.
City Councilor Barbara Halley said police told her they are looking for the remains of a young man.
"It's always painful to think someone suffered and very bad things happened here," she said.
Police said they have no outstanding missing persons reports or any homicide reports that have been connected with the site.
Halley represents the Main South neighborhood. She said a neighborhood improvement group bought the property and tore down the two homes that used to sit on the lot. Construction work has been suspended while police sift through all 10,000 square feet of property.
Other neighbors said the area used to be known for its crime. Betty Gladden, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, said she wasn't surprised to hear police were looking for possible human remains.
"Tough neighborhood. This was a tough street. People didn't come down here unless they had business down here," she said.
Gladden said the area is much safer now than it used to be.
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