“We have heard about this for years,” Fremont County Deputy Sheriff Tim Bothwell told the station Wednesday. “She (Lucy) told us in 2007 and we went out and there was only one well on the property that we could see, we didn’t realize that it was on other people’s property.”
Lucy alleged her father mostly targeted sex workers in the Omaha, Neb., area and that he would kill “five or six” women per year, before dumping their bodies in or around a 90-foot-deep well on their Iowa property,Newsweekreports.
Donald Studey.TMX
During a search Friday, two cadaver dogs detected the scent of human remains across four different sites on the property, reinvigorating law enforcement’s investigation into Lucy’s claims.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, will coordinate with Fremont County authorities regarding how to proceed with the potential for funding and resources from outside agencies.
“The initial excavation of the area was a little over $300,000,” Bothwell told the outlet. “And with a county with a $1.8 million law enforcement budget, that would just devastate our budget.”
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Investigators will conduct further research and dig into Lucy’s allegations, before breaking ground, DCI Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt toldCNN.
And because Donald died nearly a decade ago, Mortvedt said law enforcement will take their time with the investigation. He estimates a plan will be “months in the making,” as the probe into Lucy’s claims are still in its “infancy,” the outlet reports.
Efforts to reach Lucy on Thursday were unsuccessful, and PEOPLE’s request for comment from the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office was not immediately returned.
source: people.com
