DETROIT — Authorities resumed digging in a Michigan forest Wednesday for the remains of as many as seven girls who have been missing for decades.
The FBI and other agencies restarted the work at a site about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of downtown Detroit in Macomb Township, police said.
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Crews arrived there Monday and began digging in earnest Tuesday for the remains of Kimberly King, a 12-year-old girl who was last seen in 1979 in Warren. She is the only one of the missing girls who has been publicly identified.
Police began searching the site after speaking with a man serving life in prison for the slaying of another girl whose body was found nearby.
“We certainly are convinced we have the right area. It’s just a sad type of situation,” said Bill Dwyer, Warren’s police commissioner.
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King’s sister, Konnie Beyma, said she has been in contact with detectives.
“I obviously am hoping for a recovery,” Beyma told The Associated Press in an email.
In 2008, Arthur Ream led police to the body of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki in the same wooded area. She was last seen in 1986 after being lured to a Dairy Queen in Eastpointe, just north of Detroit.
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Ream was convicted of first-degree murder in her slaying. After his conviction, he told investigators that Zarzycki’s body was buried near a creek. He also drew a map of the site and spent about an hour at the search scene with authorities before being returned to prison.
Zarzycki had been dating Ream’s son at the time of her disappearance. Authorities said Ream, now 68, tricked her by telling her that he was planning a surprise party for his son.
At the time of his conviction for Zarzycki’s killing, he was already serving a 15-year sentence on an unrelated molestation charge involving a 14-year-old girl.