FBI Continues Initial Site Preparations at Linden Site

LINDEN, CA—A collaborative team of FBI personnel and technical experts continues site preparations at an old well site located on private agricultural land off Flood Road in the hope of locating remains that may bring closure to one or more families who have been waiting for their loved ones to return home for more than two decades. No specific victim identity has been tied to this location, but a variety of investigative resources has indicated that the site may contain the remains of one or more individuals.

On Monday, January 7, 2013, San Joaquin County Department of Public Works cleared an approximately 40-foot square site and began excavating an interior operational area with heavy equipment to facilitate further site preparation and excavation. The well walls were located during this phase.

At the close of operations on Tuesday, January 8, a depth of 10 feet will be achieved in an interior operational area approximately 10-feet by 13-feet in size that will enable installation of safety devices and will facilitate operations within the well. A core sample of the interior well was also bored to determine the soil conditions in the well and possibly locate the bottom of the old, filled-in well.

The well is approximately five feet in diameter and is unlined. The narrow width will require destruction of the well walls as the teams proceed by hand with their excavations. All work within the well will be completed by hand, but excavation of the virgin land surrounding the well may require limited use of machinery to continue to achieve uniform depth of the interior operational area.

Site preparation will continue through Wednesday, January 9, and the hand digging will begin soon thereafter. During the hand digging process, a modest gain of only approximately five feet each day is anticipated but more or less depth may be achieved dependant on soil conditions, findings, and other challenges.

In addition to Evidence Response Team and other personnel from the FBI Sacramento Field Office, the following agencies and organizations will have personnel on site, as appropriate, throughout the duration of planned operations:

• FBI Technical Hazard Response Unit from FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
• FBI Evidence Response Team Unit from FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
• Cal OSHA
• CSU Chico’s Department of Forensic Anthropology
• San Joaquin County’s Department of Public Works
• San Joaquin County’s Office of the Sheriff
• Drill Tech Drilling and Shoring Inc.