Linden Well Excavation Locates Debris Field

LINDEN, CA—Five weeks after excavation began on a rural agricultural parcel in San Joaquin County, a collaborative team of FBI personnel and technical experts successfully removed and sifted more than 50 cubic yards of loamy fill dirt from within an old well, reaching debris located more than 95 feet below grade this weekend. Excavation efforts continue nearly four stories below the surface as the team begins the painstaking process of uncovering, documenting, removing, and examining debris from the narrow, five-foot-wide well.

Over the course of several weeks, the collaborative team successfully removed all fill dirt that was placed within well more than two decades ago. Thus far, fencing material and other miscellaneous refuse have been excavated from the muddy soil of the debris field. Human remains have not been found.

Excavation will continue until the historic bottom of the well has been reached, ensuring that a thorough investigation of the contents of the well has been performed. Narrow test bores created during site preparation were unable to yield conclusive information about where the historic bottom of the well may be located. The team remains committed to thorough excavation of the well site and is proceeding without a finite target depth.

This site is the second well site to be excavated along Flood Road between Escalon Bellota Road and Waverly Road. More than one year ago, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office excavated a well on an adjacent parcel, recovering the remains of three females and one fetus.